[MUSIC] >> Fan morning show. >> Brank gunning, Matt Marquesi here. Sometimes you just, you have a firecracker of a conversation in the breaks. >> Bruiser Jeff as a party coming in here, yammering my ear off and I love it. But then I'm like, all right, the show's starting. I should probably do my job. >> It's not. >> I was just talking. >> You just have to turn the mic. I was just talking to somebody else that might as well talk to all of you out there, fan morning show, Brank gunning, Matt Marquesi. Now Marquesi, before we talk to our good friend Vivek Jacob here, I normally don't prep people for this, but I'm a good friend, so I'm going to. Are you aware, and I know you are, who's like an avid listener to all three hours on podcast of fan morning show, but are you aware how the show ends every day? With me saying, well, it's normally Ben saying, good morning. So at the end of the show, we're going to look right into each other's eyes like it's like a soap opera, and we're going to say good morning to each other. I'm just prepping you for that right now. Okay. Now Ben, he's not a good friend. I don't know. He never does this with any of the other co-hosts. I'm welcoming everybody in. So we're going to good morning it at the end. It was not a good morning yesterday, and I guess it was really more afternoon, although my days are all askew when I'm working mornings, sneaking a nap, watching Canada basketball. This is probably going to be, I wish it wasn't this way. And there are tons of athletes that deserve for this not to be the case, but it feels like it's going to be the Olympics that was not. It all kind of kicked off with the Canada soccer drone scandal, which is kind of petered out to a certain extent. I mean, I guess the women lost and that was kind of that there in terms of the conversation surrounding it, but it started off there. There were so many hopes for the men's team. And again, like I think there's a world where you lose a hard fought bronze medal game and you walk away with nothing and we feel differently about it than just bowing out in the quarters. I, you know, again, like there have been tremendous success stories for Canada at these games. Like you look at summer Macintosh and, you know, you still got the 200 coming up today and the four by 100 relay that we're going to see later on. Like there are obviously great stories and there have been other medals won, but it just seems like, and again, maybe it's my own bias of the things I was most excited about, but it just seems like it's been kind of the, the Olympics that could have been almost from a Canada perspective. Yeah. And it's because basketball has become such a marquee sport in it in that you trying to figure out how to phrase this, like there is a chance for you to metal, but basketball, because the gap has been closed at least a little bit between the US and other teams, like other teams compete against the US rather than, hey, we're playing the US, we're just going to get rolled. So I think that's, I think that's part of it, but it has become a marquee sport because of the professional athletes. And there are, you know, there are Olympic fans that are probably just yelling at their radio right now. Like, how dare you speak ill of the rowing? Yeah. I mean, I love watching it all, man. I do. Yeah. I have no issue with it, but I do agree. It's because the team sports, which you talked about earlier, the team sports just brings something else out of you. Yeah. It's an individual sport is nice, but the team sports really, and it's because of the business that we're in, we largely focus on team sports. The sex appeal. Yeah. A hundred percent. Because when to grass, when to grass was a metal hole full, like we were all like there, there's the sex appeal of the one hundred and the two hundred and we're all very locked in on that. And I mean, I know the soccer is a team sport as well, but it does feel like there has to be a threshold for this and swimming for a lot of people, I think, does, again, I don't need to belabor the point for my mileage on that. But I think that that's the thing. It's just it's not these, the events we have succeeded in are not the events you as a sports fan build your day around. And this is no shot to rowing, which again, every. It's also on very, every, every Olympics, I'm just like, wow, what a great rowing nation we are. I forget this every four years. And then I just fill my heart fill or feel my heart fill with pride. But you don't, and again, the rowing sickos out there, I'm sure they exist. You don't build your day around old, the rowing final was on. I got to sit here and watch this. You build your day around a Canada soccer game. You build your day around the hundred meter final. You build your day around maybe the 200, but certainly basketball, a team sport. And I think that's the other part of it is there hasn't been the big, big success in the events that. And again, it's maybe my own bias here that I seemingly would would build my day around or schedule and say, I must be in front of a TV or a tablet or my phone or whatever for this. Yeah, I, I'm on base with that as well. I think a lot of my viewing has been, hey, I'm just going to throw this on and I don't know generally what's on, but I'm going to watch it exactly. But the team sports tell me what's happened, yeah, but the team sports that this country has not had success in our ones that there was expected success. We Canada was the, they were the defending gold medalists in soft and women's soccer. We expected the both basketball teams to have success and they haven't. So I think that I think it's just our viewing of it. And I think that there are a lot of people that will feel the same way. I think there was a lot of excitement for those three teams and none of them lived up to the the billing. The women's soccer team, I feel like they were, well, not, I feel they were hard done by because of what happened with the, with the drone scandal and having six points taken away from you. Like they became significantly more difficult, whereas I felt like the both basketball teams, there was an opportunity there and, you know, they made their bed and slept in it and it wasn't very comfortable. Yeah. No, it wasn't there. Yeah. The Canada soccer of it all. I mean, it just ending in penalty kicks that just adds to the disappointment factor of it all. I think there was a world where, you know, no one wants to get, you know, blown out or anything in a, in a game like that. But if, if they ultimately just kind of ran out of gas, you'd be able to not accept it, but it feels differently than it does. The heartbreaking nature of penalty kicks and it going to the, you know, the very last one and everything there. And, you know, I, I do wonder if we'll feel differently about this. If we have, you know, some more success and marquee events to, to end it, like, you know, nothing is the 100 meter when it, when it comes to track 200 is, is right up there. It's as close as you can get. Canada, of course, meddled in the four by 100 last, last Olympics as well. I, I do wonder if that kind of would, would strike a feel for people. But yeah, it's just a, again, like there are great stories to be found if you're searching for them. But I just think it's the headline ones that we, that we had prepped ourselves for leading into the games of kind of had us had us feeling this way. And it's just, it's a, it's disappointment. I think the basketball team nature of it all kind of hammers at home. I think the other thing that really just from the basketball perspective as well is that, you know, Shagil just Alexander did everything you could have possibly asked of him. The idea of putting it on the mantle for a guy and saying, okay, this is you. You are the guy that's been asked to kind of carry the load forward for Canada basketball. And unlike some of the other guys, we had age questions about he is going to be there going forward. I think you see the success that somebody like him had in this tournament and it's very twofold. Like on one hand, you're, of course, incredibly buoyed by what he can do. But if you see him performing that way and it's still quite frankly, isn't enough. It just it has you wondering of how, how far does Canada basketball kind of still have to go? Yeah, it does. And you know, we talk about Shay, like he's going to be 30 when the next tournament comes around too. Like it's, it's there, there is an age factor for all these guys. Nobody's getting younger. We obviously, we know that, but if I don't know that Shay Gil just Alexander is going to be, I think he's going to be a great player. I don't know if he's going to be at 30, how good he is now, which goes even further to your point. If you got that out of him in this tournament, RJ Barrett, it's kind of the same question. Although RJ Barrett's 22, so it's going to be a little bit different in four years for him. He will be what Shay Gil just Alexander is today. But there were some opta, there were some optimistic things about this tournament that are all gone now. Like RJ Barrett, having the tournament that he did, Raptors fans will be super happy about it because I think it gives you a glimpse into what the future holds. Not that international success begets, you know, NBA success, but point being is that he showed really well. Yeah. That's all lost though. It does feel like that, doesn't it? Whatever cause it is, going three and all in that what was the group of death to now be here, losing to France, the hosts, a team that you probably should beat, boy, oh boy. That's a lot to think. It's just such a gut punch. That's certainly how I'm feeling this morning. I don't know. Our next guest is a little more sunny and optimistic about it all. He usually is. He usually is and joke of which one. So you know, he's feeling good about himself right now. If a fake Jacob joins us now, writer of the weekly news weather, Raptors and seven on sub stack, you can also check out his work on sportsnet.ca. Man, I won't lead the witness at all. Well, I guess I will a little, I'm about to tell you what I thought. But it was just disappointing, you know, Shay balls out. It's not close to enough. They got punched in the mouth to start the game. I'm just, you know, I'm not, I saw a lot of people throwing around terms like disgusted and yeah, I wasn't quite there, but I was, I was frustrated and disappointed. What was your reaction from yesterday's game? I was disappointed. I was literally disappointed. I think when you look at, as you guys mentioned the group stage, the challenges that they were thrown and some people were saying, oh, you know, those games were close. Maybe that should have been a warning that they can handle it the way they did. And, you know, let's face it, when you looked at that group, you knew it was going to be tough. And some of the challenges that they were thrown, you look at the Spain game, Spain being in must win mode. You look at Australia coming off, the win over Spain and the way they were able to make adjustments in the second half and come back and you thought that those things would serve them well going into the quarterfinals. Then the bracket comes out and you don't have to potentially face the U.S. to the final. And so you saw this as a golden opportunity to get a medal. And so for them to look so uncharacteristic compared to what they look like in the group stage early in that game and that sort of set the tone for the rest of the game, I think that's the part that feels so disappointing because they met every challenge in the group stage and to maybe be lacking in that fortitude and that toughness that we saw. That's the part I think that hurts the most. Did it almost feel like the moment was too big for these guys? Like I know it's the, they had success at the Phoebus. I get it. But the Phoebus in the Olympics are two entirely different things. And you also have the, you know, you're playing against the home crowd, you're playing against the home team. Those are all factors in what is a big moment and guys like Jamal Murray. He was not great. Dylan Brooks was not great. It was guys that you would expect that have been in big moments in other parts of their career that really at the end of the day did not show up. Yeah, they didn't and that's something that, you know, I'm sure won't sit with them, sit well with them for a long time to come and they'll have to just sort of try to pick up the pieces and figure out, you know, why they were the way they were in that game. And I think when, I think the thing that will probably bother them the most is just looking at that box score, seeing when we're going to finish with six points, go bare finish with zero points and know that you got outplayed by non NBA guards when that was supposed to be your big advantage and should have been enough of an advantage to overcome the size differential. And I think that part should be uneasy for them. That's the part that will stick. Yeah, you know, it's God. It was like shades of Thomas Satteransky cooking us for Cheki, I see in Yabaselli do it, do it all that early. I did not like any of that, which I was seeing. But this is the part of like, this is not a bug. This is very much a feature of international basketball, the FIFA game, right? You'll see guys like this pop off all the time. And I mean, you know, no shots at Dennis Schroeder. I don't think he's quite in that club. But you see what he is for Germany in this event. And it's just a kind of completely different animals for Australia. He knows for Australia. We can go down the list for a grievous basket should be shaken on Canada at the Pan Am Games. Like, yeah, we could, we could keep doing this. The, the thing I, you know, we've been all doom and gloom. I mean, quite frankly, rightfully so the way that game panned out. I think the, I mean, obviously the fact that shaygill just Alexander just exists and he changed his passport anytime soon. That's the biggest thing going forward. RJ Barrett, you know, we can make this about the Raptors. We can make this about team Canada. Either way, I think you have to love what you've seen. Now some of it, I don't want to say is fool's gold, but just the FIFA game is so different. And he's always been someone who's kind of excelled. I know the World Cup wasn't necessarily the strongest showing last year, but, you know, going back to his U18 days, he's always kind of excelled in this game. What do you think it means for, for Barrett to have had the, the tournament that he had despite Canada's results being what they were? I think it means that he may have truly turned a corner, right? I think for Raptors fans that watched him in the second half of the season after the next trade and saw this completely different player be super efficient and make a lot of good decisions and just thrive in the Raptors offense. I'm sure there's some people saying, "Okay, now let's see it carry over into this Raptors season as well." But I think in terms of what you would have wanted to see from this Olympics, you saw. And I think his ability, obviously there's that huge three he had against Spain, his consistency, shooting from the outside, getting inside, obviously in the FIFA game, his athleticism is going to show even more. And so I think he just took advantage of his strengths and played to it. And obviously, when you've got a guy like scheduled, just Alexander, you don't need to force too much. And maybe there's a bit too much of that from Jamal in that last game. But I think with RJ, all signs are pointing in the right direction. They certainly are. He was, he was fantastic. I think he averaged 19 points a game in this tournament that again, something that Raptors fans can really kind of latch onto after that performance. I didn't want to ask you about Jordi Fernandez because there's going to be a little bit of criticism to Jordi Fernandez and how much he played Jamal Murray yesterday despite him while he was not very good. But I guess the question is, is what is, and I hate even asking this question, but it is going to happen soon. With the next coach being whoever it is, does the next coach matter as much because the foundation is in place? I'm not saying it doesn't matter. But when Nick Nurse took over this team, that was a big thing for this organization. And then Jordi Fernandez comes in taking over from Nick Nurse and has had success. The most success of anyone that has ever coached this organization, but there is going to be a time and probably sooner rather than later that Jordi Fernandez is not going to be the coach of this men's team. Does that matter as much because the foundation of players is already in place? It will matter depending on, you know, if they can maintain that commitment level and obviously one of the things that happened after Tokyo 2020 was Nick Nurse saying, hey, they're just flat out has to be a commitment and that's when players started saying, okay, we will be part of the entire process until 2024. And so now I think you've got to get that reinvestment and saying, okay, we are all in until 2028 because look at the results when you did have that commitment. You went to your first Olympic since 2000. And so now I think it's about maintaining that. And so if you can get the reinvestment, if you can get the players to once again show that they will be part of the four year process to be in LA in 2028, I think that is where it all starts. And then after that, you know, whatever the coaching future may look like, it can sort itself out. Yeah, it'll be fascinating to see. I mean, we know we know how these jobs work. They do tend to have a bit of a shelf life. And, you know, who knows what Fernandez's life looks like now as a NBA head coach as well. I'm certainly not ready to throw them overboard. I don't know the many are, but it's always, you know, it's always interesting the way or how long guys kind of hold on to to to these jobs. You mentioned the rough day when we had obviously he was impactful on the boards and, you know, picked up a ton of blocks, including blocking Dylan Brookshot with like his armpit or his hip or however high he got in the air for that one. But what did you make of his game yesterday? Obviously a ton of struggles. Do you kind of give credit to Canada for causing those offensive struggles or do you just look at that as it just really wasn't his day and he was able to or France was kind of able to overcome that? Yeah, I think the only thing that you would probably look at as maybe a possible trend is the fact that including the friendly that Canada played against France prior to the Olympics in both games, Canada obviously had to go small. You're throwing guys like Dylan Brooks, maybe some Louvian Stewart and you're trying to fluster him. And you know, those guys have the strength to hold their own against one video online in the post as well. And so maybe, you know, having that type of player that can just constantly be swatting away at the ball and just freaking all kinds of havoc, it disturbed him a little bit. And you know, I think when I look back, I think about when France played Germany and Germany almost didn't do Canada any favors by beating them so bad in that first half because it forced France to make some kind of adjustment and that's when they benched Go Bear for the first time to start that second half and the way they were able to space the floor after that, they carried that into the Canada game. And that might have been the biggest adjustment that they made on their part. I guess this tournament we look back and on the missed opportunities and whatnot. And we've we have definitely focused on the negative, but as we try and take some positives from this, what are some of the bigger positives that you can take from this tournament from Canada? I think the positives are just everyone getting to finally watch a men's basketball team at the Olympics for the first time since 2000 to excel the way they excelled in the group stage even even last year to do what they did at the feeble World Cup, like all of this is part of the building process. And I think to have the type of success that they had overall, it is going to encourage players to say, okay, you know, now we want to help take things to another level with the quarterfinals isn't good enough. And so hopefully the players kind of take the bitterness of this and say, okay, it's got to be at least one better in 2028 and doing the things that some of the things that they did in these past four years in terms of the commitment. And then adding on top of that, obviously you've got someone like a Zack Adi who wasn't there and you'd like to think that he'd be there in 2028. So hopefully those players who also missed out are saying, okay, I can be a difference maker in 2028. That's the biggest positive for me just getting back on the Olympic stage, people getting to see that, people saying, oh, this is something I really wanted to. Yeah, certainly, certainly is there. This is going to shock you given the conversations we've had about tennis, but I am going to ask you a quick tennis one to tend up here for fake. Not a joke of it. I've heard enough gloating about him in my life. I'm good there. Delixo J Aliaseem. You know, there is a moment him and Chappell burst onto the world stage and we think, all right, we've got two next ones here. And, you know, obviously, Aliaseem has had a little more consistent results, makes it to a metal match in the, in the Olympics here. What, what does it mean for him? And kind of in general, what does tennis mean? Or how does tennis view the Olympics? Because I always have this debate with golf of, it's not a major, but it's not nothing either. And I know it's not a slam, but geez, Jokovic certainly looked like it was one when he won. So I guess what does it mean for Aliaseem to have made the run he made? And then how does the kind of tennis world at large view of the Olympic medal compared to, you know, other tournaments in the slamps? Yeah. So I'll take the first question first. And I think the Olympic medal means a whole lot. And especially the fact that it comes once every four years, it's not something that they get to fight for every year. And you look at the players that have done it in singles of late, you know, Andy Murray's won it, Rafael Nadal has won it. Now, Jokovic has won it. And you look at their celebrations, it means the world to them. You look at even the pain that Alcaraz has felt after the defeat. And that shows you how much this Olympic moment means. And so I think for Felix, every time he has a good run, you hope it's the start of something. And we have seen him excel representing Canada before. Obviously, he was a huge part of Canada winning the Davis Cup. And I think that is something that you have to appreciate the fact that he kind of goes into Superman mode whenever he's representing Canada from a play standpoint. I do think that those two wins that came against the deal, Medvedev and Casper Rood were huge for him because Medvedev is someone he hasn't been able to beat. And so to get over the line, that was huge. Casper Rood is a clay court expert and would have certainly been the favorite. And so for him to overcome that too, to get to this semis was a huge deal. And so I do think that there's a lot of positives to take for Felix. But I think the big thing with him now is consistent, consistency and doing it week in, week out, getting deep into tournaments over and over again. Mm. Aside from the tournaments part, you sound like my boss. It's like, yeah, okay, we could all have one good show. You know, maybe have a few of them in a row there, they love getting a chat with you, man. It's been too long. Thanks for jumping on. Appreciate it guys. Take care. There he goes. Vic Jacob, writer of the weekly newsletter Raptors and seven on stub stack. Of course, you get a sub stack. And of course, you can also check out his work on sports net.ca. One of one of my, one of my favs there. It is always interesting these sports that have their kind of true pinnacle. And I mean, the individual sports rate, like obviously just ask any of the guys with one gold, like in 2014 or 2010, what it means and it's impossible to compare it to a Stanley cup because it's just, it's different. Yeah. But it's not different in golf. It's not different in tennis. You're going to go play a tournament. You're going to play all the guys who play all the time. It is, it is kind of interesting the way we, we kind of view those differently because I've been asked this question a million times about golf in the Olympics. And I, I still don't really have the answer. It's like, I don't know, depends. Scotty Sheffler one, very important, very good. Somebody else, maybe not as much. I don't know. It's funny with the individual sports who do this all year long. And I guess that's really no different than track except the differences is this truly is the pinnacle of their sport. Yeah. When people talk about the fastest man or fastest woman on the planet, they don't talk about something. They don't talk about something that was done in a diamond league event, right? No, no offense, but it is, it is the truth. When we talk about the thing is, I was, it's funny because I was listening to a podcast, not a sports podcast at all on the way in today. And they made mention of that exact thing like they would get rid of tennis and golf in the Olympics only because it's not different than what they're doing right now. It doesn't have the same cache, not not to take anything away from, from the golf or the tennis at the Olympics, but it's like they just did this last week. And we watched it on TV. Totally. And I think that's part of it as well. Brent is that a lot of these, like the golf and the tennis, we can watch every week. We're not really getting a ton of track and field stuff or athletics. You're not right. We're on TV. So I think that's also part of the equation. Yeah. You're you're not wrong there. Speaking of golf, the women's golf competition just kicking off today. So Brooke Henderson and Elena Sharp representing Canada there, as always, go Brooke, go somebody who authored one of my favorite, actually not one of. I will definitively say my favorite non Olympic Canadian sports moment, Donovan Bailey, him yelling. He's a chicken. He wasn't scared. He's scared screaming and Brian Williams face. That is without a shadow of a doubt. My favorite non Olympic Canadian sports moment of all time. The man who authored it will join us next. Donovan Bailey joins us next on the fan board. He showed sports step five died to the fan. Diving deep into leaps, rafters, J's and NFL, the JD bunk is podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Final segment of the show, middle of your week. Well, let's be honest. It's the start of the middle of your week for most of you. What better way to wrap up the show than being joined by a Canadian sports Hall of Famer. And a two time Olympic gold medalist currently working as a special analyst for CBC for Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Of course, I'm talking about Donovan Bailey. Donovan, it's an honor. Thanks so much for joining us. How you doing this morning? Good, good, good for you guys having me this morning. And of course, the end of the show is for the best anchor man ever. That's right. That's right. You know it. Okay, you know what? You mentioned, you mentioned the anchor, the relay. No one is going to sit here and say that the 100 meter flat is not the most exciting event in sport. Period. But the relay, I don't think we give it enough do. It's like the 100 meter on, well, I won't say on steroids, but like, you know, it's very exciting. The 100 meter. I don't think we give it enough do. Obviously, when it's here, it gets its run. But it does seem like we constantly have the build up to just the 100 meter and then everything else. I know not for you, but for the kind of laymen can feel like a bit of a not a letdown, but a secondary event. I don't think we give enough do to the relay and the the that aspect of it because you guys are, I mean, again, like your your sprinters, you are alpha males through alpha males and you want to do that. It's weird to see you guys kind of working in a team concept. What do you love about the relay both watching it and when you got to race it? Well, two things. Well, I have two answers for you. Well, the 100 meters definitely is the only event. I mean, it's the most watched event on the planet. Let's just get that. I mean, and sometimes when I talk to my my other sports friends, you know, they have to acknowledge that the relay definitely is the only time there is. Yes, you just said it. The relay is the only time when, you know, fierce rivals and fierce competitors have to check their evils of the door because there's a little fragile thing called the baton. And so, you know, yes, you get together and, you know, in true representation and honoring your country, you certainly have to, you know, basically check yourself with the door and get on in there and and do some things. And I was definitely blessed, you know, to have a couple of training partners and some really mates that allowed us to be the number one team in the world for six years in a row. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to to Andre and the fellas in Paris and see what they can do this year. Don, I'm sure you've had, you know, hundreds of people that have told you, like, you know, I remember where I was when and I remember being just, you know, seven years old watching you in 96. And that I wanted to ask you about the relay because you are, you know, you talked about it, your fierce rivals, you're, you're an individual sport. So to go to a team sport where you have to, you are relying on other people and, you know, you're the anchor and you're going to run this thing home, what did it mean for you to win that? Because again, we, I had this conversation with somebody a couple of weeks ago about, you know, our greatest Olympic memories. And for me, it was 96 when you were the fastest man in the world. You win gold and then the relay, those two things, because, you know, the majority of the world can run and to have that and to have that, not like you, though, just like you. Yes. So especially not the guy sitting in this chair, but what did that mean for you to be part of a team in that and to win that? Because it's not something that you're really used to, right? Well, you know what? Yeah, again, two things. I mean, when you think about, you know, I always always try to relate, relate, like track and feel, you know, for a lot of people, play golf. So I try to, so I try to, there's a lot of weekend warriors will say that play golf that want to break a hundred, right? So I try to blame the people about, you know, like, I would be Tiger Woods. I am Tiger Woods, but then you got to go get together, you know, and, and I either go to the Olympics or go like the President's Cup. So, so for me, the consolation price for me might be the relay, but, but there's a couple, but why it's important, and I guess what the point you're making is that I'm going to be incredibly confident in my own personality to be the fastest human being on the planet, but you're by yourself. So it's just you and maybe your team, but for the relay, man, it's so good to just celebrate, you know, with other men that, well, in my case, other men that are gold medalists, that are Olympic champions, that's going to leave a legacy forever, forever. I was going to say, for as long as you live, but it's forever. I mean, this is, this is the forever thing. So yeah, for me, it was, it was always incredible, you know, to help Glenroy and Bruni and Robert and Carlton to achieve something that they couldn't do individually. Yeah, and I think, I mean, obviously, like, you get the best of both worlds, right? You get to pop your chest out alone, you get to pop your chest out together. It certainly works out, works out pretty well in that way. We're going to get the 200 semis today, obviously, you know, you, you, you ram both, all sprinters do there, just the difference of it. I mean, obviously, there's kind of two big impact or differences that go into it. It's the endurance factor of it's literally twice as long and the curve for you, which was more kind of difficult to, to adapt to. And again, you'd been sprinting your whole life, but was it the, was it the extra endurance you need, or I guess the pacing, or is it the kind of just the, the artistry of running the curve? Well, good question. I hated the 200 meters and I didn't do much of it. I mean, and, and, and, and sometimes, you know, to, to, to again, to, to explain that, in layman terms, it's, it's quite hard. So, so, so here's how I can describe it. I am a power sprinter. So it simply means that, that I'm, I'm the guy who probably can squat 600 pounds and, and dunk the basketball. But, and so if you're going to describe me as a car, I'll be the guy that goes in a straight line as fast as possible. And then at some point, I run out of fuel. Now, in the 200 meters, running the curve, very difficult, you know, but more importantly, speed maintenance. So like when you, when I get my speed, you know, to 44 kilometers an hour, whatever it was, my top speed was, it, it's, it's because of my size, sheer size. I'm almost six to, I was 210, 209 pounds when I was competing. It was very, very tough for that. Now, when you look at someone like Andre, Andre's incredible. I mean, you've got, you've got the ability to get to that place and then just maintain speed. That's why it looks like he's gaining on, on, on other athletes, for the last, you know, 50 meters of, of the 200 meter race. Because one, he's, he's shorter. And, and also he's much lighter. So, Andre is probably about 60, maybe 150, 160 pounds. So, so he's great at just getting the top speed and, and maintaining it. I'm looking forward to him doing some real good things tonight. He is the reigning Olympic champion. And I just want to, you know, just wish him the very best and hope that he gets through, get a great lane in the finals and then just leave it all on the track. You mentioned the lane there. I mean, how much of that is what you, what is preference versus there being a clear, better one. I mean, you're all running 200 meters, one way or another. But I imagine some guys kind of like inside some, like outside. What is the, what is there a better lane that's clear for, for every runner or is it kind of dependent on your style? Well, I mean, first of all, you don't get a choice. No, no, of course. Yeah. Right. But yeah, but, but yeah, the, you know, for a tall guy, the out, for a tall person, the outer lane. So from lane six on out are the better lanes. I mean, obviously, if you're in lane eight, if you're in lane eight, that's a great lane, but you're running by yourself. So, so for me, when I ran, you know, the three times I ran the 200 meters, I like to be in a lane with one person outside of me that way I can actually gauge, you know, what I do with my stride pattern, my gate, you know, my aggressiveness on the corner off of them and what they're doing. But yeah, the outer lane, the outer lanes are always the best inner lanes. It's tough. I mean, it's very, very tough. And they, and that's maybe the complaints to be you guys were, were young also, but the 150 against Michael Johnson. That's why I had some complaints about the, about the, the tightness of the corner. And it ended up, I ended up, you know, I ended up, um, injuring my, my quadricep going around the corner. So yeah, so that, but you didn't pull up, but you didn't pull up. Do you think I'm going to do that in front of, in front of 50,000 Canadian? Of course not. Oh, that's why we love you, Donovan. Never dude. Never. And I'm never going to lose either in front of my whole fans. Okay. So I have to ask you this question. Because obviously you, you were an elite athlete. We know that fastest man on the planet, gold medalist. You were also invited to Raiders training camp. If I'm not mistaken, correct? That's right, man. That's right. Okay. So here's my question. Because you have these athletic jeans in you, when you watch the Olympics, and I'm just focusing on the Olympics here, what is the other, what is a sport that you would have liked to have tried to compete in? Or do you think you would have been successful in? Because, you know, you just have that athletic ability, natural athletic ability, that goes a long way. Is there something that you looked at and said, I would have liked to have tried that, or I thought I could be really good in that. Well, well, I played basketball at Sheridan College and we were the Canadian champions. Um, you know, so that's one. So, and I still play basketball for this day. I'm probably someone who, who naturally gravitated to, you know, to, to, to sports. I mean, I pick it up quite easy. I started, I started playing golf. I got my handicap down to nine and without no lessons. Good for you. Again, my, my, my probably, yeah, I mean, I did that. It was no longer nine, by the way. So that's, that's all good. But you know what, I, I think about, I think about lots of sports. I mean, when I watched like, for instance, when I watched the winter Olympics, I'm like, man, it'd be great if I could be a speed skater. Just again, I'm thinking about natural ability and, and, and like God can tell it natural ability. And, and you look at it and, and I just love the idea of speed, you know, so, so, so I gravitate to a lot of sports and I could pick something up in a second and, and, and like I can, you know, I never played tennis or pick a ball now and, and, and, but I, I get in there and, and again, the natural way in which I move and, and then I can certainly learn from the people, the good people around me that are actually doing any sport. So I gravitate to a lot of things. So I guess I didn't really answer the question, but, but I, but I do, I do naturally pick up sports. No, you did. You're like, Hey, do you guys remember 96? I'm the fastest man in the world. I'm strong as an ox and I'd probably be pretty good at a lot of things if I put my mind to it. You're not wrong to think that way. You know, it's funny. We've had, maybe there's someone that's, that's, I'm forgetting here. We have had summer Olympians do, or sorry, winter Olympians do the summer Olympics. I think of speed skaters who have done mountain biking and a Cindy Kloss. Yeah, Cindy Kloss. And I don't think we've gone the other way. You, you left out Bob sled Donovan. I feel like he'd be a wonderful break man there. You get pushed in that sled. You got big strong legs. I think that would work out well for you. You know, I could just hear you talking. You're obviously a fan of sport. What have you made of the Olympics so far? I mean, we've had some amazing moments summer Macintosh been great in the pool. I think we're all a little disappointed by what happened with Canada basketball yesterday. But just I can hear it. You're passion. What have you made of the Olympics as a whole so far? Well, well, one, I will touch on your point a second ago. I was in the Bob sled program. Okay. In fact, in fact, in fact, it's actually what allowed me to become a great the greatest sprinter ever. I went to try out for the Bob sled team. Didn't really like the fact that I was running on ice. Didn't like the fact that I had to talk in at the talk into a little into a little fled with four guys. You know, and and and so I didn't like that. So however, however, like Sheridan Baptist, my good friend, Glen Roy Gilbert, those guys went the other way to answer your question. Now the Olympics this year, you know, what? Yeah, I mean, I'm loving what's happening. You know, the the 100 meters was incredible. It showed the differences between experience and youth because Kishin Thompson and Oblique Seville in Jamaica. The Jamaicans are way better sprinters than no allows, but no allows again, you know, you know, you know, amidst his brashness and confidence. You know, he won the Olympic Olympic title, and he's done incredible. And he's a great ambassador, regardless of what you think of his personality. You know, it's the Canadians on the track. Yeah, I mean, summer is doing great, Catsburg, Carmen, Carmen James. They are there. There are lots, lots of really good young people establishing themselves as stars now. You know, this a little disappointed for Andre in the 100 meters. But again, it's a tough, tough call. I hope that he's going to do well later. The basketball Yeah, man, I was watching the basketball. And I was like, Oh, I was looking. I mean, I'm also a fan, right? So I'm trying to, so I'm trying to see I wanted to see Canada play the US for the gold. For sure. That was my goal. All right. I mean, I'm sure you guys were thinking the same thing, too. But yeah, man, I mean, France, they've got an incredible team. It's their home country. So I'm guessing they want to see the same thing, too. They're like, we want to play the US. You know, so why not? I mean, they're not worried about Canada and Canadian fans. But you know what? The Olympics, for me, you know, every four year, every four year cycle that comes around. Couple of things is either you see the incredible stars that were there before, like Simone Biles and others, you know, that are that are longtime, incredible athletes, or you see the emergence of new people like someone like summer and Ethan, right? You know, so so, you know, I'm someone as a fan of the sport and also as an analyst. I get to have my thumb on the pulse of all of these things. So I get to see all the athletes that were incredible. You get to see the legends, you know, like myself and Carl Lewis and the others that are there supporting the sport. And then you get to see the brand new athletes, the 17, 18, 19, 20 year olds that are just making a name for themselves and doing incredible things and breaking records. So as a fan, you know, the games are always going to be the games. I'm always going to like what I see. Certainly, I'm going to be, you know, I'm going to be disappointed, you know, in people's performances, but that's kind of how the game goes. And that's how the four year cycle works so incredible. Because if someone doesn't get to the goal that they want, they have four years now to kind of work, work on their craft, perfect, perfect it. And then get back to it again in four years from now. Yeah, you kind of nailed it there, right? Like sports is beautiful because not everybody does get to win. Like your goal wouldn't be so sweet if everybody had had one of them. And that's just kind of what we see on display here. You mentioned Noah Lyles there, the personality, you know, I think we all are like, yeah, he's very brash. I look at and go, he's a sprinter. I feel like that's kind of what all you guys are like. Do you all have the exact same personality or were there guys that, you know, I sometimes feel like people say humble as though it's like you have to be, you know, you're, you're all super fast. You can think of yourselves exactly as you should. But does every sprinter have that personality that you clearly have that bolt had that Lyles had of just I am the best? Or are there, are there other personalities that maybe we're just not as aware of a people who are maybe a touch more subdued? Well, I mean, first of all, I think personality is customized to the individual person. I think that I think it's crazy that you want to put everyone in the same bucket. It's not a team sport, man. Yeah, no, no, Donovan, just to be clear, I love it. Like, I think it's great that the sprinters are the peacocks and they puff their chest out and say, I'm great. It's just, I do wonder if there's anybody in the world in your world that's not kind of wired that way. Well, not a winner. Fair. No, but I'm saying to you that. No, when I, no, I imagine this. I mean, and again, you know, when I'm when I do corporate speeches and all of that, there is no one in the world that actually has ambition and that wants to achieve something more than than whatever that that than what they do the next day that does not have an edge. There is no one on this planet, no woman, no man that wants something or have the ambition that doesn't have a slight edge, regardless of what their personality is. If sometimes people will talk and sometimes sometimes people talk too much or they'll do or they say something that's silly, but that's their own personality as long as they're not offending someone personally, right? But there's nobody in this world that achieves anything that doesn't have an edge or a chip. And I think to me that's that's that's an incredible sign of ambition. No, that's that's that's really well said. I think you put it perfectly as you did just about everything in this interview. Donovan, I could listen to you wax poetic, but we are almost out of out of runway on the show here. Thanks so much for for jumping on. Good luck to everybody in the 200. And again, I hope you enjoy it this afternoon. Thank you for having me, man. Go Canada. There we go. Go Canada. Armin, clip that. I want that as a drop available to me. Donovan Bailey, he mentioned it there. I referenced it my favorite non Olympic moment ever. I mean, his his his golds in 96 or certainly up there of just like my pantheon of things I enjoyed, but oh god, him wolfin at the at the now Roger Center then skydome after pulled up. Not him. Wasn't going to pull up in front of all those Canadians. It's amazing. That's never going to go away. And rightfully so. He's gonna be 90 years old talk about how strong he is at everything. And I just I love that aspect of it. I think he I think he thought for a second there. I was saying it's a bad trade to have. No, I think it's wonderful. I think we it's it sometimes rubs us the wrong way when we see like the fourth receiver on an NFL team. Yeah, that's a little bit different, but I don't know. Two-time gold medalist. I walked everybody who you came across and and still holds the way he does in this country. I love that he still kind of carries himself that not kind of does carry himself that way. Absolutely. I think that there's a lot of again, how many people can ever say that they were at one point the fastest person on the planet. I couldn't say it was fastest guy in like my class. Yeah, I wasn't the fastest in anything I've ever done. Nobody has ever accused me of being a speed demon. But what I will say is that I've heard and I believe it was Paul Jones that told me that he's played against Donovan Bailey in basketball. And he says he has the exact same mentality as like he's just a dog on a bone. He is just all over it. He wants to win and pick up basketball. And it doesn't matter. Hey, national champion, as he mentioned it, shared in shared in college there. I was thinking we're a soccer nation now. I want them down the ring. Imagine him that you throw a throw a little long through ball up to Donovan Bailey, just let them get run and use that big frame. I think that's exactly where we need them. Well, that was the Raiders idea when they invited him to training camp. It was Al Davis and then they just kept doing it. They're like, I bring me Darius Hayward Bay, all the fastest guys. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But he, I remember him talking about that and saying like he's like, I'm a sprinter. Like I'm not, you know, yeah. But yeah, he was definitely invited by Al Davis. And could you imagine just a lot of what Patrick Mahomes here throw one to a sprinter? Well, have you seen him throw the ball to Tyree kill before? Yeah, that's kind of what is fastest those guys. It's the, I mean, the ultimate thing with that is it's the old like, you know, we all joke about a LeBron James social world where he could have been a tight end. It's like, yeah, taking contact in that sports a little different. And there's even less of that on the track. But like you said, he's played tons of other sports. I just, I love the passion. He has is a guy who just so clearly holds a ton of pride for the country. And also what I love is that he's, he's far enough from, or I won't even say he's far enough removed. He's just has reached such a lofty standard that he has no problem being like, yeah, I was disappointed. I wanted Canada basketball to be in and wanted them to go play for gold. There's not the kind of double speak of, well, you know, they gave it their best try. And they did. But he doesn't care about giving it their best try because he's certain of wouldn't have felt that way in his 100 meter. So I just love that from him as well. What did he say? You can't, you have to have a certain mentality to be a winner, right? I asked him, are there any more humble? Not winners. Mm. Agreed. That's right. And you know what? I bet they existed. I bet we never, ever hear from him. It's been a fun edition. You're back for a couple more this week. The rest of the week, I believe it's been a great edition of the fan morning show. If I do say so myself on SportsNet 5.90 the fan. Good morning. Good morning.
