[MUSIC PLAYING] 2024 Olympic Games in the rear of your mirror. Funny how fast it goes by early on. You're like, oh, we've got all this runway. We've got ahead of us. They're just in the pool. Yeah, it's still the running to come. And yeah, that's all behind us now. Someone who enjoyed their-- or who I enjoyed their coverage of very much, as I'm sure most of you did as well. Andry, Andy Petrillo joining us now. CBC Sports Olympic host Andy. Thanks so much for jumping on. How you doing this morning? Well, that was a very fitting song you played, because I feel like I'm barely alive. I'm great, and I'm happy to be here. I always like to give this opportunity to people who work in this business. No one likes us crying over the arduous job we have of sitting in a comfortable room and talking about sports. But man, Olympics, different time zones, learning about-- and again, the prep work we love to do, but learning about 1,000 different sports. I always just want to offer my thanks, as I know a lot of people across the country feel the same way, like it is-- it's quite the undertaking. I feel it sometimes watching it. You're working on it a little bit different. So a great job by the entire CBC crew. Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, there's a really good crew that obviously cares deeply about it. And I think that's what makes it special, is you have people have been preparing years, right? As you know, the cycle between the summer and the winter. And it's a lot of hard work for a lot of people behind the scenes as well. And it feels really, really good when you put something together, you hope the country appreciates it. And it's always a cherry on top, and the athletes themselves end up having an incredible Olympics. And you're just able to tell these incredible stories. Yeah, so it all comes together. And then now it's time for some well-deserved rest. Yes, I would say so. But not for like, I don't know, 15 to 20 minutes. And then very, very well-deserved rest. But we're going to enjoy this conversation. I want to take us back to the beginning. I mean, boy, the tenor of the games at the end certainly felt a lot different than the tenor of the games at the beginning. I mean, everybody has events they're particularly excited about. But I think one of the storylines we were all prepped for heading into the games was Canada soccer, trying to repeat as gold medalists on the women's side of things. And then the drone scandal kind of rocked the games and rocked us all. It's just not that that scandal is done, not that we're done talking about it. But it's crazy how far removed we feel from the kind of fervor right off the hop of the games with that story. It was really crazy. And I mean, obviously, if you look at the big picture, too, for as successful as Canada was, right, as we keep saying, the most successful non-boycott at summer games with nine gold, 27 medals. It's also a game where there were two controversies. And that was the first one. And then, of course, Andre de Grasse's coach and Reyna Ryder as well, being stripped of his credentials. And it made me think, like, the last time we talked about Canada being at the center of this kind of storm. And all I could really think about was Ben Johnson. Like, you're going back to the late 80s. I mean, that's how crazy this is when you're talking about it from a controversy point of view that there were two instances where the COC had to strip coaches of their credentials at the same Olympics. And I'm like, what is happening here? And the Canada soccer one, you're right. It just-- it's so conflicting the emotions that you have. And there are the Olympic emotions. There's that feeling of representing your country where, how could you do this? And you're cheating, and you get busted. And then there's the other side of it where you even have some American players coming out saying, this has done a lot in the game, on the pro side. I mean, it doesn't make it right. But you're like, oh, my goodness. They're doing what other countries do. But then they did it at the Olympic, and they got caught. And you just have-- your brain just starts to swirl. And now you start to look back at all these matches. And right away, I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I look back at the gold medal match. And I'm thinking, oh, no. Like, what does this even mean for Tokyo 2020 for the women? And then the men, this epic run that they had to qualify for the World Cup. And you're like, oh, no. Like, how am I supposed to feel about that now? So you just have a lot of these conflicting emotions because the men's and women's team for the last few years gave us so much to be proud of and so much to cheer for. And you try to console yourself by saying, wait a second. Other people are saying this is so normal in the game. But then there's the other part of you that's like, no, that still doesn't sit right with me. And I did see that while I was continuing to cover the Olympics, obviously when the players returned home, they were being interviewed. And it was Vanessa Gill, who said that they were given a talk before, like, when they arrived in France, they were told no drones. France has their own laws. Like, yes, it's the Olympics, but France in particular has laws about unmanned aircraft flying around. And they were given this whole speech because drones are also used during their own practices, right? So they were given this warning that not even for your own practice or, like, be very careful. We have very strict rules about this. And she's like, that's why I was kind of banging my head against the wall, that we would even do this, that our coaches would even do this, given this whole speech they were given by French authorities. And yeah, it's just, it's really mind-boggling, guys. And I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I'm still trying to follow up with Ken and soccer on what this means, even for John Hurdman. The only thing that they really can control is the Canadian Championship. And we know that he they're in the second leg. Toronto FC against four JFC and CPL will be suspended in for that game. I'm still trying to get answers to that. I've reached out to them for that. But we'll see what this means moving forward. - You know, it was when we look back at these games, the most successful non-boycotted games ever, you know, it includes gold medals with nine, which was second only to, again, a boycotted games. Their medal count 27, second only to a boycotted games. It does kind of feel like a building block here. And it's kind of a weird one, 'cause we're talking about the team sports. Those were the kind of marquee events that we expected Canada to compete very well in. And it turns out that they didn't medal in any of them. - When you look at this games as a building block, can it be, I guess it, can it be a building block because there's just so much change over in four years? - Yeah, it's interesting because, I mean, and sometimes you don't find that out until years down the road. Like to your point, we get a medal in fencing. Does that mean from young kid, watch that? And now they want to be a fencer. So who knows, right? In like 10, 15 years from now, we might be having that story of a kid who suddenly is doing well for Canada in that particular sport because of, you know, the pair is 2024. You know, it's the basketball, obviously soccer, there were no medals there. We ended up getting our first medal in tennis as well since 2000. It's, you never can really put your finger on something. It's like, well, why did that happen? Sometimes it's a perfect storm. It's a perfect timing. You have athletes who are just really, really good and they peak at the right time. Like that's why we keep talking about peaking and what it means. Like even, you know, Katie Vincent, getting her gold in canoe sprint. Again, the first ever gold for a Canadian woman in that. She won it by 0.01. That's what we talk about peaking. That's what it matters when you peak at the right moment. So sometimes it's exceptional athletes, it's exceptional training. And then sometimes you bring it down to a program. Sometimes there's been investment in that program. Athletics is a great example of that. You know, there's really been a ton of investment, a lot of hard work in the field events. You know, it's always been there for the track events. And that's why we've had, especially on the men's side, these great sprinters for as long as we've had. But the field has always kind of lagged for the last little while. And now the coaching and everyone that's been coming on board, there's been investment there and you see it come to fruition here. So I think it's like a combination of things of, again, you know, Felix Ojiali's team is a great tennis player and he happened to be on form here at these Olympics, which was exceptional. Kristin Diguchi is somebody who just is an incredible judoka, but gets her chance here at the Olympics and shine and gets that gold medal. What is that gonna mean for the sport now that people were able to see that, especially young children? But I also think a lot of it too is investment in systems and we'll see what that means moving forward in the future. - Yeah, we can all have the best intentions of anything, right? But at the end of the day, like the funds have to come. And then the work needs to be put in, like those are the two things that need to happen before any of these kind of great stories can be told. I feel like you're kind of the perfect person to ask this just 'cause you were, you know, sitting in the Olympics so long, right? And the kind of eye of the storm is, I sometimes think there's a worry heading into a games and you know, I think to be perfectly honest, like we're guilty of it a little bit of times with the men's basketball team heading into it. But when there is a star power that can feel, or it's more familiar to us or we're more used to it and it's kind of new, right? Like it's been a while since we've had a Canadian men's basketball team that had, you know, NBA players on it or at the games at all. Do you think that we do a good enough job? And again, I know you do a good enough job of telling the stories, but do we all do a good enough job appreciating, you know, the summer Macintoshs of the world, the true Olympic athletes that I think most people think of versus, hey, LeBron James is here and that's pretty cool. And look at Djokovic winning his gold. Like, do you think we're able to kind of walk and chew gum at the same times in terms of loving that the best athletes in the world are here while also giving the due to the kind of more, I don't know if I'd like to say more true, but the kind of classic Olympic athlete. - Yeah, I mean, obviously that's what we do over, you know, at CBC, I mean, a weekend and a week out, we show the high performance athletes. So if there's an audience for that, which there is, they can find it. And obviously there are other networks that cater to an audience that really want the pro athletes if you want to, I mean, I hate using the word pro because everyone's pro, like even summer Macintosh, you just said, I mean, she's starting to deal with Red Bull. - Right, I think it's, I think it's the more, I think it's like the North American athletes that are, but it's like that's unfair to the soccer players 'cause they're pretty famous too. I know, I've been trying to find the right wording for it for like a week and a half. You'd think I would have stumbled on it at least once, but I haven't either, Andy. - Yeah, we're, I mean, it's just, it's the high performance versus like the athlete that plays in the professional leagues, right? That we get to see almost like every other night. And basically the athletes who make a lot of money, and I get what you're saying, but I think what's beautiful about the Olympics is that these athletes are all being celebrated together. These athletes themselves get starstruck with each other when they meet each other in the athletes village. And, you know, there was a great, I don't know if you guys were able to see it, right? Like Michaela Blyde of the New Zealand rugby sevens team was like such a massive Shelly M. Frazier price fan, Jamaican sprinter, you know, other people that I was with Olympians on my show who share their experiences of running into Andy Murray. Like they love the celebrity status of each other. So I think from an athlete point of view, they love the mix and mingle from a media point of view. I think we all do a really good job, you know, especially come Olympic time in talking about all these athletes, right? It's this beautiful platform where we could share all their stories. And we did have a moment like, you know, Djokovic when he won in tennis and then especially as well, like even in golf now, like all these celebrities in the sports world who make millions and millions of dollars are sobbing representing their country. And we remember like, okay, this is why it matters to be at the Olympics and why all the athletes then become on equal footing. This is why the NHLers have been fighting so hard to get back into the NHL because it matters to represent your country. This is why NFLers are talking about wanting to be a part of flag football in LA 2028. And I think, you know, come Olympic time, we do give the proper coverage and all networks do because you can't help but do so. How do you ignore summer Macintosh? You just won four medals, three of them gold, right? Like it's just, it's really special. What I would obviously encourage to your point though, is there are athletes who will not medal, who still deserve their story to be told? Sarah Mitten and Shoppelock came in as the one to beat, she was the, you know, world silver medalist, but she had the longest throw of the year and she doesn't even make it to the final. So of course she's gonna fall through the cracks of storytelling, but it matters because of the comeback she was able to have even from Tokyo and what she's done in the year since and becoming a Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games champion. And here in Paris, when she doesn't make the final, she's going around consoling all the other shot putters because she said, I remember what it felt like for me in Tokyo. And I just, you know, even though I'm feeling it here, I wanna make sure these other athletes know that they have a shoulder to lean on. And she gave her interview and she was defiant and she said, I'll be back in four years. So that matters. So maybe, you know, a little bit more of a conscious effort to tell the stories of the athletes who gave their everything and it didn't culminate in the medal, but that storytelling that needs to still be told. - Yeah, it is interesting because Canada also had 49 top five finishes, which I think is something that will probably fly under the radar because, and listen, I'm guilty. - I'm gonna expand the podium again, platinum and tin. - I'm all, I'm guilty of also just being, well, hey, we want a medal in this, but like there's something to be said about being the fifth best person in the world in your sport. Like that's something that I think doesn't get a lot of credence, but when we look overall at this games and you know, I talked about the building blocks earlier, it really does feel like this is one of those things that could galvanize our summer, 'cause in the winter Olympics, I feel like there's, you know, that gets its credence, but I feel like sometimes in the summer Olympics, it kind of falls behind in terms of not so much the coverage, but just how important it is for Canada to be successful at these games as well. When you look at these games specifically and overall the impact that Canada had at these games finishing where they did with the amount of medals that they did, amount of gold medals that they did, could this be one of those games where you look at it and say, this is where the COC and then the governing bodies of each of the specific sports look at it and say, we need to get more funding in here because there really is a crop of athletes that just needs that little bit of a push, especially financially to get them over the line because 49 top five finishes eventually couldn't turn into 60 or 70 top five finishes and 40 medals. - Oh, for sure. You know, this is such an interesting topic because, you know, first and foremost, I think what we're starting to ask now is where should the money come from? And, you know, obviously you get your government funding. We can only get so much of that. And then you get the athletes with their performances, they can get their individual sponsorship, which is huge, but we have this really good debate because for the first time ever world athletics gave prize money to the gold medalist at the Olympics. So if you were a gold medalist in athletics, you got $50,000. So Ethan Katzberg and Cameron Rogers, our hammer throwers who won gold, got 50 grand, that's American, plus in Canada, we give 25,000. The COC gives 25,000 per gold. So boom, just like that. That's $75,000, give or take whatever American that they walked away with. And when world athletics first made that announcement that they were going to give the gold medalist 50 grand and then in the next game, they've already committed in LA to give money to now silver and bronze medalist as well, they ruffled a lot of feathers of other federations because other federations were like, what are you doing? Now you're setting this precedent. Now it's going to make us look bad. Now, you know, our athletes are going to come to us and we had the debate and it was pretty unanimous when we were like, who cares too bad to these other federations? And in particular now, the finger starts to get pointed towards the IOC who makes a lot of money. Now in fairness to the IOC, they do disperse money to the federations. It's very different. I couldn't sit here and tell you it's 5 million, you know, to each federation across the board. I don't know it fluctuates 'cause it also depends on what the games actually make and then they disperse money. But between, and I'm talking like big governing bodies, right? Like, COC, not necessarily swimming, Canada athletics can't, like I'm not going down to the individual, I'm going to the big governing bodies. They get money from the IOC. They make a lot of money. And I commend World Athletics for saying, we make a lot of money, so we're going to give back. And I really hope that creates a trend here. I really hope that opens a door, opens up the floodgates because if you're talking about money, like governments can only give so much. Like you look at the Americans. Americans don't get government funding. They're like the most successful, you know, at the Olympic Games and they don't get government funding. Now mind you, they're bigger. They get a ton of private corporate dollars, you know, but there is a lot that you can do outside of relying on that kind of funding. And it comes from your federation. It comes from again, doing well on a global stage and getting that, even that sponsorship and private sponsorship and, you know, whatever that you get. But I'm looking at the federation to make a ton of money and it's about time they start opening up those deep pockets and respecting what their athletes do on the global stage to bring recognition to their score. I could talk about this all day, but that's a new door that's opened up because of what world athletics did at these games. - Yeah, no, it is fascinating when you think of it that way. You know, you could talk about this all day. I could inquire about it all day. I'm a little out of my depth here, but it's like I even just wonder the idea of, you know, the NCAA track system being what it is, right? And the development kind of coming through there before and not to say before they, you know, the USA track and field have these people in the system, but it's all kind of one and same of the pipeline. And I'd imagine just having those resources as well, kind of, kind of helps. We have talked about all the big stories of the game, but we have left the biggest one. I won't say for last 'cause we'll see how you answer. Maybe there's something we need to pick at here, but we finally saw it. We have a goal in it and I'm talking about breaking. - It feels like every couple of Olympics were due for one of these. I remember, you know, I was a youth at the time. So I thought it was great, but like when skateboarding came in, it's like, people go, now, what are we doing? This is an Olympic event. I certainly had my thoughts about breaking before I saw it. Now that it's here, I love it. I can't believe I ever lived my life without it. It feels like it did feel like this was the part of it, I think was the time it kind of fell later on in the games, but seems like everybody has had their fun with it one way or another. Not that you were unfamiliar 'cause again, you do your homework, but what did you make of breaking Olympic debut? - Wow, this is an interesting one. Well, I hope you enjoyed it 'cause now it's one and done. LA 2028 will not have it on its Olympic program. So, which is another topic of like, if you're gonna make a score or the Olympics, are you not gonna at least give it some time? So... - What about the young breaker that saw the wizard do what he did? And now they can't. Well, ah, I feel awful. - That's what I mean. That's a future trivia question, right? Who won the first and probably only gold medal in med's breaking? We can say it was a Canadian, but that'll probably be a future trivia question. Yeah, I mean, when I saw it, it's phenomenal what they're able to do. And there's no doubt about it. And when you saw like the true breakers and I say true breakers, 'cause I think we've all seen all the memes out there and all the viral videos of the Australian breaker, I don't know what was happening there. Yeah, that was a tough one. When you saw what they were able to do, it's like, whoa, this is incredible. But I can also understand why some people who are die-hard Olympic fans are like, well, I don't like this. A, it's the argument of is it sport, is it art? There's also the argument of what am I watching and how is it scored? That's what people want to know. When they watch an Olympic sport, they want to know how somebody can win. And something like breaking can't really be shoved into an Olympic bubble, right? Like, yeah, it's tough because everything they're doing is kind of like impromptu, as we all know. They don't know the music that's gonna be played. Everything, then they're given the one minute, right? There's the three minutes they're given, the battles is what they call. A lot of it is just they're making up moves on the spot. So oftentimes, the commentators don't even have a name for the dance move they just pulled out because they just created it. So like, you're watching this going, and that's why the commentators, oftentimes, they're commentating, was this, whoo, whoa. - Is that a lot? - Yeah, yeah, a lot of that, yeah. 'Cause they didn't know what to say. And I can see how the Olympics are gonna turn around and say, all right, moving forward, you have to have X amount of elements. These elements are worth X amount of points. Here are your degree of difficulty. Here are the names of these elements in order for it to have some structure. But now if you're a breaker, that's not true to your roots. Breaking is not about structure. So it's just like, it's just so surreal, but I will say watching Phil Kim, I hope people got to appreciate why this guy's a three-time world medalist 2022 world champion. I mean, he was just remarkable the way he could move. So I hope we all enjoyed it while we could, because yeah, it's not part of the Olympics moving forward. - You know, I don't know at what speed the internet works. Maybe this is like too much lead time, but if Australian breaker isn't the hottest Halloween costume going for 2024, I really don't know what could be. That's certainly my pick from the Olympics. And honestly, if we didn't have breaking, we wouldn't have had that conversation. And like you say, you can't break it down. You just broke it down, Andy. I love the conversation. I love your work on the games. Thanks so much for jumping on with us here. - Thanks for having me, guys. - No, bad for Andy Petrillo. She certainly earned it working hard. I loved all the coverage at CBC again. Andy Petrillo, check her out on CBC Sports. You probably did check a lot of it out on Jim there. Great, great stuff at the Olympics. And I'll just say it again. I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying I need it in the games, but where would we be in the world, especially on this Monday morning, if I didn't get to hear that breakdown from Andy Petrillo on breaking? - Well, it's just, again, it's one of those things that, it's funny that it's a one and done because of all places that you would think it would maybe, I don't know about Thrive, but it would have, like it feels like it would fit, would be LA. - Yeah, although I feel like I now want, I now just want, and then again, not that I think of like Petty as the breaking capital of the world. - No. - I just want whatever they're like local dances. Like I want some like hippie sway contest at the LA Olympics now. That's what I want. I also, if there's any justice in the world of breaking, if they have a good sense of humor, which like, I don't know, I feel like you probably should, if you're gonna call yourself the wizard professionally for your life, I need those now to become great breaking moves. Like what the Australian, what was my girl? Dr. Ray Gunn. - Ray Gunn, Ray Gunn. - Dr. Ray Gunn, they should have included Dr. in the name, 'cause again, she has a PhD in like physical movement or something. - Oh, he dropped a Ray Gunn. - Yeah, I need those moves to now become part of the culture. Like I want to see footage of like them making it look good, quite frankly, 'cause that did not, what my girl Ray Gunn was busting out for the Australian breaking team. But also, if that is not the sports Halloween costume of 2024, I really don't know what else it could be, honestly. It has to be, right? Like, yeah, but it's a green track pants. You roll around on the floor. It's not that hard, people. - It really isn't. I mean, it really did feel like stuff that we couldn't have done. What was it? It was my toddler throws a tantrum. - My toddler throws a tantrum. I've also seen NHL goalies when they can't find the puck, when she's doing the one on the floor. - Yeah, I've seen that one a lot. God, it's just, thank you to Dr. Ray Gunn, 'cause where would be in the world? Again, like something else will happen. It's the internet. We're gonna see something hilarious today. - I'm sure. - But where would we have been this weekend without that? As I mentioned earlier on the show, Blue Rodeo hits Budweiser stage on Saturday, August 24th, along with guests, Matt Mays and Begonia. We're giving away tickets on today's show to enter for a chance to win text in today's code word, Rodeo to 59590. Again, that's Rodeo to 59590. Standard message and data rates may apply. We are giving away another pair of tickets tomorrow, but if you don't win with us, make sure to secure your tickets on ticketmaster.ca. Canada, unable to secure a medal. Men's or women's at the Olympic Games on the hardcore there. Michael Grange will join us to recap the tournament, talking about Chohalam beads, potential nation, flip flop for the next games. And what does that mean? If that was Steph Curry and LeBron James last time suiting up for America, that they did it together. So I have to Grange to finish up the show next when we continue on Sports Snap 590, 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. - Monday morning. Most of you, it's just beginning, but for you boy, truck it along to a finale of my Monday morning here. Fun show today did our Olympic recap there, Andy Petrillo just breaking it down for us, all the funding. It was funny seeing the different prizes that certain associations and governing bodies give, like I saw the Men's Olympic golf one popped up. It's like Scotty Sheffler, 36 grand. And there's one like 15, does he know? Like, did anyone tell him? What do you have, no one? - Hadeki Matsuyama. - He has that in his couch. - Hadeki Matsuyama, six grand for winning bronze, Tommy Fleetwood, a big old zelch for silver. Nothing, you get nothing, good day sir. - Gee Wilder, he wouldn't, again, like he said, doesn't know the difference. - No, yeah, he's like, yeah, exactly, right? So you took the taxes, great, there we are. Joining us now to recap the Olympic basketball specifically, but you know, he's a supporting man himself. So who made us some thoughts on other things we saw. Michael Grange, sports net NBA columnist, Grange. How you doing today? - Doing good, I'm doing good. How was everybody? - Doing well, doing well. Olympics, now in our rearview mirror here, and it reminded me of how dark late September could be as a sports fan when the baseball team you talk about every day is no good. So yeah, I'm like currently dealing with that, but otherwise well, we had the Olympics wrap up. I mean, I won't say played out chalk, but I think a lot of people could have foreseen a similar result playing out in terms of the three medalists we got there. I won't lead the witness too much here, just your kind of general thoughts of what we saw at the Olympic tournament here. - Yeah, I thought it was kind of going into it. You looked at it, I think both on the men's end, women's side and saw the potential for it to being, you know, on all time tournament in terms of competition and level of competition and depth of competition. And it certainly played out that way. And, you know, you look at the team USA on the men's side and they, you know, they got pushed. I mean, I'm not one to suggest that, you know, I'm not one to really buy in too much that the gap is closed in a significant way, I think. - 'Cause you're smart, great, yeah. - Yeah, I mean, I think what you've seen is, you know, for an American team, obviously an all time level of talent, just to be thrown together with, you know, not a ton of, you know, they are vulnerable. But, you know, I think when you saw against Serbia and they were down in the bronze medal or in the semi-final and, you know, the 15 minutes of the game they did play, they were pretty dominant, right? And similarly against France, when they needed to be, they certainly had another gear they could throw it into. But, you know, elsewhere in the tournament, you know, the competition was incredible. And it was, you know, and there's obviously there are other countries, France in particular, that are, you know, that are kind of making a move and it's, you know, it's gonna be interesting, but a team USA still, you know, as long as they get their best guys and they buy in, they're really tough out, I think. On the women's side, again, an amazing tournament, it would have been probably the biggest upset in basketball history, Olympic basketball history, I think. If, you know, had France won that game against team USA in the gold medal final, again, it was, you know, we've seen the formula here for international basketball or Olympic basketball where, you know, the favorite team just goes ice cold, gets a little rattle, tosses the ball around and, you know, the strange things can happen in those games. But in the end, team USA wins their tenth gold and eighth straight, and I don't think they've lost the game now in '62, so, you know, pretty amazing. And I guess you're Canadian fan, you look at the performance at French team, you maybe look a little more kindly on how Canada showed and group play going back now just like two months ago, instead of a couple of weeks. But, yeah, I mean, it was, it was, if you're a fan of international basketball, the past two weeks have been pretty good. - Yeah, and I think it's, I think it's just fun to see a different style, right? Like, that doesn't always happen in international sports. Like, obviously, you know, like all soccer leagues across the world kind of, you know, do it a little bit differently, but it's like, it's not a completely different game than what you watch, whereas FIBA very much is that way. There's never really an ending of a generation for American basketball, 'cause they're always in the midst of the next one, like you just laid out there. But if there is a world where, you know, there needs to be a redeem team thing, again, you can kind of see it happening somewhat soon for the States to like, what do you think it means that, you know, I mean, I'm done retiring LeBron James, but I've shocked if he played in another Olympics. Steph Curry, probably one and done as well. Like, can you see a world where that changing of the guard does kind of have the States kind of taken their foot off the gas? And that seems like what happened the last time when it was a young LeBron and, you know, young mellow. And I don't think Durant was quite in the picture yet, but that's why they needed the redeem team or missing out on some of those guys as well. I just, if there ever was a time where USA basketball could maybe be seen to take the foot off the gas, I could see it with the end of that generation. - Yeah, it's a great point. And I mean, you're referring back to the '04 Olympics. - Yeah. - Like, just incredible work. You know, the USA lost, you know, they got beat by Brazil and they lost and, you know, they lost, they won a bronze medal, but it was obviously, sorry, they got beat by Puerto Rico and could play incredibly. - And the States, the same. We've been there too. - Yeah, and they, you know, they end up going over the bronze and it was a bit of a crisis at that time. But, so yeah, it will be interesting to watch going into 20, 28, which is in L.A. You know, how Team USA kind of builds towards that because you're right, they won't have the security blanket of, you know, arguably three of the best 10 to 15 players of all time, if not in LeBron James, the best player of all time. That's a pretty nice luxury to have. Right to lean on and barring some incredible reversing of time. I don't think they'll be there in 24 years from now. So, you know, that'll be an interesting storyline to watch because, you know, France is going to be only that much better, I think, in terms of overall talent going forward. I think, you know, Canada will still be, you know, a pretty formidable team internationally over the next four years. And, you know, it would be quite a story. And we saw the power of a home crowd, right? So, you know, you saw this, it'll be, would be quite a story for Team USA to sort of stumble at home against in L.A. But, again, the reality is I'm pretty confident that you could take another 12 American players and I think they'd be playing for the silver medal. So, I think somehow, some way, you know, Team USA is going to be okay. You could also, I'll let you ask a question to one millisecond, I have to make this B+ joke a best. You could also just take all the aggrieved Boston Celtics and just put them on that American team. And then, something tells me they might have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder to play with, be it Brown and Tate them there. Yeah, great. I mean, you know, I, that one's kind of fascinating to me. Like, I don't understand how, you know, you can't find 12 minutes a game for Jason Tate. I'm a, it's a, anyway, it's a choice. Yeah, it's an odd one to me. But, you know, it's, that is the nature of the, you know, of these games that you build a team that's so deep. And then, you know, I have 40 minutes to play the guys. And, you know, somebody's, someone's going to kind of feel pretty aggrieved by it. And, and you look at, you know, Tyree's Halliburton. You know, he was like, okay, this is, this is my role is to be a fun guy on the bench. And some guys are okay with that. And Jason Tate, him for good reason. Probably wasn't. Steve Kerr was probably like, God, we had eight more minutes. We could probably play it, Jason. Canada could definitely use a player like Jason Tate. Speaking of switching allegiances. So after the tournament's done, Joe LMB is like, ah, yeah, this was fun. But, you know, maybe in the next one, maybe I'll play for, for Cameroon. I don't know. We'll see what happens. And maybe he wasn't going to be a part of the US Olympic team in four years anyway, as Brent pointed out earlier in the show. But boy, oh boy, like, Joe LMB is not super likable. And like, he just feels like the ultimate front runner. It's, you know, in the NBA, it's one thing. And then it's, you know, yes, he's been with the Sixers his entire career. And I understand that that's great. Couldn't win the big one there. So it's like, oh, well, I'm definitely not going to win it in international basketball. So let me play for the United States. And now it's all of a sudden, well, you know, I could just probably get my waiver and get out of here. I got what I came for. Is Joe LMB the most unlikable player in the NBA right now? Because it sure feels like it. To put it lightly, to put it lightly, Grange. You would want to be me. Yeah. He is, to my mind, a very lovable troll. Like I don't think he's, you know, he doesn't really check too many boxes on my little private list of things that I find abhorrent in pro sports. But what he does do is check a lot of boxes for things that drive you crazy. And, you know, if he's not on your team, you kind of, you know, he's just, he's just a constant source, source of eye rolls. And, you know, whether it's a flopping, whether it's, you know, the team shopping, you know, the, like, the, you know, the trolling when he wins and the tears when he loses. I mean, it's, it's just a, he's, he's incredibly entertaining for, you know, he is, to me, a guy who makes sports really, really fun. And he's like, look, like I had a bananas talent. And, and Tino say, I don't think they beat Serbia without him. Now, that's pretty much why they went out and got him. So they would have somebody to kind of manage, you know, nickel, a yokech and it worked for the most part, or at least he created enough problems for, for Serbia that, but, you know, I think he was the difference in that game, really. But yeah, I mean, you know, like he's unlikable, but not in a way where, you know, you wish you would disappear and, you know, end up in a horrible place. You know, he's unlikable in the sense of you want to boo him. And, you know, sports needs that. Yeah, it's like there's like, I'm trying to keep it within the NBA conference. It's like, you know, there's Joellen beat, unlikable. And there's Donald Sterling, unlikable. You know, there's different things, right? And it's like, I feel one way about one in a different way about the other. And honestly, it's like, I agree, like I am aggrieved. He gets me with all of his trolls, but it's like how boring would it be if we didn't have a few people like him. I also just love the world we live in where we talk about USA basketball, like they're a shopper and free agency. Like, yeah, they just needed that big man. They went out and found a way to get him. It's funny the way these things work out. One of the big stories coming out of the games, I know it's been a while for Canada here, was RJ Barrett. People who have seen him play feeble ball before, you know, especially outside of the World Cup last year, not overly surprised by that. How much can we, you know, extrapolate that to the Raptors? I mean, it can't be a bad thing that he's got a ton of confidence heading into the season. But I also sometimes think people want to make more of it than it is. What do you think it'll mean for the Raptors that he had such a strong showing? Well, I think it's very reassuring. And, you know, RJ's internationally has had kind of some different roles at times, you know, when he was younger, you know, you look back and he, you know, basically carried a team for World Championship as a go-to guy. And at the UN19 level, and, you know, I think what's been really interesting to watch, you know, since he's joined the Raptors is how effective he can be as a complimentary player. Kind of a willingly complimentary player. And just a guy who moves well off the ball who kind of, you know, plays in a way that's kind of seamless with the people around him. And that wasn't really what was being asked of him in New York or the way they played. Like they were very much a nice, so heavy team. And, you know, he was, you know, his role on that team was to produce. And at times it looked a little forced. And I think at times last year at the World Cup, there were moments when it looked a little forced. And, you know, so I think when you look at how we played in Toronto and how efficient it was, and to see that in, you know, a little bit different context, very high profile, very high pressure situations, and see that kind of, not waiver. Like, I mean, he kind of stuck with the game plan personally and within the team context, and was very, very efficient and very, very effective doing it, to me, that suggests that there's more to come, that this is a way he's bought into and comfortable to playing. You talked to people who've been around RJ for a long time. It's kind of how he's always wanted to play. And, you know, it's kind of a match of a player in the system, both with Canada and obviously with the Raptors. So, you know, I think that's, I would be very, very encouraged by that. And, you know, and these guys who do play over the summers, like I think they typically come in season ready and sharp. And I think that's a positive as well. Well, and I think there's a bunch of things that go into this as well, but you could see with, you know, a different player, a different person, maybe in a different situation. They'd say, okay, like, I'm good doing that for Shay Gil, just Alexander. But I don't know, like, Emmanuel, quickly, what's the difference between me and you, really. But I just think RJ won, just given all the comments in the track record we have from him again, like going back to his time at Duke. He was happy to be part of an ensemble. He went to play with Zion. Like, it was like he was afraid to share the spotlight there. And then if anybody would want to make it work as a Raptor, it just seems like he is kind of, you know, obviously, not behold him. But, I mean, he grew up doing it. Of course, he would want to make it work here. I just think that's the other thing, is that, you know, we got kind of the flip side of what we talked about with Tatum coming out of the Olympics, where there's a world where another player maybe says, yeah, actually, you know what, I deserve the car keys. Did you see me having them occasionally when Shay needed to sit down? And I just think given everything we've seen from him, there's just going to be none of that with the Raptors, even if, like, quickly gets off to a slow starter or Barnes as well. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think, you know, if you want to put a positive spin on where the Raptors are right now, it's, I think they've made an investment in kind of a like-minded peer group that they think can kind of be more than some of their parts. And, you know, I think RJ's part of that, you know, I think Scotty Barnes at his best is sort of, that's kind of his signature, right, is he's a guy who kind of plays well with others, right, and makes plays for others. And, you know, so that's kind of a hard thing to achieve in the NBA. It just is, like, just because there's just so many interests on an individual level that just need to be addressed. And, you know, if you can't blame anyone for it, most of the time, like, these guys have pretty short windows to make an incredible amount of money. And sometimes it's hard for them to sort of fully buy into playing as a group. But when they do, you know, the dividends are usually pretty significant. So, you know, I think RJ is a big part of that. And I think, you know, and obviously playing at home as a double-edged sword, right, like you come home and it doesn't work out for you, and you end up being finger pointed as a reason, that's really, that's excruciating, you know, that's like, man, where do you go from there? You want to go home when things are bad, but when things are gone bad at home, wow, what do you do then? And, you know, instead, you know, I think you see with RJ, a guy who really wants to make this work here in Toronto. And, you know, and I think it's, it's a nice fit. Okay, Michael, I have to ask you a golf question, because we were talking about the Olympic tournament and how, you know, and I guess because it's a team sport basketball, it's a different thing because, you know, the team gets together and it's nice to have different players from different teams playing on, you know, one country, whereas in golf, it's still a singular event. It's still the guys and girls that are, you know, playing for themselves and all that. You're a golf guy. Would you like to see a change to the Olympic event just to kind of make it different than any other tournament or do you kind of just like it the way it is? No, 100%. I think they should take the opportunity to make it different. You know, there's, you know, I think there's all kinds of opportunities. It could be men's women mixed event. You know, it could be, you know, just like you see the U.S. college golf could be like literally team golf, right, where, you know, multiple score count. And, yeah, I think it's, you know, it's interesting. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm a little surprised at how much buy-in Olympic golf has gotten among pro golfers, right? Like, as you were guys were saying, off the top, if I was there for the money, you know, certainly there's probably some sponsorship benefits and things like that. And, but it's kind of, I get my hat like to a guy like Saudi Sheffler, like as if he doesn't have other things he could be doing this week, right? But to go and, and, and play for not much cash and, and I think it's, I think it speaks well of him and the other guys who bought in. But, you know, I think it'd be way cooler. And I bet you, you know, you hear golfers men and women golfers when they have an opportunity to play Ryder Cup. So, Hank Cup, you know, they refer to the fun they had playing college golf and that team concept. And I think it's a wasted opportunity that, that, at the Olympic level, they don't inject some version of that. And, you know, I think it'd be great. Yeah, I think you nailed it there. The only thing I'd quibble with is any time you, if you're Scotty Sheffler can, like, bring your wife to Paris and you get to, I imagine, like, expense it or something. It's like, hey, work trip. I don't know. It feels like a pretty good, pretty good sales job by him there as well. But I'm with you. I'd love to see match play, team event, something, please, just something. It's just so tough to jam it in the schedule. Actually, last one before we let you go, Grange, mention golf. How's the game playing much? How are we, how are we feeling, Grange? I've been getting out. Yeah. The, the game is, you know, I feel like I'm playing better and scoring worse. So I guess that's cool. Don't you sound like every guy we've ever asked that question to yourself. I'm sure you've got that answer as well. It's way, it goes better. You hit it. Where's your score? Funny how it works. Not for Sheffler, though. I feel like it's just always good for him unless he's going to the clink. That's a different story, though. Grange, love getting you on throughout the games and I can't wait to bug you again. We're a little closer to a hoop season. Anytime. Have a good one. Let's take it. There he goes. Michael Grange, Sportsnet, NBA columnist and fan of the wonderful game. We call golf. I don't think, I don't think a guy or a person for that matter has ever been asked about their golf game. And they just launch into how well they're doing does feel like you ask other people that about life. It's like, Oh, you can play in tennis like yeah, I've been hitting them all like, Nope. Golf. Everybody sucks. The no one like they might tell you they played well, but how's it get? Oh, no good. I got no one's ever happy. No one's ever happy. No, Jordan loves it. Yeah, it's true. And that's the that's the one thing. I always say this to people. I've played tons of sports growing up. Obviously, none at a, you know, super high level because I'm here talking to you. However, however, however, I will say this golf to me is the hardest sport to play because you can, you can miss a soccer ball by, you know, an inch. Yeah. And it's still kind of going to go in the same direction of the truth. You know, the hockey puck, the same thing. A golf ball, if you miss it by two millimeters, your toast. No, goodbye. Yeah. And the mental game of, you know, you hit a bad shot. It's like, Oh, what's the next one going to bring? No, it's great. Because anytime you can pay, you know, anywhere from 10s to hundreds to hey, if you're, if you're playing in a really nice place, thousands of dollars to torture yourself. Yeah. Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you do that? I got paid to torture all of you today by hosting fair morning show. It was fun one, Andy Patrillo, stepping in, loved her thoughts on the Olympics again. I thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics, but now we're off. Like we are in full NFL preview season, NHL preview season. We're still like a touch away from that. We can love. No, no, no, no, you can start peppering it in, but we're just that little bit further away. I don't think least preseason, like we're still more than a month away from the first preseason game. I act like I don't know. It's September 22. I know exactly what day it is. Of course. So as we track towards that, we'll have a lot for you. And of course, Blue Jays back in action tonight, you could check it out on SportsNet along with right here on SportsNet 5.90 the fan. Careful. It's a juggernaut. They got the angels. They're going to LA for a date with them. That's Matt Marchese. Thanks so much to the guys behind the glass. It's been another fun addition to the fan morning show on SportsNet 5.90 the fan. Good morning.
