[MUSIC PLAYING] Fan morning chose 4-7, 5-9 of the fan band. That's Frank Gunning. So Blue Jays winning baseball games, which is good, I guess, unless you're interested in them tanking. I guess there is a school of thought they should be doing. You're right. Your dear personal friend, J.D. Bunkus, has been the pounding sedrum. Yeah, has he? They are tank. I don't know. I saw like one clip of him saying that on Instagram. So I don't know. Maybe he's amended his position since. But yeah, he was banging sedrum. So there's more upward trajectory for the Blue Jays, potentially upcoming in this three-game series against the Cubs. Blue Jays only a game and a half back of the Cubs for whatever place they are in the standings. And then ahead of them-- well, actually, they're tied with the Tigers, and the Rays are right there. Rays have fallen on hard times because, of course, they traded away everybody, and were bad before they traded. Like, you could see them really impacting their draft positioning here in the coming days. It's obviously now a lottery for the top 10 picks, of which the White Sox will not be a part of, too, which is such a great story, incredible story that the White Sox, after maybe racking up 120-plus losses this season, will not be able to draft higher than 11th. They did the damn thing, and it's not going to matter. It's not going to matter. So yeah, I don't know. And draft picks are weird in baseball in that your first round selections, unless they're four-year college players, are probably going to take a half-decade to show up at the Major Leagues. And guess what? If things don't go well in 2025, Marc Shapiro, Ross Atkins is not going to go right around to see that guy. Did you see who the presumptive top pick is for next year's draft, though? I didn't. Ethan, all the day. There's another one. Oh, my god. We're going to be just-- Major Leagues of baseball are going to be nothing but holidays. They're all holidays. And second-generation baseball players for Q-- The Blue Jays have many of. Q Madonna. All day. Time now for our Insider, brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit donvalleynorthlexus.com. Today's Insider, Adam Burke of MLB Network. How's it going, Adam? I'm doing great, Ben Brandt. Thanks for adjusting a little bit earlier today. I was lamenting to our buddy, Cavie. How much I'm just hating going to the gym. You know, it's been a couple of years, and it's always the same pace as the same monotony series. Why don't you guys take a hit class? So I'm happy to talk as long as you guys want. I have an 8.50 AM hit class, and I'm about to go, too. So I'm on a talk. Baseball logic, Deadpool Wolverine. And the fact I spent two hours with Pedro Martinez yesterday, Pedro an all-time classic. He had some very interesting thoughts that Aaron Judge, Greg Maddox, it was all over the place. It was great. Hit class? I believe this is a high-intensity interval training, Ben. I believe that's what that is. I think I've never heard of that. I think that's what it stands for. Is that true? Yeah, I didn't know actually what this was stood for. A very good job by Brent. But basically, Cavie's point was, like, you've got to shake up the monotony, because you're going there doing the same exercise as the same stuff. You're taking a hit class, and you're doing different exercises. It's like, all right, give me eight burpees, OK? Now do eight pushups. Now do, you know, I can't do a chin-up. OK, do some chin-ups. OK, fine, do some chin-ups. It's very-- I think Brent's right. Very high interval, very, very quick. Gets the heart pumping. We'll find out. I played three index holes, the golf yesterday. That was my workout. And I was going to say, as everyone knows, I am, like, the world's foremost fitness experts. So obviously, I had that right into my diet. You knew what it was, though. It's an acronym. Put it together. Like, it's at the gym. Come on. OK. It's not that hard. I would have never come up with it. So good. Good for you. All right, there's a lot to get to here, Adnan. Also, go to your gym routine. Also, just, like, great job being, like, hey, everyone. Look how fit I am going to the gym. Like, just flip that in. Oh, slip, yeah. I'm also eating very well. No, that's very difficult. Yeah, no, we get it. No, no, no, you're a paragon of fitness. And then, well done. No, that's the part of the thing I am not. That's what I'm going to get going here, right? Yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah. All right. Should the J's care about the tanking thing? It's not really a thing in baseball. But I mean, you'd rather draft whatever 5th than 12th, right? Like, and the blue J's aren't making a playoffs. Like, is this actually bad that they've won a few games here recently? I don't think so, because it's not like, you know, the draft to me is such a crapshoot. Yeah, I've never said to myself, oh, my God, a 5th tip versus a 12th pick. If it was the NFL draft, but I think, yes. Because then it felt like those picks are like gold. Like, it's always amazing to be like, you know, Matthew Judong is an unbelievable player. He gets tripped like a third round. I'm like, that's it? Like, what kind of sport is this? But like, draft picks are viewed so differently. Whereas in baseball, whereas in the hockey, whereas in basketball, Mike, yeah. If you're drafting 5th versus 12th, I think it's a big deal. So I would rather, as a Blue J's fan, say, hey, I'm seeing some potential. I'm seeing some promise. I didn't expect Sir Hallward to keep her. I like to back Will Wagner as a cool name. And beyond being with son of Billy Wagner, looks like he's got a pretty good stroke. I worked to Sean Casey the other day. So of course, bad at 300 in his career. And he said, listen, Will Wagner's going to stick. I'm like, thank you. Oh, yeah. Because the way he swings the bias, if that's a legit hit tool, that, that will play on the major league. I'm like, well, hopefully the J's have found something. Already comments bring good. So yeah, I don't necessarily look at that. It's okay. I'm with the lowest pick possible. I'm happy or highest pick possible, should say. I'd like to team show a promise, show a potential. And then we'll get those picks a lot of what? You know, I'm happy you brought that up. Because I usually am very-- I am keeping a very closeful watch on players for the all-name team. And I really haven't given Will Wagner his due. Like, it truly is a great handle. It just-- he sounds like a ball player. I got to be honest. Like, we sometimes do that this guy looks like a ball player thing. I'm not saying he doesn't. But he certainly sounds like-- sounds like one. We saw the report possible. I mean, this thing would take a lot of lead time. Plenty of years down the line. But the idea of starting pitchers having to go six innings. Obviously, there's a few other caveats in there. Injury, 100 pitches. But what do you make of that? I mean, the first blush thing I thought is crazy, because nobody watches baseball for the managers. But it just takes so much of the manager's job out of the game. What's he doing for the first six innings? Just sitting there eating some flower seeds. Like, I love the idea of baseball trying different things and trying to innovate. I just wonder about the maybe unforeseen circumstances if that rule does eventually come to fruition. Yeah, I mean, that would be definitely odd. It's funny, yesterday, I was with Pedro and Yonder Alonso. We were talking about bench coaches, which, again, is a position you're like, what exactly the bench coaches do? I would just assume they're like the consollary to the godfather, right? They're just kind of helping out the manager wherever he can need. But they were explaining a bench that's actually more important than you think. And he's like, and the most important thing is loyalty. Because a lot of times, the manager gets far. The bench goes, and so I can take over. And I'm like, hell, like a true bench is like, oh, if you fire him, I'm not too. Like, they're not looking to usurp. So there's an entire chain of command within the dugout and within the manager, the bench coach, the entire coaching staff at the Cape Roberts, the two bench coaches. Like, it's crazy. Like, it's interesting the way the game is deployed. So, yeah, I mean, I know that people can say managers don't matter as much as they used to. But you can look at good teams and points of good managers throughout. So I'm going to be mad. I still think they have an absolute role in the game. Yeah, the idea that forcing a starting pitcher to go six innings unless they throw 100 pitches or give up four and runs, I mean, it's supposed to do two things, right? It's one, it's supposed to increase action and offense, maybe, although, like, if you get to four runs, you're allowed to operate the way you did previously. It's trying to get us back to where we were in the '90s, where baseball was just, frankly, more popular. And part of that might have been steroids. But, yeah, it's like where, you know, you go to a game to see a starting pitcher, you're going to see that starting pitcher for more than half the game. It's also supposed to, like, the secondary effect, and maybe this is closer to the top of the list of reasons why they're trying to enact it, is that there's some idea that maybe starters won't be going max effort from the get-go anymore if they know they have to go six or 100 pitches, that it will reduce pitcher injuries. I don't know what happened here, Adnan, and you would know, I haven't just talked to Pedro, but, yeah, and Pedro threw hard, and he threw a bunch of sliders, right? Probably not that easy on the elbow, but pitcher injuries are so up, and it just feels like Major League Baseball is throwing anything they can at the wall to try and figure it out. Do you think that might actually impact it if you are forcing your starters not to just go max velocity for 80 pitches, they have to throw 100? - Well, it definitely would be a radical change, and, you know, I had the great Joe Buck, who's my favorite broadcasters, and they podcast in a file, and it was actually, to talk with the movie show, 'cause, you know, he's buddies with Paul Rudd, and John Hamm, et cetera, but naturally, we talked a little baseball, and Joe said to me, 'cause I don't want to sound like the old man, but I can say this now, 'cause I haven't called a baseball game in three years, he said, but I remember that 2021 World Series going into Brian Snicker's office, and asking about the pitcher, and Joe said, "I can't remember who does it off my head," but he said, we asked him, like, what are you, I'm looking to get one good inning, and I'm like, what? It's just like, like, this is the sport, we're like, you know, his dad famously called the Morris Smoltz game, you know, game seven of the '91 World Series, which went 10 games to the 10 twins of the Braves, like, he goes back then, you really looked at starting pitching matches all the time, you saw a Pedro, she saw a Clemmons, she saw Maddox, et cetera, you know, I have the extra innings package, so, like, every night, when I get home, like, I can watch any baseball you may want, like, I have to, like, I have to quad box, I got the octo ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball, it's like, yeah, no, it's, it's like, it's like, red zone for baseball, and one of the first things I'll do is I'll check the pitching match ups, and to your guys' point, I'm like, oftentimes, like, who's this guy? I'm like, I'm not sure who this guy is, Ken Tamayna is me, the ball guy from the Tigers, I'm like, eh, so, like, it has taken some of the luster away from what would be a great ball game, it's like, what's the pitching match? Matter of fact, I was so blown away the other day when I went through it, and I saw a snail snail, I go, wait, wow, Chris sail since he has Blake Snail, that's an awesome game, and it was, it was a one-nothing game, both those guys pitched to the seventh, both those guys had double-digit strikeouts, like, it was, it was so refreshing to see that, 'cause you rarely do see it, so, I think baseball realizes that there's an elmist in the game that's missing in that great starting pitching, and, yeah, the max effort point, Ben, there may be something to that as well, like, I think, some of that feels inevitable of all the Tommy John, the focus on spin rate, and the watch, and all the rest of it, but I'm at all for anything, which will get us back, those great starting picture match-ups. - Okay, so, you're big fitness guy, you're getting up early to go to the gym, and you have the MLB X ratings package, I wonder if we can hit the hat trick of bragging by the time we're done here today. Normally, it's Ben, who-- - This is a atrocious work by me today, go ahead, Brett. - Normally, Ben is the one who sneaks in the movie question, I'm gonna hit you with one today. Now, I don't know if this report's been around for a while, I saw it all of eight seconds ago. Your friend of mine, Nicholas Cage, has been cast as John Madden in an Amazon movie. I'm sorry, what? Like, I would not besmirch Nick Cage to be able to put himself in any headspace he needs to, but is that not super strange casting on their part? That seems not a fit for me. - Yeah, I was stunned, I was doing the show yesterday, and then the reason you mentioned it in my ear, I thought it was kidding. It's just like you're selling Nick Cage in this, right? I'm like, what's that? He's playing John Madden. And immediately, I'm like, yeah, yeah, of course, sure, sure, yeah, all right, great. I'm sure he's gonna do face off too, right after that. Okay, cool. I'm like, guys, you're all at this playing spot, so we're all like, okay, sure. (laughing) So, when I looked at it, I go, you know what? What is Nick Cage made a habit of and a career on it? Over the top, right? He gives over the top cartoonist growth. What was John Madden? If I just said to you, give me a phrase, you'd say, over the top, oh, I get like, that's it. (indistinct) It's exactly, it's not the first thing I think of, but if I tell Nick Cage, just utter a bunch of phrases, we'll drown you in latex in a fat suit, and all of a sudden, you just terrified of flying. Like, just get used to being in that crucibly. You know what? You gotta make me pretty good. Like, it might be a bad answer. That's what else gets, or it might be a hell of a performance. It's certainly not gonna be a category worth it, but I think it would be kind of funny. I will say, how did you not catch my buddy Frank Calle? It was just gonna say, tough beat, tough beat for Frank. Like, that's, I don't want to text Frank. I feel like it's too soon, but like, and I think like it even posted a real himself doing that. Like, no, he did not, better than that, did it. Charlie Madden hated the impression, it shows you how good it was. He was too good, it was perfect. Oh. (laughs) - Yeah, that is rough, but yeah, would have meant more to Frank too. I'm thinking, as opposed to Nick Cage. - So, you finally saw Deadpool Wolverine? - Yes. - So, okay, let's hear, what did you think? - So, first thing Ben, I figured, you know, I waited two weeks for all the riffraff to go see it, and it's a Friday night, which as you guys know, normally I'm a Monday or Tuesday mat, and they buy myself kind of dude, five people in the theater. So, I was not expecting to see literally a line of the theater, oh my God, are you kidding? I'm like, everyone's gonna see track? We're all big and I'm not shopping alone. Like, what's happening here? But it was people going to see Deadpool Wolverine for a second and a third time. Oh my God, this is how movie makes a billion dollars within two weeks. So, I was already annoyed that I had like, you know, a quarter seat packed house, but I said, maybe this will make the experience more enjoyable, but in fact, in some ways, it didn't. I thought that we'd all be laughing together, right? I think we could already see the movie, there any felt the jokes coming, but regardless, I really enjoyed it, and I was pleasantly surprised. I went in jaded because as you and I discussed, superhero and sequel fatigue, but Deadpool is genuinely funny, the sequel, and there's at least a half a dozen lines. I wish I had a pen that I could written down, normally people ask me that, it's a critic. You do write down lines, you know, of course. Oh my, this is 1987, I'm writing down things in the dark, but there was at least a half a dozen lines I wish I had written down because it was genuinely funny and laugh out loud funny. And Reynolds is just so perfect as Deadpool, who's such a irreverent character, and I loved Hugh Jackman. He's got one scene where he eviscerates Deadpool in the car and I go, that's actually a reminder of what a great actor Hugh Jackman is. Like, yes, this is a superhero movie, it's just a sequel, it's big and dumb and gory and silly, but he's only got a great actor, and Hugh Jackman's always fun to watch. It's a little too long, but I loved all the meta jokes because when a movie is that self-aware, you can forgive it. Part of my criticism would be the fact there was at least four or five endings. But at one point in the midst of that, Deadpool looks at the camera and goes, "Don't worry, we're almost there." I have to laugh, like when a movie is acknowledging the fact it's going too long, it has too many endings. How can I appreciate that? A lot of jokes at Disney's expense, obviously some other characters from the universe I won't mention. I was practically surprised, I really enjoyed it. - Well, yeah, I get used to it 'cause they're back, right? Like, we're gonna, how many of those are we gonna see like five more Deadpool Wolverine movies, right? - Right, and that was part of the joke and the Reynolds is joking to Jackman. You're gonna be playing this role 'til you're 90. - Yeah. - Which I thought about it. Hugh Jackman did his mid-50s, now he is truly jacked up. Like, he looks unbelievable. But I'm like, is this what you want to resort, 'cause these movies, they take a lot of time, a lot of effort, like he's working on it, you wouldn't believe. So, but you're right, a billion dollars and two weeks out there, there not be another sequel after this. - Well, a couple more hit appearances by you and perhaps you'll be in the run and to play Wolverine. All right, we don't want to delay your very vigorous workout. - High intensity interval training. - Okay. - Oh, there's two eyes in there. Okay, so it's hit. - No, I think you just called it. - I don't think. - All right, I got it. All right, well, enjoy, buddy. We'll be thinking of you. - Get a sweat in. - I'm not sure I'll be enjoying it, but I'll be laboring heavily and thinking of yourself as well. Thanks, boy. - All right, see you, man. I had an advert of MLB Network. Our insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley, Northlexus.com. Have you seen that one yet? - No, come on, come on. - Another buy. - Oh, really? That's a little stress in me. - No, I'm gonna wait. - Okay. - For like your home? - Yeah. - Okay, that makes a lot of sense. - No, there's a couple of mo-- Like, there's-- And I guess this is a big spectacle one, right? There's lots of effects and whatever, but like, come on. - Okay, it's a superhero movie. - Sure. - That's meant for my TV. - Oh, I told you, you loathe my opinion, when I was like, yeah, my understanding with Oppenheimer's, they're just chatting, so I was debating watching. I didn't, but I like debated watching that one on my phone on a phone. - Oh my God. - Because I'm like, they're just talking. - Did you eventually watch it? - No. (laughs) - You did one worse than that. You're like, is that worse? I don't know. I feel like there are a lot of movie people that would be like, you know what? Actually, given the choices of not watching it and watching it on your phone, good job. You didn't disrespect-- - Who is it, Nolan? Is that him? - Yeah, you didn't disrespect Christopher Nolan. - No, you gotta participate in this part of like, the culture when something breaks through you. - That's not Barbie. - That's not Barbie. - Okay, that's 50% of-- - I know, Oppenheimer. - Yeah, I know, I got halfway there. - It was great. - I told you, honestly, a surprising part of the 50%. I'm just gonna give you once more my joke about Barbie that the movie just hit home so perfectly when I was sitting there going, "Ah, this is good, but need more Ken scenes." He's too funny. He need more Ken. - He was good. - He was great. - Yeah, we got, man, a couple of good Ryans in acting circles from this country, Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling. By the way, Ryan Gosling went to a high school like a kilometer from my house. - That's right, we talked about this once 'cause I in my head canonically have him as a West Coast guy. He feels that, he feels of that ilk. - No, no, no, no, I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying, in my head, he feels like he's from Kelowna. - Okay, so we didn't get to this with the ad-nan, but I'm interested in your opinion on this as a hater extraordinaire. - Oh, okay. - Thank you. - I think thank you. - Yeah. - You know what I hate that, actually. Why would you say that? - So the Blue Jays played well, but Vlad has been unreal. - Okay. - He's been grotesque. It's truly un-- - In a good way. - Believable. What he's done, he just had the 22-game hitting streak snap, but so what, he's hitting 323 with a 393 on base and a 557 slugging and he's now got 25 home runs. So it's not just building the average, there's singles and taking walks, he's hitting a four power. - I guess the angel's in a meaningless season. - No, no, no, no. I mean, do we have to discount that entirely? 'Cause doing a show with Kevin Barker for a couple of weeks, that's he's not discounting what Vlad is doing this season, but that is part of the discussion, how much easier it is to do this without the weight of expectation or honestly the weight of giving a damn whether you win or lose a baseball game. - Mark Hazy was doing a fair bit of this with me of like, hey, let me see if I can pull you over to this water here, you're interested, no, I'm not. I understand the blush reaction from people to say, oh great, games don't matter and all of a sudden you're heating up. I would feel that way if they got eliminated from the playoffs in the first week of September and then he ripped off this streak from then till the end of the season. I could easily connect the dots of saying, okay, the second the pressure's off, look, he plays free and easy. When you do this this long, I don't care who it's against and I don't particularly understand or not understand. I don't particularly care about the circumstances that led to it. When you have done this this long in the major leagues of baseball and we don't even have the caveats of minor league park, weird COVID season, no, I don't look at it as any way. I think that it is fair for people to as small as they are, look at the post-season numbers and say, oh, hold on, could you have a hit that matters? That's a fair question to ask, but I don't think you can look at this and say, ah, poo-poo, pressure's off, look what he's doing now. I cannot go there. - You know, another log on the fire that you're building here is that there's a lot of pressure on him personally, continuing, right? If he is to sign an extension with the Toronto Blue Jays, which is still a possibility despite the number ballooning to something astronomical, which now feels like everybody's agreed is at least $300 million, which set the record for a contract for a first baseman. Of course, there's been players that have, you know, eventually ended up as a first baseman. - Yeah, but this is Vladimir Grarr Jr. Despite him playing a couple of times at their bases, he's a first baseman and seems pretty clear that he's going to, if they're maxing out an extension for him, he's not signing for a dollar lesson, nor should he, then $300 million. It's a lot easier. And in fact, the only scenario in which that's possible is if Vlad is doing this. If it's the same dude from 2023, this is just no way. Like maybe you're trying to lowball him. And yeah, then we are talking about like the 200 million. Hey, what are the comparables at first base? And I know you're younger, but you're not that good, frankly. If you're this, which is the same guy that was the best hitter in the American League in 2021, finished second in the American League MVP voting to show how Tony, if this is you at the age of 25, yeah, it's back on. So yes, the pressure to win baseball games off. And to be the center of an offense that has expectations off, the pressure of personal performance and your career, it's always on, continues to be on, specifically in this moment with an off season where last kick of the can for the Blue Jays has signed you to an extension before you hit free agency. And then the pressure is really on next season is a big time pressure year for Vlad if he doesn't sign an extension. But yeah, no, there's lots of pressure. Also go back like he wasn't hitting home runs in May, but he's been good since May. Yeah, he's been hitting. Well, I mean, let's go back to even last year where the numbers were super disappointing. And this is, I can understand people falling on either side of this, but this is the coming to fruition of all the hard hit balls we have seen for the better part kind of going back to that, to that near MVP season, right? How many conversations do we have about, how does a guy barrel the ball this way and never get on base? How does the guy barrel this ball this way and have the average, the slug, the power that he does? So I'm not saying that you have to believe that this is all of that kind of, I believe, I can understand that there may be a slight coming back to earth or something along those lines. But the fact that there is the track record of all the baseball savant stuff that should lead you to believe that this should exist. And that's the other part of it for me as well. This isn't a guy who had a big season in 2021, had terrible underlying numbers and terrible numbers for two years and has popped back up. No, I think there's some element of the numbers that we constantly talked about. They have to normalize. They have to normalize. It's finally happening. - Yep, to the tune of 950 OPS and an OPS plus of 167, which is exactly tied with his 2021 numbers. He's playing all his games and Major League ballparks. - And we liked that season. - Yeah, we did. - As you guys mentioned, Blue Rodeo hitting Budweiser stage on Saturday, August 24th, along with special guest Matt Mays and Begonia, we're giving away tickets in today's show. To enter for a chance to win Texan, today's code word, many a mile to 595, and again, that's many a mile to 590, 590. Standard message and data rates may apply today. The last day, we're giving away tickets for this event, but if you don't win with us, make sure you go to ticketmaster.ca to secure your tickets. Coming up tomorrow, it's a big deal, horse racing in this country. It's the King's Plate, part of the broadcast, Eddie Olczyk, former NHLer on Sportsnet, will be part of tomorrow's broadcast of the King's Plate. He joins us next as the fan morning show continues Ben Anis, Brent Gunning, Sportsnet, 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. (dramatic music) - Fan morning show, Sportsnet, 590, the fan, Ben Anis, Brent Gunning headed towards a big weekend for many different reasons, but the specific one that I'm about to mention, it's because it's the King's Plate tomorrow at Woodbine, but today also a big day. You know why? - The biggest. - Because 58 years ago, today was at Olczyk's birthday. Eddie, thanks for doing this and happy birthday. (laughing) - Oh, wow. We're in the hell is the time gone? That's all I want to know. - You got it? - But thank you. But thank you, nice to be in town, getting ready for the King's Plate tomorrow. I have a nice relaxing day today, at Woodbine here in Toronto and then work on our Sportsnet show tomorrow, which I'm really working forward to appreciate everybody at Woodbine, Rob Platz and everybody at Sportsnet for allowing me to be a part of the broadcast. Hopefully we can give out some solid information and make some people some money tomorrow and maybe it'll be a good post day birthday for yours truly if we can back up the wheelbarrow and hopefully take out a few bucks out of Woodbine tomorrow. So yeah, thanks for having me. And yeah, I'll get to celebrate with my family and my kids and my grandkids when I get back to Chicago on Sunday. So thanks for having me. - Hey, stars align, man. Like I don't know exactly what you would have asked for for your birthday, but I feel like getting to work a horse race is pretty much up there for you. I gotta be honest, the little I know about you. I'd imagine that's about as perfect a birthday plan as you could have asked for. - Yeah, yeah. Parks and Ponies, 24/75 days a year. And as I tell people, hockey season, especially young aspiring hockey players and families is that hockey is 13 months a year and they look at me like I have seven heads but well, that's not, there's nothing but I'm not used to that when I get my kids or my grandkids looking at me like that. So yeah, it's a real special weekend and just like I said, really thrilled and privileged to be a part of the broadcast of our own sportsnet. - Yeah, 430 tomorrow on Sportsnet City TV, Sportsnet Plus and City TV Plus. Also tickets available at kingsplate.com or Ticketmaster. We'll come back around to the Kingsplate in just a second. And this is obviously weird that in the middle of August, we get a big Leafs week for us. But yeah, it's a new captain obviously. It's awesome Matthews takes over for John Tavares. What do you make of the timing? 'Cause John Tavares has one more. This is his final year of his contract and maybe it could have been an easier transition at the end of this year, even if he's still a Leaf in science and extension. What do you make of the decision to make it happen this off season? - I mean, as far as the lateness of it, I don't, you know, I don't think that's really, you know, I don't think that's really a big deal. Obviously, this has been in the works, just reading a lot of, you know, kind of what is transpired and like what, you know, what is out there and whatever. I mean, it's probably, you know, probably, you know, 60, 70% of what we, you know, of what really happened, you know, behind the scenes and everything that, who was involved in all those type of things. So that's just the reality of it. But I don't have a problem with it. I mean, I think K.T. John Tavares has handled it extremely well. And, you know, I guess the first reaction was, is that, you know, when I heard about it, I just thought, okay, well, you know, his sand in the hourglass is expiring here quickly with the Maple Leafs and then the transition of, of giving it to, you know, passing it on to Austin Matthews, who, you know, I'm sure Leafs fans would, in the organization would hope is going to be here his entire career. So, you know, look at, when you look at what's happened here and transpired, changed, a lot of changes happen. And I really like, very bullish on the Leafs on what they've done, not only behind the bench, with Greg Boruby, but especially what they've done on the back end. You know, Bertuzzi, I think is a big loss. I'm not sure what the talk has been up here about that, because he did give you a little bit of something different that you don't have a lot of now, but there are other players that are coming around the cost that can maybe take over that, you know, that type of player, I think that you need. But I really, really like what they've done. And I, and I like the transition to Austin to, you know, to become a Leafs captain. And we'll see how it all plays out, because as we know, you know, they will be judged on not what happens during a regular season, but we know what happens come playoff time. And my expectations are for what it is. And my real gig of doing the NHL and TNT down in the States, and of course, doing some local games in Seattle for the crack, and my expectations for the Leafs are to make a serious run. And if they don't, I would be very, I would be very disappointed now. We know what injuries are, we know, you know, certain things, you know, play into it. And then obviously you have this situation with Mitch Marner about what's gonna take place here, moving forward, and we'll see how that all plays out. But, you know, I'm okay with it. And I think Austin has enough support around him with a guy like Christiana than OEL to be able to come in and help, you know, a first-time captain. And you know that John Tavares, the way that he's always carried himself with the class and everything is that he will, you know, he will help Austin, I am sure, when it is needed. But I like the move. And I really like where the Leafs are going. And like I said, for what it's worth the next week, my expectations are that they make a serious run this coming playoff if everything stays, you know, stays according to plan. - Do you've played in some big markets? You've played on a fair number of teams. You've played with many different types of captains. I would imagine, what do you think the role really, like we've spent a lot of time speculating about what it means for Matthews. And my thing, my question for you is, what is the role of a captain? And do you feel like that was a different role for you when I think it was Sutter who was the captain, when you broke him with the Blackhawks, versus somebody who may be later in your career and what role they took on? - Yeah, I mean, it just, I think old school, you know, and again, I mean, I'd like to see you. 50 years young now, so to speak, and playing in the day where I think, you know, the captains were, I think, way more vocal, way more, on the day to day, I think, you know, then now it's more of a concerted effort. Again, from the outside, looking in and talking to a lot of guys. I mean, there are some guys that, you know, just will lead by example, and then every once in a while that are captains that will, you know, go ahead and, you know, say something or whatever. I mean, I think if you ask any older player, and again, I don't know where it's changed, why it's changed, whether it's good or bad, is, you know, you'd have your leadership or your older guys or your captain. I mean, somebody that wasn't afraid to put somebody up against the wall, or hang them up on a coat rack, and say, you know, like, get your head out of your rear end, and let's, you know, let's go. I mean, that's just the, you know, that's the way that the times were back then. Things are different, I understand that, but, you know, I think it seems to be more of a, you know, a team effort, so to speak, when it comes to your leaders and the guys who are doing it, whether they have a letter, you know, on their sweater or not, but I think that he is very well insulated and protected. Being a first-time captain with the guys that he has, and I think Austin will do a, he'll do an amazing job. And look, it's not just only inside that locker room, as you guys know, but it is also, you know, the representation of the brand and out in front. And, you know, I would hope, or at least I, you know, what expect is that, you know, whether it is good or bad, and I would say more with the ladder is, you know, like, you gotta be out there, like, you have to, you have to take, you have to take it for the team, regardless if you're on a, you know, you're on a 15 goal heater, or you haven't scored in 10 or 12 games, like, you have to be out there, and especially in a market like this. And then what that does, too, is, and that is a way to show leadership, is to, you're taking, you know, some of the pressure, a lot of the pressure off certain guys, where you're speaking on behalf of, you know, not necessarily that player for the team, and for the brand, and being out there. So, you know, there are a lot of, a lot more things involved now than there ever were before, but especially in a market like Toronto, you know, you gotta be out there. So, I think it has things, but, you know, the role is, is, you know, guys will look to, especially the young guys, and look at his career, and what he's done individually. I mean, it's as dynamic as we've seen of that player, in a long, long time. So, you know, those guys are gonna follow in, but there are more things than just being, you know, the best goalscore, the best player on your team. - Yeah, it's the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm pretty sure it goes Prime Minister, and then, like, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, as far as, you know, people of import in this country. - You know what's a funny story when I came, when I came to Toronto back in, you know, in the fall of '87, you know, I think a year plus later, you know, there was, you know, we were, the team was thinking about, and Mr. Ballard was thinking about having a captain, and I was asked, you know, like, would you, you know, would you like to be captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs? Oh, and it's like, well, hell yes. You know, like, what, why, you know, why, why, what do you want to be the, you know, so-called leader, or what have you? And, you know, we brought in Rob Ramage. I think Rammer was in Calgary, I think at the time, don't, don't, don't quote me on that. But anyways, Rammer obviously had a boat road of experience, and he eventually became our captain, and I was one of the alternates, but, I mean, it's, you know, when you, when I was thinking about it again, at that time, I was 20, you know, 22, I think 21, 22, maybe a little bit older than that, being my second year in Toronto. I mean, you know, you think about the pressure, but I mean, I, I, I was ready to accept it. Now I ended up being one of the alternate captains, but it's, yeah, there's, there's a lot that comes with it, and you think about it, you go, wow, you know, like captain of the Canadians, and captain of the Maple Leafs, I think that you're still apart from a lot of people, you know, a lot of people in the forum. - Yeah, well, that's it. It's like, hey, John Tavares, Austin Matthews, they've already made so many millions of dollars, they're going to make many millions more, but when it's all said and done, there's things above money, right? Like if you had been able to wear that sea, as the captain of one of the iconic sports franchises in North America, like how up the list of accomplishments you'd had in your career, would you have put by being the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs? Like it seems to mean something to these guys that have millions and millions of dollars well beyond anyone's wildest dreams. - Yeah, no, I think it is about, it is about respect, I think it is about, you know, so-called legacy to a certain extent, but again, representing, you know, the guys representing the team, representing all the people that work, the trainers, the, you know, the people in the front office, you know, your scouting staff, and then obviously your fan base, and, you know, you have that ability to be able to, I think, you know, selling hope, so to speak, you know, when I was coaching in Pittsburgh back in the early 2000s, you know, we were in the middle of a major rebuild, and we blew it all up, and we were going to build through the draft, and we were lucky enough to have it draft. Now, hold on to your seat belts here, we had a draft where we took Mark Andre Flary at Genny Malkin, Sippy Crosby, and back-to-back-to-back draft. Okay, so- - Seems good. - So we, yeah, we took a lottery, and, you know, like my role as coach was at that particular time was to sell hope, right? Like to be out there and be the spokesperson, and tell people not necessarily everything, but you divulge what you can, and then you share with them with what you can, but you do give them a little, and then you, you know, and then you, you know, you move on, and you go from there, so I think also as being a captain, is there's, you know, you gotta step up there, and as I said, most importantly, not necessarily when everything is great, but even more so being that guy to be able to take, you know, take one or 10 for the team, regardless of the situation, and I think any interaction that I've had with Austin Matthews over just watching him from afar, and now getting this responsibility, because it is, it's a huge responsibility. To be a captain in the league, let alone to be a captain of Tom Maple Beach, is that there's a lot that comes with it, and there is that extra added pressure. There's no doubt about it, but like I said, he has, I think, and especially with a guy like Craig Barooby, who I think was terrific hire by the Leafs, will be able to help him, and make him feel as comfortable, and like at the end of the day, it comes down to performance, right? Like, that's, and as I said earlier, everybody will be judged on what happens moving forward. So, we were all ready to move on to the horses, but then you did mention coaching the Pittsburgh Penguins, and I think you would expect that to be followed up with like, "Hey, what's Crosby like as a leader?" No, my question is actually, what is it like for you to kind of, and kind of not be Mario Lemuse-Boss at one point in time? I know he played 10 games that year, wasn't like he had a long run, but, you know, Ed, like you got tons of hockey knowledge. I imagine it might be a little weird when you're like, "Hey, Mario, you might wanna do this, "you might wanna do that, he's Mario after all." What was it like coaching him? Yeah. I talked about that in my book. I wrote a couple of years ago after I battled my stage three colon cancer. And probably to say that I can't believe it's been seven years since I got sick in six years that I've been, that I've been clean and clear, so very lucky and thankful. I talked about it where it's like, you know, I knew when, I knew when, like he is the original ace, okay? Like anybody that has a nickname, ace should get rid of it because he's the original ace in the hockey world. When ace would come in to the office, to the coaches' room, I knew what Hattie was wearing, because, A, obviously we were friends. B, you know, we were former teammates. C, a current player, captain of the team, and oh, by the way, he owns, you know, he owns from a choreography, so he would come in with one of those circus hats, you know. And I kind of had an idea which Hattie was coming in on when it had fitted on the front of the top of the hat with which way the brim was pointing. And, you know, look, I think, you know, getting that opportunity in Pittsburgh, and obviously I was disappointed that, you know, I wasn't able to see it through and, you know, and, you know, and follow that up with, you know, being there when it was really, really difficult, but it was, I mean, it was an unbelievable experience. I think it's just, it was more, it was a conversation. It wasn't like, hey, you know what? You know, why don't you try this the next time? Now, I will say, any player, you know, there was that time where you sit there and go, you know what these, you know, I think next time, you know, maybe you should go forehand, backhand, final, instead of trying to go to the short side, because he, you know, he flails his stick this way. Like, like, those type of things, obviously, I mean, you know, pointing out because, you know, having played as long as I did it or whatever. But, yeah, I mean, it was interesting. And, yeah, there were times when he stood up and put his leg over it on the, on the dash. He was like, okay, yeah, I mean, I was lying. Okay, yeah, I mean, so, you know, but he was, like, he was unbelievable. Like, unbelievable respect. I mean, one of the greatest ever, obviously, we're getting a chance to have played with him and then get a chance to stand behind his bench and then do a bunch of games. I spent almost nine years at Pittsburgh, being a coach, a player and a broadcaster. So, unbelievable memories in the Berg. And that was, that was a lot of fun. I think it made me a better hockey person being, you know, getting that opportunity in Pittsburgh for a couple of years to stand behind the bench. I think it made me a better broadcaster. And I think it certainly opened my eyes to a lot of things on the management side, you know, when I've had opportunities to talk to teams and interview and those type of things. I think it just has made me a better hockey person and just really thrilled with the opportunity that I had. - Well, and you'll be in your broadcast role tomorrow for the Kings plate 430 on Sports out. All right, Eddie, give us your picks here. We're, I got my pen out as you can say. - I'm ready, I'm ready. We're gonna make some money. - Yeah, well, look, I said right now we got a full field of 13 going a mile and a quarter. We're hoping that the weather's gonna hold up, but it's gonna be an unbelievable, unbelievable day it would buy in tomorrow. It's gonna be entertainment. There's just gonna be a lot of interactive things going on. So I would encourage anybody that's got a free day tomorrow to come out to Woodbine tomorrow and then you get a chance to make a little money, right? And then that's what it's all about. And that's what I'll be doing on the broadcast tomorrow. So look, trainer Mark Cassie, who is absolutely on a run here, not only in Toronto at Woodbine, but throughout North America, his horses are running really well. He's got three horses in the Kings plate tomorrow. Gonna go off at about 610 Eastern. He has the favorite my boy Prince. So I think you have to use, which is the number seven horse, but the other horse that he has, I think is very interesting to tend to one on the morning riding, meaning if you want to invest a dollar or $100, you get 10 times your money. The name of the horse is Midnight mascot number five. And a lot of my wagers are gonna be around the five Midnight mascot. And then the number seven, my boy Prince. So if you're into trying to get the exact order of the top two finishers, or you're trying to get the exact order of the top three finishers and a trifecta, there's a lot of different ways to be playing it. But I'm waiting more towards the long shot because anybody that knows me is Marama or more of a long shot type of guy than a favorites player. But the majority of my wagers tomorrow will be around two of the Mark Cassie horses. And my boy Prince will probably be a little less than even money. So probably in the sports book, probably in that, you know, minus, you know, one 10, one 20 type of range to, you know, to make a few bucks. But hopefully everybody will come out or tune in and hopefully we can give them a few horses if that aren't tomorrow. - Sounds great. We've written all those down. And I will be absolutely following you. Kingsplay.com for tickets. Tomorrow's Kingsplay 430 on Sportsnet. Eddie, thanks so much for this. We really appreciate it. - Okay guys, thanks for having me. - Yeah, you too, Eddie, old Chuck. Part of tomorrow's broadcast again on Sportsnet, hand and notes and winners. Oh, happy birthday again. We already said happy birthday. - Yeah, it's okay. - Yeah, you got it. - He doesn't care about us, which I mean, we gave him the birthdays. - A second time. - We gave him the birthday gift of getting to do radio. - Yeah. - Ahead of the Kingsplay tomorrow. - His favorite thing is everyone knows. - Pucks and ponies for Eddie, oh, yeah. That must have been quite a thing being the head coach of Mario Lemieux. As brief as it may have been, that's a tough one. - Yeah, like, it's not just that he's Mario Lemieux. It's that he was the best player on like Eddie Old Chuck seems when he played and he signs the check. - Yeah. - It's all encompassing. There'll never be a situation like it. And yeah, I mean, man, Mario, one of the greats, of course. Very awesome, many times you can have any connection to him. - Yeah, and it was good to, again, like there are very few things in sports that are unquantifiable that go above money as well. Like I said, John Tavares, Austin Matthews have made many millions and there's many more to come wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. And you just sit back and not have any of that pressure of being captain and be pleased as punch. But these guys want it and it appears to be one of the highlights of their entire careers. And awesome, as he said, he was like, "Move to tears almost." - He was getting chills and shaking. - Yeah, believe. - Sorry. - Yeah, come on. - I want to get it to you. - Watch the tape. - Five times like I did. - All right, we'll be back on Monday. - Another edition of the Fan Morning Show. Bad honest, my gutting sports at five times in the fan. - Good morning. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (dramatic music)
