1/21/10 -Eugene Melnyk, Senators, Cullen, TFC

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Basketball writer for the Globe and Mail, Michael Grange; Elliotte Friedman from "Hockey Night in Canada" on CBC, Eugene Melnyk, Ottawa Senators owner; Dan Shulman, ESPN broadcaster, Don Banks, writer for Sports Illustrated; David Branch, commissioner of the OHL; comedian Sean Cullen

It seems every time Melnyk comes on, McCown doesn't really talk about the Senators in any great detail, other than the cursory "how's the team doin'?" kinda questions. Melnyk always seems to be questioned about the PTS world more than anything. Since the tired notion of addressing the head shot issue was the topic of the week, that's what the conversation revolved around.

I thought Sean Cullen was the funniest thing on PTS in a long time! ...and Bobcat, just go to a TFC game the next time you get the opportunity. Or at least swear off of leaf games, will ya???

1/20/10 - @totalpts, McCown's fears

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Writer for the Globe and Mail, Jeff Blair; Michael Hiestand, USA Today media columnist, Mike Dee, CEO of the Miami Dolphins; ESPN's Keith Law, Ed Olczyk; Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports; Dr. Peter Jensen, mental training coach for Canada's Olympic women's hockey team

When I hear Pearl Jam or Oasis in the first hour on PTS, I know my bud Neil (@totalpts) who works at PTS is doing it for me (well, at least I think he is!) Only problem is sometimes it's a while before I listen to it via the podcast. But thanks in advance @totalpts. For those interested, check out his blog. I hope to have an interview with him in the future!

Another 'who knew' moment from the Bobcat. He has a fear of public speaking. PTS is his 'element', so he doesn't think twice about speaking there, but other than that, he does truly have a fear of speaking in public.

1/19/10 - Kypreos, Cherry, HNIC, Gillett, Global TV

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Jim Kelley, Sportsnet.ca columnist, Buddy Nix, Buffalo Bills GM; Rogers Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos, Former owner of the Montreal Canadiens, George Gillett; Lyle Bauer, Calgary Stampeders president and CEO; professor at Montana State University, Michael Meyers.

The dinosaurs of hockey continue with Kypreos being one of it's class clowns. How he can defend the "culture" in hockey, and in turn, indirectly justify the Cromier hit is absolutely disgusting. The disdain I have for the protectors of fighting/head shots/hits from behind/the code is similar to the way I feel about republicans and leaf fans!

Maybe Kypreos is eying the HNIC job when Cherry leaves.

There's a lot in common with the UK press and the Montreal press, eh Mr. Gillett? ...and who knew McCown had a broken heart from Global??

1/14/10 - @totalpts, CHFI, TSN, Kelley, Fay Vincent, Marvin Miller

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Phil King, president of TSN; Sportsnet.ca's Jim Kelley, Dan Shulman, ESPN broadcaster; NHL executive Colin Campbell, NFL writer for Sports Illustrated, Don Banks; former commissioner of Major League Baseball, Fay Vincent; Clint Hamilton, CIS president.

"What's with the weird music around here? We've turned into CHFI!"...and so it began. Poor @totalpts getting slagged but thanks for playing some Oasis for me (note how Bobcat didn't get peeved over that one, eh??) More on our bud @totalpts coming soon!

Interesting to have the president of TSN appear on PTS. Has the president of Sportsnet ever appeared on PTS? Does Doug Beeforth ring a bell?? Not to me, so I'd be willing to bet he hasn't been on.

These segments with Kelley in fine form are also becoming classic! Is it me, or is Kelley much better as a guest than a co-host. I'm not sure why, but he is!

I am a big time Fay Vincent fan. He has a "Bert Sugar"-type adoration by Bobcat, and in turn the listeners. More gripping radio as a listener. McCown asked Vincent about Mavin Miller being in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Vincent called it an "outrageous scandal". Not being given the context ahead of time and having no clue on who Marvin Miller is, I decided to google him, and it's a fascinating story. He's alive at 92, and in an era where there is only Andrew Dawson going into the BHOF, he really should be put in to acknowledge the work he's done for Baseball.

1/13/10 - Lou Lamoriello, Pat Burns, Eric Tillman, Mark Cohon

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Jack Armstrong, basketball analyst and co-host of "The Game Plan" on THE FAN 590, Lou Lamoriello, New Jersey Devils president and GM; NHL commentator for NBC and Versus, Ed Olczyk, Commissioner of the CFL, Mark Cohon; Jerry Colangelo, Phoenix Suns chair and CEO; Canadian lawn bowling team captain Steve McKerihen.

Lamoriello - CLASSIC! Good to hear Pat Burns is doing well. I wonder why McCown doesn't take the opportunity to challenge Lou a bit more when given the opportunity to speak to him. Most of the interview comprised of 'same-old' content regarding the recent power outage that caused a game to be continued at a later date. Why not question how the Devils, as good as they have historically have been, continue to draw such miserable numbers at the gate? At the time of this post, the Devils are 22nd in home attendance.

Cohon spoke about backing Tillman, and primarily backing the Judge on the case and using the Judge's ruling for the rest of league. This was not an easy decision, nor topic to speak of, particularly due to Tillman's likeability prior to the incident. If it were me, I'd have followed Bobcat's suggestion of suspending him for a year and come back after the 'reflection' Tillman needs to do has had a chance to even begin.

If you are looking here for a lawn bowling review, forget it. C'mon Bobcat? In Prime Time?? (Didn't even both listening!) I hope it's another 20 years before lawn bowling comes up again!

1/12/10 - Haiti, Canadian Athletes Now

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Dave Perkins, Toronto Star baseball columnist; founder and executive director of the Canadian Athletes Now Fund, Jane Roos, Hockey analyst for Rogers Sportsnet, Nick Kypreos; Ray Scapinello, former NHL official, New York-based legal analyst, Rob Becker; Keith Pelley, CEO of the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Consortium; Steve Sarty, athletic director at St. Mary's.

Jane Roos came on appealing to Canadians for $240,000, and I honestly thought Bobcat was going to rip into her. If you are an avid listener, you'd know that Bobcat hates when athletes ask for tax dollars (which this request was not.) The discussion evolved to whether Roos was angry that corporations haven't stepped up more.

What an opportunity for a company to make a name for itself to cover such a small amount (relatively), to support our athletes. Bobcat, why don't you auction off your 'All Access Pass' given to you by Molson as a start? ...and then sell your Olympic gear too?

As an individual myself, I'm caught between supporting victims of Haiti and the athletes. Sure, I can support both, but shouldn't the 'need' be more in Haiti? Please donate to both in whatever way you can by the following links:
Canadian Athletes Now Fund
Canadian Red Cross
Alternatively, donate $5 to help the Salvation Army's efforts in Haiti by texting the word HAITI to 45678 from any Rogers or Bell cell phone.

1/11/10 - Eric Tillman's Future

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: USA Today columnist Jarrett Bell; Doug Smith, basketball writer for the Toronto Star, Jeff Blair from the Globe and Mail; president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Jim Hopson; Ken King, Calgary Flames president and CEO.

So last week came and went without a word from Tillman as advertised. I personally think this is a good thing. Tillman needs to stay out of the limelight. If I were him, I would take a year off and recover from this doing whatever he needs to with his family and get his head on straight. What has happened has to have had a serious impact on his psyche and he needs time to deal with it. Tillman's employment (now allegedly in Toronto) can only serve as a distraction to moving forward.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Friday, December 11, 2009 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Guests: Roundtable with John Shannon, James Deacon and David Shoalts

Did someone in the first hour ask Bobcat if he ever cheated on his wife when he was on the road?? OK, maybe it's the callers that are the problem! How about someone actually check what the callers are calling about before they actually call in???

I agree with Bobcat on the spending that happens for the Olympics from the public coffers. This isn't a new opinion from Bobcat - he's maintained this for years. To clarify, it's not as much as a hesitation for giving "amateur" athletes public funding as much as it is asking amateur athletes to garner funding on their own first. I'm not sure what the reason is that Sportsnet is insisting that McCown and PTS go to Vancouver, but the only reason I can figure is to ensure that McCown stays in tow right in front of their eyes. If he's at the party, he won't complain as much as if he wasn't invited.

Hey Deacon, lighten up a bit! Your arms were folded the entire time you were on. Did that have anything to do with the above conversation?

McCown suggested that 20 years from now, we'll look back at the Tiger Woods story as the point where journalism changed. In my opinion, it wasn't the Tiger Woods story that changed the paradigm, it was OJ Simpson.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Dave Perkins, Damien Cox, Ed Olczyk, Wayne Parrish, Fred Gaudelli, Brendan Shanahan, Michael McKinley

Some awfully introspective questions between Cox and McCown on today's show. Questions about the media and roles and responsibilities of journalists. When McCown asks "are we wimps?", when he questions why mainstream journalists, you know the self introspection is at full tilt. There were a lot of questions in this segment, but very little answers. TMZ hides behind the site name, and the difficult thing for journalists is, they cannot hide. If someone like Cox or McCown divulge their deep knowledge of the Sports stars they cover, they can kiss goodbye access to the athletes they cover.

McCown also made mention of knowledge of major superstar who has had "indiscretions", and the process of not divulging the info. In McCown's defence, he attributed the element of legal action as his motivating factor. Cox leaned more towards future access to athletes.

Journalism in the sports world is changing...whether the old dogs want to admit it or not. This new segment of the news that McCown talks about as "fearless", is a reality. I'm interested to see how the next decade of journalists will cover stories.

Part of the reason I love PTS is the fact that we are exposed to characters we would never otherwise see. These are the big names behind sports that influence sports as much (if not more) than the athletes themselves. Fred Gaudelli is one of those individuals - great interview and hope he's a recurring guest after a long absence.

Interesting note from today's show: McCown and Cox are in an 8-year lawsuit?? Details, details!!!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Don Banks, Bob Elliott, Bert Sugar, Nick Kypreos, Glenn Howard, Michael Hiestand, Doug Smith.

Hiestand in trouble with NBC about comments he made on Prime Time Sports? Wow, I guess our Ameri-friends really do listen to this show, eh? Ah well, Hiestand is a big boy and has been a long time PTS contributor. Hope he doesn't change his condor on the show.

I spit out my drink when I heard McCown ask Kypreos the following, "Kipper, when you won the Hart trophy, would you feel hard done by if they changed the name?" Funniest line ever! Well done McCown!

Good chemistry between John SHHHHHHHHHHHHanon and the Bobcat. Good flow, and fantastic interchange on many occasions.

Interesting note from today's show: "Bobcat" received the name "Bobcat" as an adult. No other details provided, but enquiring minds want to know.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Monday, December 7, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Richard Griffin, baseball writer for the Toronto Star; basketball analyst Jack Armstrong, Al Morganti from Comcast SportsNet, and E.J. Hradek, senior writer for ESPN The Magazine; Colin Campbell, NHL senior VP and director of hockey ops; Graham DeLaet, won tour card for 2010 PGA Tour.

Quiet day at Prime Time...same old, same old...AA not revealing much at the MLB winter meetings. Campbell holding the NHL flag pretty high. The highlight for the day was the story of Canadian Golfer Graham Delaet, who just won his tour card for the upcoming PGA season. Here's a nice story on Graham Delaet for your reading pleasure.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Monday, November 30, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Rob Becker, legal analyst; Brian Cooper from Sports and Entertainment L.P., Tom Anselmi, COO at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment; Globe and Mail columnist David Shoalts.

5 million viewers for the Grey Cup?? Not surprised. But the furor over the game not being televised on CBC and TSN instead seems to have passed from discussion.

Tiger Woods isn't going to lose a dollar from this on-going drama involving his wife and golf clubs. Unless it turns into a criminal matter.

Some cool inisghts from Bob in the 5-6 hour talking about how he never wanted to be part of radio, and got into it by accident as a supplementary income to his golfing job. …and Bobcat used to own an art gallery too? Who knew! (I eat this history stuff up!) Too bad Bobcat couldn't get his pen in order for me to make some Prime Time Sports xmas shopping! Hopefully next year.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Andrew Brandt, president of National Football Post and former VP of the Green Bay Packers; Andreas Apostolopoulos from Triple Properties, NBC and Versus hockey analyst, Ed Olczyk; Michael Hiestand, USA Today media columnist; Quinton Aaron, actor in the movie "The Blind Side".

I've asked this before, but....

McCown, if the Jays are so good right now and the nucleus is there, why fire JP in the first place? It can't be both ways. Either JP built this city on rock and roll, or he should have been axed. Which is it?? Your notion of the nucleus being there would suggest that it is the former, not the latter.

Wonderful revelation of Domi being re-signed by the Leafs for 2.5 million for the direct reason to sell jerseys. John Shannon swears it's true. 2.5 million divided by $100/jersey equals 25,000 jerseys a year. Is it possible that there are enough leaf nation idiots that justified the contract? As crazy as it sounds, I bet MLSE made their money back on that one (and then some!)

Hey - anyone know how did Brunt do on the torch relay?

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Nick Kypreos from Rogers Sportsnet; Toronto Star basketball columnist Doug Smith, Sports Illustrated NFL writer, Don Banks; Paul Kelly, former head of the NHLPA; John Buccigross from ESPN.com
Hearing Bobcat read Winnie the Pooh was CLASSIC! Well done Bobcat!!!

We're down to 30% of our current staff at work, so the round table discussions will be missing this week!

Good to hear Paul Kelly back, and equally surpassing that he decided to stick around in the hockey landscape, as opposed to returning back to his roots as a prosecutor. As indicated, this is probably due to the fact that he still has a strong interest in returning to the Leadership of professional hockey is some capacity.

As a Sens fan, hearing that the Leafs are having problems selling boxes and there current predicament and performance is a source of great joy I take. The deep respect I have for Burke for the handling of the news of his son, is at a very high level. There is something more to Burke than meets the eye, and definitely more than his public persona would indicate. Read the full story here. Burke may not want to be a role model as a family member in this regard, however he definitely is that. You can bet Cherry won't touch this on Saturday night, as much as Ronny may want to!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Thursday, November 19, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: : Rob Zamuner, NHLPA representative and former NHL player; USA Today baseball columnist, Bob Nightengale; writer for the Wall Street Journal, Christina Lewis; Ed Olczyk, hockey analyst for NBC and Versus; Toronto Raptors radio colour commentator, Eric Smith; Don Banks from Sports Illustrated.

$550,000 for the Pontiac Silverdome…c'mon folks, we can come up with that change here and now can't we???

Bobcat and Christina Lewis seemed to be flirting a bit, no? Maybe it's my Friday afternoon ears??

Missed the Olczyk, Smith and Banks interviews but will add later today!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Baseball play-by-play announcer on ESPN, Dan Shulman; Peter Berg, director of "King's Ransom"; Jeff Hunt, owner of the Ottawa 67's and prospective CFL owner; Lester Munson, ESPN legal analyst.

Had the opportunity to see King's Ransom and thought it was fantastic. Moreso for the behind the scenes interviews with McNall, Pocklington and Gretzky and video from that period in time. I suspect it could have been a lot longer and hope a DVD comes out about it with a lot more content from the primary players. If you remember *anything* from that period in time, see it.

The promos for a TSN special on Sportsnet was rather interesting…and I wonder how much debate was involved with brining Berg on the show.

Ottawa gets its stadium. Being in Ottawa, I cannot believe we had this much debate and am doing everything in my power to ensure my City Councilor who voted against the plan (Peggy Feltmate) is voted out of office next time around.

Shannon with the line of the day on Bobcats dressing style: "McCown, you're a cross between Letterman and Imus."

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Hockey commentator for Rogers Sportsnet, Nick Kypreos; Buffalo Bills sideline reporter for Rock 97, Rich Gaenzler; Fay Vincent, former MLB commissioner; lawyer representing 14 female ski jumpers, Ross Clark; David Shoalts, Globe and Mail columnist.

Another stellar day on Prime Time Sports. Kypreos was in studio talking about the drug culture in the NHL. Fay Vincent was an epic interview with lots of topics covered including, umpiring in baseball, McGuire coming back to the Cardinals and why there will never be a salary cap in baseball.

The Olympic / Female-Ski Jumper controversy will become a big deal in the games. Without question. Canadians won't stand for rights that are violated and Female Ski Jumpers rights are being violated. This will go to the Supreme Court. The key question is whether the IOC will fight this battle on the land in which the games will be held in front of the entire world.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Monday, November 16, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: SI.com's Stewart Mandel; Dr. Charles Tator, sports medicine expert; USA Today sports writer, Jarrett Bell; Matt Stairs, MLB free agent; Don Meehan from Newport Sports Management.

David Branch should be nominated into the Hockey Hall of Fame, regardless what he does with the rest of his career. Wikipedia doesn't have a lot of information to back this up, but Branch's impact on the game of hockey, particularly in the OHL has been significant. Regardless what you think of Branch, you know that he comes down hard on hitting from behind and "cheap hits". While this doesn't sound difficult to do, Branch does something that Bettman and the NHL can't do - protect the players at all costs.

It would be easy to prove in a court of law that the NHL hasn't done a thing to protect their players from the game or each other. If someone in the OHL passes away due to a hockey related hit or fight, it won't fall on the head of Branch. If this happens in the NHL, there is only one person that can be held liable - Bettman.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Friday, October 16, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Guests: Roundtable with Bob McCown, John Shannon, Jeff Blair, and David Shoalts.

Prime Time Sports has always been a national broadcast. The first hour of the show featured the roundtable discussing how brutal the leafs are. Now being an Ottawa Senators fan, my bias is clear. Having said that, does the country *really* need a dissection of the worst place team? Why not discuss the challenges in Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver? What about the play of the Sens and how the team seems to have turned it around? Could it simply be that McCown, Shannon, Blair and Shoalts are all pretty much one dimensional in terms of their hockey knowledge? "Why bother being a leaf fan?" remarked Blair. Why discuss them in the first place and spend so damn long on the pathetic embarrassment that is the leafs? (Bash if you'd like, but you are only kidding yourself, delusional or a leaf fan...or all 3!)

So who would you like to see light the torch in Vancouver: Wayne Gretzky? Rick Hansen? Pierre Lueders? Terry Fox's Mother? Nancy Greene?

...and did you know that the Olympic torch will be lit in a few short days?? HREF="http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/olympic-torch-r
elay/olympic-torch-relay-interactive-map/">LINK

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Thursday, October 15, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Peter Pocklington, former owner of the Edmonton Oilers; former player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tie Domi; ESPN's Dan Shulman; CBC hockey play-by-play broadcaster, Jim Hughson; basketball analyst Jack Armstrong.

Ahhh, Pearl Jam starting off the show...well, at least this is one huge advantage of PTS not being on Sportsnet!

So first "Gretzky's Tears", and now "I'd Trade Him Again"...the Gretzky retrospectives continue. Pocklington was very frank and for you die-hard Oiler fans out there, it is a painful interview to hear particularly when Pocklington admits that he didn't shop the Kings offer around. Epic fail.

Wouldn't it be weird if Battle of the Blades made it to the US and the ratings outdrew NHL hockey???

Agree with McCown - if the Raptors can show any semblance of competitiveness, the Toronto media and fans will love the team more than it ever has.