1/25/10 - Anthopulos interview gone wrong

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: Toronto Blue Jays GM, Alex Anthopoulos, Rob Becker, lawyer; general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Brendan Taman; Tom Tebbutt, Globe and Mail tennis reporter.

For a guy that spends his days critiquing, dissecting and analyzing the Jays (at least when baseball is the subject), McCown is really letting Anthopoulos off the hook with these early interviews. Perhaps it's due to the fact that AA is so early in to his tenure, but no real analytical questions for AA by McCown. Thankfully, Bobcat did take listener calls which for the most part were surprisingly really good!

Your thoughts??

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Friday, October 23, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Roundtable with Bob McCown, Jim Kelley, Bruce Arthur, and Neil Smith.

If the Senators played Dodgeball during practice, the Toronto media would have a flippin' field day. I can't believe the number of journalists defending the Leafs. Soon the tide will turn on Burke. The early play of the Leafs seems to be Burke's "bogey" by the media, and everyone but McCowns love affair with Burke is continuing. I admit that I was skeptical of how McCown would handle criticizing Burkey, but he definitely stepped into Burke with some pretty big fists questioning his vision for the team.

McCown's line of the week saying if he were GM he'd tell the players, "If you don't play better, you'll be driving a truck next week!!"

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Thursday, October 8th, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: ESPN's Dan Shulman; Elliotte Friedman, reporter for "Hockey Night in Canada" on CBC; Paul Beeston, interim CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays; Rich Lerner from the Golf Channel; Lyle Bauer, Winnipeg Blue Bombers CEO.

Friedman returns!!! Again, because there was no TV, he was allowed on. TSN apparently wanted Friedman at the same time HNIC/CBC wanted him too. Friedman has come a really long way since joining CBC in 2003 (has it
really been that long?)

Hey McCown - GET BACK ON TWITTER DAMMIT!!! There wasn't a revenue stream when you started coming on twitter and there hasn't been one since. It's a way as fans that we could communicate and since twitter has stalled, so has that connection. Speaing of Fadoo, it seems to have fallen quite a bit as well, in terms of McCown's presence.

Get the feeling that Beeston has known all along who the new President of the Jays is going to be? Seems he's just waiting for the post-season to be over to 'pluck' him from another organization.

At a quote today from McCown that is now amongst my favourite: "If you're happy with what you are doing, don't screw it up. If you're not happy, don't be afraid to make yourself happy." Such a happy thought going into the weekend!

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

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: Globe and Mail sports writer, David Naylor; Scott Moore, executive director of CBC Sports; Ed Olczyk, NBC and Versus hockey analyst; legal expert Rob Becker; Keith Law from ESPN.

Nice to hear some real music on the podcast breaks...instead of the studio music. Cheap Sportsnet bastards won't pay for licensed music on the TV airwaves.

Would love to know more details about the books that McCown/Naylor have going on. It still sounds like it's at least a year away though for anything to be produced. Hope the History of Prime Time Sports makes it to fruition.

"Don (Cherry) is a bit of a dancer" - Scott Moore. Does anyone in Canada know this side of Cherry?

Looking at the Kelly-NHLPA situation, McCown has recently argued that Kelly's fundamental mistake was not getting rid of the 'old guard' and letting the Executive Board continue to run, without putting in "his own guys". The problem with this argument is that it is all in hindsight. No one saw this coming and unfortunately McCown's comments come after the fact. If McCown thought this, why not say it before instead of after Kelly was fired? ...and a bit sick of the "Sword of Damocles"
saying too! For those that need it, here's the link to what the reference is all about:
LINK

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: CNBC sports business reporter, Darren Rovell; Nick Kypreos from Rogers Sportsnet; Alex Anthopoulos, general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays; ESPN.com writer, Rob Neyer; president of Hockey Canada, Bob Nicholson.

Anyone know what the song is that is played when Kypreos comes on? It's catchy, ain't it?

2 million people watched the CBC Battle of the Blades?!?! How is that possible??

Man, Anthopoulos sounds good, eh? Or could it be a young guy that feels like he just got laid for the first time?? But then again, I felt positive when I first heard Ricciardi speak!

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

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: Chicago Blackhawks general manager, Stan Bowman; Tom Anselmi, VP and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment; Paul Godfrey, former president of the Toronto Blue Jays; ESPN.com's Lester Munson; baseball columnist for the Toronto Sun, Bob Elliott; Don Banks, Sports Illustrated NFL writer.

Sorry for the lack of updates last week. Both of my kids under 3 have been sick and it's been kleenex hell dealing with all the runny noses (sniff, sniff!) I blame it on McCown infecting my family with whatever he had last week through the radio!! No updates from Thursday and Friday as a result...apologies!

Blackhawks remind me of the Sens from the Yashin days - tons of potential and sky's the limit.

Why can't the NHLPA fire the Executive Committee and bring back Kelly? I think Kelly would come back under the right circumstances. If not, the NHL should hire him. It's a lot easier to leave Kelly fired than keep Kelly and fire Penny, Pink and Hardgrove of the NHLPA. It's hard to believe that the NHLPA will do what's right. More likely, they'll do what's easy as their track record clearly shows. Lester Munson and Bob McCown circled around the same themes in their interview.

Which mess would you rather be part of - the Jays or the NHLPA???

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Monday, September 7, 2009 (6:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Guests: Roundtable with Bruce Arthur and Neil Smith.

One of the less memorable shows...Bobcat still in a funk about not getting down to the bottom of the NHLPA mess. But other than that, not much to write about.

Bettman all of a sudden isn't arch enemy #1 around these parts!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Wedneday, July 22 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Tuesday: Scott Simmons, RCGA executive director; president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brian Burke; ESPN's Dan Shulman; National Post writer, Bruce Arthur; Brendan Taman, Saskatchewan Roughriders football administration director.

The relationship between Brian Burke and Bob McCown is going to be an interesting one to follow over the course of this season and through the duration of Burke's contract. There are two men with large history in the sports landscape, two experts on how the media is used and most importantly 2 owners of massive egos. Burke came on the show today and called McCown "Mac". I don't recall anyone calling McCown this before. It's common knowledge that McCown and Burke met to discuss hockey earlier this summer and McCown even posted an article on fadoo.ca. Burke spoke about how the media and sports franchises use each other, and was very open in discussing this point.
I wonder how this interesting relationship will play itself out. Can these two really get along, or are they inevitably headed for a massive collision of ideals? What about when Bobcat brings up Bettman with Burke (a long time Bettman supporter)?

Blair - spit out your comments will ya'? You're thinking on the fly way too much and as a listener it's hard to listen to...

Just a great article by Bruce Arthur on the Erin Andrews scandal. I have to admit I have seen the video and it's not titillating as much as making me feel like a stalker. If this was your daughter or a family member, how would you feel?

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Friday, July 17 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: Roundtable with Bob McCown, Bruce Arthur, Mary Ormsby, and Gord Kirke.

Bob, when will you learn that Ormsby's bite is worse than her bark! You could hear McCown recant when he said that the reason the leading candidate for the Jays GM role didn't come to Toronto as the wife didn't want to be here. "Always blame it on the wife, eh? That damn Janet
Gretzky!!" quipped Mary. My long-time crush on Mary Ormsby continues!

All-Star games do NOT get "ignored" by Prime Time. It's the same discussion every time..."how can it be improved?"..."wasn't it great the way it was?" Bobcat also "ignores" soccer. The difference? Soccer is never talked about, but all-star games (nhl, nba, nfl, mlb) are discussed every couple of months. If it isn't relevant, and you hate it as we all do, then kill the discussion!!

Bobcat can raise 100 million to help fund an NCAA team coming to southern Ontario? What's wrong with this picture - Bobcat gets excited by the potential of bringing the NCAA to Ontario but things the NFL is a pipedream?

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Thursday, July 16 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: Paul Beeston, interim CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays; Hamilton Tiger Cats owner, Bob Young; Kevin McCabe of Fox Sports Net; Jeff Blair, Globe and Mail sports columnist; USA Today writer, Michael Hiestand.

LOVED the discussion about Bobcat listening to the Beatles as a 12 year old at Maple Leaf Gardens. Well told memory. Having Bobcat talking about Letterman and the Beatles is a bull's-eye on my love of Music, Sports and Comedy. I also LOVED Arthur's annihilation of Leno. I also hate Leno with a passion and agree that he's brutally over rated. "Letterman's last show will be something you can't miss. Leno's last show was NOTHING!" I now like Arthur that much more! Great first segment.

So Beeston and company haven't talked to Doc about an extension, but have openly talked about being open to offers? How's that first chat with him gonna go?

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Wednesday, July 15 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: CNBC sports business reporter, Darren Rovell; Alvin Williams, Toronto Raptors assistant coach; David Murphy, senior director of athletics at Simon Fraser University; former LPGA player, Gail Graham; the Golf Channel's Iain Page.

Been waiting for some semblance of discussion on the Heatley situation on Prime Time Sports
but for whatever reason, there hasn't been any. I'm sure there will be once he gets dealt. In the meantime, I'm being bored to tears with the golf discussion.

Did Obama short-hop his pitch to the mound in the all-star game? You decide!
...and Obama is a "lefty"...who would have guessed?

Wouldn't Carleton look good in the NCAA Final Four Tournament?

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Tuesday, July 14 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: Rick Dudley, Atlanta Thrashers associate GM; Stacey Allaster, chair and CEO of the WTA; legal analyst and lawyer, Rob Becker; ESPN's Dan Shulman; Stephen Brunt, Globe and Mail writer.

I doubt the majority of listeners would have even heard of Stacey Allaster if it weren't for Prime Time Sports. What a privilege for Canada and the WTA to have someone of Allaster's intelligence and candour.

Am I the only one who gets a bit nervous when someone McCown interviews is on a bad cell connection?

It's gonna be a real sad day when Doc is traded from the Jays.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Monday, July 13 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: Bob Elliott, Toronto Sun baseball columnist; boxing writer and historian, Bert Sugar; roundtable with Bob McCown, Bruce Arthur, and Michael Grange.

I'm back! Mommy and babies are doing well. RIP Michael Jackson.

I am liking Bruce Arthur. Second time I've heard him, but really impressed with his facts and putting Bob in his place a couple of times. He doesn't seemed intimidated by the Bobcat like the others in the co-host chair have been (including at times, Brunt.)

How do the Jays hang their all-star, moneyball pitcher, Doc Halladay out to dry at the all-star game? Someone who has meant this much to the team and the city. It's a shame that more people aren't going to watch games, especially when he's pitching. There isn't a 'bump' in
attendance when he's pitching, so maybe the fan reaction to him leaving will wake Rogers up. Maybe not this year, but in years to come.

Sugar was so poetic (yet again), in discussing the death of Gatti. Love to hear Brunt's take on Gatti's passing.

Part of the Round table discussion about all-star games and their worth...ho hum...same discussion 3x a year, and it's getting old (the game AND the discussion).

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Bruce Arthur
Guests: Writer for the Toronto Star, Richard Griffin; Maurizio Gherardini, VP and assistant GM for the Toronto Raptors; Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Research in Motion and potential owner of the Phoenix Coyotes; Mike Sunnucks of the Phoenix Business Journal

A day of questions for me:

• Where the heck was Brunt on a day where Balsillie was interviewed?
• Was Brunt off the show due to a conflict of interest?
• Who is Bruce Arthur and why throw a rookie in for such an interview?
• Why was the segment with Balsillie so short - barely 10 minutes in the first segment?
• Is the fact that there was no guest in the segment following Balsillie indicative of the fact that McCown was expecting more time with him?
• Why didn't McCown ask about Balsillie's choice of Hamilton as a destination instead of Toronto?

I did appreciate the question on how to say his name - "Ball-silly" although McCown proceeded to pronounce it wrong two seconds later on the exit ("Ballsly")!!!

McCown has been fiercely protective of his listeners in the past. Not allowing guests to call from cell phones, ending interviews early as the guests aren't answering questions in an open manner, etc. Today I felt a bit let down by the Balsillie interview. Didn't get any more out of it than I already knew, which is less than I expect for Prime Time Sports.

UPDATE: Heard from Ryan Walsh, Producer of Prime Time Sports after I emailed the blog this blog entry post to Prime Time. He responded with the following:
"Brunt was off Wednesday and we knew it was coming. Balsillie's next to impossible to get so whenever he was available, we'd slot him in. Bruce did a great job and is one of the best, most knowledgeable writers in this country. Don't let age fool you. Jim only had 10 minutes for the interview so we took it... We were tight but we did what we could in the time allotted."
Thanks Ryan for the insight.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Friday May 1st, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Roundtable: Jim Kelley, Bruce Arthur, and Gord Kirke

McCown continues his verbal assault on Bettman. His handling of Phoenix, Atlanta and Tampa Bay were all reason for McCown's ire this time around.

A-Roid IS the most hated man in professional sport. Without question.

We all long for a time when watching our heroes in Baseball wasn't about sex, drugs and rock 'n roll, but more about skill, heart and desire. When I think about the '85 Jays, I must confess it evokes memories of overcoming massive odds and past disappointments. It brings up memories of the first sports playoffs I saw. Seeing George bell grab onto that ball in left field to clinch the AL East Title will be etched in my mind forever.

Baseball today haven't turned us into sceptics…they have turned us into sport-focused only, without regard to 'how' they got there. Being sceptical is too painful. It's just easier to bury our heads in the sand.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Friday, March 12 - 5:00-7:00

Host: Bob McCown
Guest Hosts: Friday Roundtable with Jim Kelley, Bruce Arthur, and James Deacon
Another shout-out to Harvey's on Fridays…and way to make Kelley squirm in the opening segment on his "past indiscretions"!

TSN2 is going to go down the tubes as quickly as the Raptors this year. The round table suggested that without a successful Raptors team, the pressure for Rogers to get TSN2 on their airwaves diminishes very quickly. Absolutely agreed. I used to care that I didn't get TSN2 on my cable package for NHL and NBA games. Now that the Sens and Raptors are both our of the post-season, I couldn't care less. This doesn't bode well for TSN2.

The next head coach of the Habs will indeed be an interesting discussion primarily because the leading candidate, Don Lever is anglophone. Language shouldn't matter, but it sure as heck does in Montreal and the province of Quebec. Ultimately, I do agree with the panel, that results will matter much more than language, but can only intesify the feelings against an English coach if the Habs season takes another turn for the worse.

Surprised to hear that most of the panel spoke a bit of French, including Bobcat…who knew??