Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Thursday, June 4, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Thursday: Nick Kypreos, hockey analyst for Rogers Sportsnet; the Toronto Star's Doug Smith; George Stroumboulopoulos from "The Hour" on CBC; Rob Becker, New York-based attorney; Mitch Melnick, show host for Team 990 in Montreal.

"If someone pretended to be me on Twitter, I wouldn't sue Twitters ass, I'd sue his mother!"

The bias about Martin as a Coach is laughable. The Sens were the highest scoring team when Martin left and haven't been back there since! Boring hockey, probably...but the results are solid, insofar as bringing the Sens to the post season (which for the Habs and Leafs are about the
only thing that matters these days!)

Strombolopolous suggests a "Jay Dog" that has Blue ketchup is the answer to engaging the Jays in the cultural landscape in T.O.??? Strombo talks the way I would talk if I was ever on the show - fast and asking more questions than answering...LOVED IT and hope he's back!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Thursday April 23, 2009 (6:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: David Samson, president of the Florida Marlins; FAN 590 show co-host and Rogers Sportsnet hockey analyst, Doug MacLean

Man, I honestly don't remember thinking about the Jays as much as I am this year. An amazing story and it's fun to talk baseball again in Toronto. I wonder what TSN/Sportsnet numbers are on the Jays as compared to last year (not only broadcast, but hits on their website.)

What does Gainey have to gain (pardon the pun) by kissing and telling about his wanting to get Lecavalier from Laughton? Lecavalier or not, the Habs season was brutal and would have ended up the same. Gainey sounds like a cranky old man crying over spilt milk (and, I like many others am a huge Gainey supporter.)

MacLean shows up late and says he's actually early! Man, the battle between MacLean and McCown is awesome! McCown quipped to MacLean, "I may know more than you, but what is for certain is I'll SAY more than you." Even Brunt quipped "This show would be in shambles without me." Classic. I actually laughed so hard at that one that my co-workers looked at me!

Roundtable tomorrow - c'mon McCown, get Mary Ormsby on...you haven't had her on nearly as often as in the past! Maybe she's getting tired of ya'?!?!

Prime Time Sports Review separated at birth:
- Episode 1: Mary Ormsby and Joanna Kerns
- Episode 2: Kate Smith and Susan Boyle

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday April 22, 2009 (6:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Michael Boone of the Montreal Gazette, and Neil Smith, former NHL team general manager; senior writer at Scout.com, Chris Steuber; Michael Hiestand, USA Today's media columnist

Here's my solution to the Habs fans booing the American National anthem. Bring Barack Obama to a Habs game. There's no way those cowards would boo in his pressence. Obama fixes everything, doesn't he?!?!?

I finally figured out who Michael Hiestand reminds me of…it's Dennis Miller!!! OK, maybe not appearance-wise, but definitely his tone of voice.

…and Bobcat, you can't tell guest they have 30 seconds to answer a question and then take 2 minutes to ask the question!!! (OK, maybe *you* can!)

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Monday, April 20, 2009 (6:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown (welcome back!)
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Doug Smith

Welcome back Bobcat…and with Brunt no less! LOVE IT!

As great as Prime Time Sports is, at the heart of it, the show is really about the "perimeter" of sports - money issues, business, legal, management etc. If you really think about it, the game is discussed very little. The great thing about the NHL playoffs is we actually talk about the game itself. The first segment was completely on this subject, and it was great (but fast) radio.

Canadiens continue to be scary bad, even in the post season. They really look identical to the Sens demise of 07-08. None of it makes sense. …and following this, it looks like the Habs will continue to do what the Sens did after last season's collapse - NOTHING. It looks as if the Habs will think that this year was a 'blip' and leave everything status quo. Gainey = Murray?

In the second segment, my ears were bleeding after hearing the high-pitched Smith defending the Raptors holding onto Bosh this year. Hey Smith, is Martin in Florida a genius for holding onto Bouwmeester?

I was waiting for McCown to give his BURKE-SPIRACY theory on Fadoo. Surprisingly he didn’t. I wonder why? This smells of Fadoo-ghost writing, dare I suggest!

Prime Time Sport with Bob McCown: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 (6:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Executive Director of the RCGA, Scott Simmons; Doug MacLean, co-host of "The Game Plan" on THE FAN 590; Keith Law of ESPN.

Topic of conversation with Doug MacLean started with the Habs sale. Gary Bettman would trumpet the price of the Habs as much as Bob McCown would trumpet the price of the Habs. Both have one thing in common - they'll use it to prove their argument and disprove the nay-sayers. I really like what MacLean brings to the Prime Time Sport and hope he's on more often. His vehement defence of "GB" doesn't happen often and over the past 3-4 months he has (at least) held his own in arguments with the Bobcat.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Monday, March 23 (6:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guest: Brian Cooper
As the Gillette saga in Montreal unfolds, I will be really interested to see how McCown handles Brunt's personal relationship with Gillette. When the MLSE had their Brian-Burke-for-GM search committee and Gord Kirke was part of it, it was amazing to see how McCown didn't back down from asking questions to Kirke on the status of the search. McCown was relentless and pushed Kirke like crazy during those months. I'm not so sure McCown will be pushing Brunt for more info on Gillette, given how close Brunt and Gillette are. But he certainly should. Brunt may not know anything more, but if the Habs ownership questions continue, it will be impossible for McCown to ask Brunt questions that 'only a friend would know.' As McCown stated tonight, "It's just barely beginning."

Who would have thought the Habs would be more screwed up than the Sens?

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??

Monday, March 9 - 6:00-7:00

Host: McCown
Co-Host: Kelley, Grange

Kelley and the gang had no problem understanding the coaching move the Gainey Canadiens made, but had problems when the Sens did the same. The respect that they have for Gainey to go behind the bench is dramatically different than the arrows that were slung towards Sens GM Murray.

Kelley rambled on for what seemed like forever about the Bills management ineptitude, and the manifestation of this fact in hiring T.O.. Even Bob McCown tried to jump in to reason with Kelley, but Kelley was nothing short of possessed!

Bob McCown then took a shot at Sportsnet for interrupting a WBC game that had been on for 8 innings to show the Canada-US WBC game. My, how things have changed (see below from wikipedia:

"On March 14, 1987, Dave Hodge was the in-studio host as the CBC carried a game between the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs , which ended early. The network then switched over to a regional game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens for the end of the third period. It ended in a tie just before 11:00 PM Eastern Time, meaning it would require overtime. CBC executives, however, decided that only viewers in Quebec, who had seen the game from the start, would get to continue watching after 11:00, while the rest of the network would cut away. "That's the way things go these days in sports and at this network," Hodge said in disgust, flipping his pencil in the air. "We'll leave you in suspense. Good night from Hockey Night in Canada." Hodge was replaced the following week by western correspondent Ron MacLean and eventually fired from the network"

I think radio vets like Bob McCown owe a debt to guys like Dave Hodge - what difference time makes, eh?

Monday, February 23rd - 6:00-7:00

Well, both Kelley and Brunt are part of the mini-roundtable tonight. (For the record, Kelley kept the co-host chair, and Brunt took the 'guest' chair!)

Tom Renney was discussed and the relevant merits of him as a Coach. I agree with discussion that surrounded Tortorella as incoming Head Coach. As far as cashing two cheques goes - in the rare times it happens in ones life, I say TAKE IT! :)

The boys discussed the trade deadline and how it's more for show then anything else. Bobcat brought up the point that he brought up in his book saying that the trade deadline is all hype and even the busiest teams never materializes into anything significant in the standings.

I tend to disagree - the pressure on GMs to make a deal only occurs twice during the year - the draft and trade deadline. Other than these times, it's virtually quiet during the NHL year. The media scruitny on GMs will push them into actions they normally wouldn't make. I predict there will be a blockbuster deal this year (lecalvier/spezza.)

They then proceeded to do a cross Canada tour spending (shock of shocks) considerable amount of time on the Leafs. Kelley continues to have a major axe to grind on Murray as he's a feverish Muckler supporter. The reality is Murray has had one draft. There isn't any decision Murray has made that has been questionable at the time he made it. The age-old scare tactics of PTS really came out when they spoke about how viable the Sens would be if they were on the decline. Even in a brutal economy, the Sens are 2nd in attendance (source). The Sens have built a solid base here and this team isn't going anywhere...

In terms of the Spezza-Heatley debate, it's sad to see the 3 wise men not take note of Heatley's NTC. Heatley simply can't be moved anywhere, unless he waives his NTC. Spezza is the only option for the Sens. Not sure why this point is missed so much by the media (not only PTS).

In summary, here's how they broke everything down:
Sens - buyers/sellers - who the heck knows?
Leafs - sellers
Habs - buyers
Flames - buyers
Oilers - not sellers
Canucks - buyers

The worst Coach in the NHL according to Bobcat - Wayne Gretzky.

Parting shots:
Kelley - 99% of trade rumors you hear are false, so calm down...
Brunt - Jays are screwed
Bobcat - yep, Jays are screwed

(Just a quick edit - I worried a lot about agreeing with everything the Bobcat said, but this inaugural post makes me feel much better!)

ps. what do you guys think?