Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Saul Korman, owner of Korry's Clothiers; Randy Robles from the Elias Sports Bureau; Globe and Mail writer, Jeff Blair, The media conference from the Toronto Blue Jays announcing the Roy Halladay trade; ESPN's Dan Shulman; Canadian golfer Lisa Meldrum, Daryl Jones and Keith McCollough of Ice Edge Holdings; Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos; Pat Gillick, senior advisor to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Rogers has the cash to pony up and pay for the Jays to compete with the ALE. They are choosing not to. Another option is to ask for a move out of the ALE - that's not happening, nor should Rogers want it with all of those Sox and Yanks fans coming in. It a perpetual losing situation until something changes (and a rookie GM with vision armed with another 3 year plan is not change.)

The Jays could roll over, play dead for 15+ years, and there would be Jays die-hards that would continue to blindly support another 3-year plan. Good thing there aren't people like that on this email!!

It's like being in a relationship with a woman who you have a 30 year relationship, whom you had a fantastic 15 years with, but in the last 15 years, you hardly see, takes you for granted, tells you things will change and after 15 years nothing has changed.

Am I saying I won't support the team - dunno. But things will never be the same. My heart needs to be swayed, but for now I enjoy the memories of what was, and hope that this sustains me through the dark ages.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Monday, December 14, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Toronto Sun baseball columnist, Bob Elliott; Bob Nicholson, Toronto Argonauts president and CEO, The Golf Channel's Iain Page; Playoff PAC founder, Matthew Sanderson; Canadian curling representative at the Olympics, Kevin Martin.

On the eve of Doc being traded to the Phillies, Bobcat was in an irate mood. "The Jays are in danger of killing the business. The business and economic rationale I understand. I have never espoused the concept of keeping a player at the risk of losing him and getting nothing. Halladay is different. This is the time you had to take that risk."

I care that I don't care about the Jays anymore. …and by "don't care", I mean that I don't have an emotional connection with this team the way I used to. My only connection with this team is with guys named Barfield, Moseby, Bell, Carter, Winfield and Alomar. This team has taken me as a fan for granted for the years of support I game from '82 onwards. Attention started to waiver for me in 1998, and it's been downhill ever since.

McCown continued, "If you don't spend $120 million, get out of Major League Baseball cause you can't compete. If you think you can make money by spending 80 million, just wait. Just wait till this year, and let's see how much money you make by leaving $40 million on the table. This city has had enough building, rebuilding, promises, 3-year plans, 5-year plans - those days are over. To walk into another one is suicide. I think they are making a terrible mistake."

Matthew Sanderson sounded like an infant when being questioned by McCown and Brunt. Yep, the BCS is a mess, but c'mon dude…taking it to Congress???

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

Host: Bob McCown
Roundtable with Bob McCown, Stephen Brunt, James Deacon, and Michael Grange.

Yes! More Leaf discussion!! ...and the rest of the country on "the nations most listened to Sports Talk presentation" rejoyce!! Ah well, they are "Canada's Team" after all, so we all should be thankful! Covering a team that the roundtable asked to "at least try hard", tells you all you need to know. (Hey, does sarcasm translate well on a blog??)

I'm an ardent Bills fan from Ottawa and would much rather spend the cash to head to Buffalo than Toronto. I'm paying for the experience, and something about being outdoors, tailgating, in a different environment is appealing to me compared to being in Skydome. Given the results of the past couple of Bills games, Toronto fans feel the same way.

Grange brought up an interesting point. How could Rogers let this asset devalue so much, especially with the rise of the Candian dollar. Here is the history of the Dollar for some key years for Jays fans:
October 1992 - 1.2453 CAD
October 1993 - 1.32629 CAD
October 2009 - 1.05427 CAD

20% more funds coming into Rogers this year compared to the budged Interbrew had in 1992...I wonder where it's all going?? Must be to that great customer service we all get, eh?

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?

The Yankee Championship Salary Effect

While watching the Yankees win and throwing up shortly thereafter, I wondered at 3am how past Yankee Championship wins have affected salaries the following year. McCown has theorized that the Jays will have to spend around the 120 million mark to come close to the Yankees and Red Sox and make them more competitive next year. Now that the Empire has won the world series, let's look back at the effect past Yankees Championships have had on the average salary in baseball.

WS Winner
Following Year Avg Salary
% increase from previous year MLB salary
1996 - NYY
$1,383,578 
17.6
1997 - FLO
$1,441,406
4.2
1998 - NYY
$1,720,050
19.3
1999 - NYY
$1,998,034
15.6
2000 - NYY
$2,264,403
13.9
2001 - ARZ
$2,383,235
5.2
2002 - ANA
$2,555,476
7.2
2003 - FLO
$2,486,609
(-2.7)
2004 - BOS
$2,632,655
5.9
2005 - CWS
$2,866,544
8.9
2006 - STL
$2,944,556
2.7
2007 - BOS
$3,154,845
7.1
2008 - PHI
$3,240,000
2.7
2009 - NYY
???
???

So basically, Yankees win, everyone loads up more than they normally would the following year. Based on this pattern, this wouldn't be a good year to spend as competition for free agents will be higher than normal. If you were the Jays, would this change your planning for the off-season free agent frenzy?

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Rogers Sportsnet hockey expert, Nick Kypreos; USA Today's Michael Hiestand; Paul Beeston, president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays; ESPN baseball play-by-play announcer, Dan Shulman; Globe and Mail columnist, Jeff Blair.

...and Beeston is our man...FINALLY! But the question remains - Beeston hasn't done much since re-joining the Jays 18 months ago. How will this affect re-signing Doc? What will the budget be next year? If budget ain't an issue, how much will Beeston ask for? A 3 year deal does seem to be short. A comforting feeling was reached as Beeston said, "Winning the World Series HAS to be the priority for this organization." As a Jays fan, all I'm looking for now is comfort.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Jim Kelley
Guests: Tony Viner, president and CEO of Rogers Media; NBC and Versus hockey analyst, Ed Olczyk; senior advisor for the Philadelphia Phillies, Pat Gillick; ESPN play-by-play announcer, Dan Shulman; James Christie, Globe and Mail columnist.

The OFFICIAL Jays post-mortem has begun.

Viner answered the simple question - Rogers is committed to the Jays and they are not for sale. Kelley really needs to think about his question line before he asks it. There was one question that literally took a minute and a half to ask it. Viner only stayed on for one segment, but as Viner put it about Prime Time Sports, "I'm planning on being a regular."

Gillick on coming to Toronto to assist the Jays, "Not at this time…" Bobcat, if it's impossible for Gillick to answer his interest in the Jays position due to his contract with the Phillies, why ask?

The Olympics are definitely corrupt…I still smart from Toronto not getting the bid in '96. Having said that, what exactly did Vancouver do to secure their bid?

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: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Glendale, Arizona council member, Phil Lieberman; Bob Elliott, baseball writer for the Toronto Sun; Don Banks from Sports Illustrated; ESPN's Mark Fainaru-Wada; NFL player agent, Leigh Steinberg.

First segment McCown and Brunt talked about books, and writing. Whatever happened to the two books McCown was to produce next year?? Know what's going on? Drop us a line in the comment section. A book of fiction selling well Bobcat? How about a book about the leafs winning the cup thousands of years in the future (if we're talking about true fiction?)

Hearing from Arizona Council Member Phil Lieberman was a hit of reality on the Phoenix issue. Who will assist the small businesses that will suffer with the Coyotes departure? Certainly not the NHL nor the Balsillie camp, both of whom are out for themselves. Balsillie only cares about getting a team in the southern Ontario market. Bettman only cares about getting those lucrative expansion/re-location fees on his terms.

Line of the day when Bob Elliot was introduced..."Bob's not hear, it's Doug MacLean!!" ...and Bob Elliot agreed with McCown too saying McCown "was right". Interesting. Guests that skirt around the MacLean issue never get a full diatribe on the subject as McCown has remained steady that he won't discuss it anymore but if others want to discuss it, he'll listen.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Tuesday, July 21 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Tuesday: President and GM of the Toronto Raptors, Bryan Colangelo; Pat Gillick, advisor to the Philadelphia Phillies; SportsBusiness Journal writer, Bill King.

Yet another great co-host in John Shannon. Great behind the scenes discussion regarding sports television production and direction. For anyone interested in sports broadcasting, particularly hockey, the first segment is for you.

Interesting times in Toronto - Bosh and Halladay could easily be gone this time next year. These moves will be critical for both the Jays and Raptors.

I was waiting for McCown to tell Gillick that Beeston may need the ultimate convincing from Gillick himself in coming back to the Jays as GM, something that Bobcat has espoused on fadoo.ca and on Prime Time Sports.

Hey Bobcat, there are no "wimpy easterners" in Ottawa...we LIVE cold here!!! Saskatchewan ain't got NUTTIN' on Ottawa with regards to winters!

The Bill King interview was great. Hope he returns! McCown quipped on blogs, "Blogs are opinion pieces, they are not information pieces. Any information that has been gleamed off of a blog has been usually ripped off of someone else, traditional media. What are bloggers? Amateur columnists!" Thanks Bob - I take that as a compliment, although I am not ripping off
anyone...and you won't see profanity here!!! :)

As these are the dog days of summer, I've compiled a top 5 list of Bobcat's Public Enemies:
1. Gary Bettman
2. Tom Watson
3. All-Star Games
4. Soccer
5. Cito Gaston

What/Who am I missing? Post below!!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown - Monday, July 20 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown

Co-Host: Bruce Arthur

Guests: Daryl Jones, Research Edge LLC managing director; Toronto Blue Jays radio play-by-play announcer, Alan Ashby; roundtable with Bob McCown, John Shannon, and James Deacon.

(My opinion on the Heatley situation, which continues to be ignored by Prime Time Sports:)
There is a parallel between the Heatley-Sens situation and the Halladay-Jays situation. As Beeston said a couple of days ago (paraphrased), "If someone wants Doc, it's gonna have to *hurt* them with the pieces they are going to give up. He's a quality pitcher and you are going to have several quality pieces to get him".

I applaud Murray for 'standing pat'. What's the worst that could happen if Heatley is forced to return? Or if Heatley accepts the move to Edmonton, but the Oil don't put up any more compensation to deal with the 4 mill the Sens dished out? There's no way Heater would sit out on the Sens, especially during an Olympic year. This decision will be as pivotal for the Sens as is the Doc decision is with the Jays. It will set the Sens up well for the next few years or set us back a few if the decision isn't the right one. If there are no suitors, I say wait it out and bring Heater back.

OK Bobcat, let's can the baseball discussion and get to the story behind you and Watson... What happened? Why is he such an a-hole?

EDIT: Reader Sensfan commented that Heatley was discussed to death while I was away...apologies to PTS and Bobcat. Well, what did the glassed-eyed-one have to say on Heatley??

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 - 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: 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: Wednesday, June 3, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: NFL writer for Sports Illustrated, Peter King; Paul Godfrey, former president of the Toronto Blue Jays; NHLPA executive director, Paul Kelly; ESPN's Dan Shulman; Pat Gillick, advisor to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Memories of Skydome, eh? It's amazing to me being bred in Toronto and now living in Ottawa that I can head back to Skydome with my 2 year old son and be immediately taken back to the time where I frequented the park with family and friends. Even though, I must admit, sitting in
great seats in the 200 level doesn't feel the same as making the trek all the way to the top row in the 300 level!!

Reminiscing is never a bad thing!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Thursday, May 21, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

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

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: CNBC's Darren Rovell; Sean Fitz-Gerald, reporter for the National Post; Ed Olczyk, hockey analyst for NBC and Versus; Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun; Buffalo News writer, Jerry Sullivan

After two memorable days of interviews and insight, things slowed down in Prime Time Sports world today. We're talking about whether Wells should go as the number 4 hitter in May - it's great to be a Jays fan again, eh?

Two guys I'd love to have a beer with watching a game - Bob Elliot and Bert Sugar.

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.