1/26/10 - Brunt back, Why the Cormier hindsight??

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: CNBC sports business reporter, Darren Rovell, Nick Kypreos from Rogers Sportsnet; Georges Laraque, former Montreal Canadiens forward, Buck Martinez, play-by-play announcer for Toronto Blue Jays games on Rogers Sportsnet; curler Jennifer Jones; Dan Shulman from ESPN.

Finally...Brunt is BACK! Feels like ages that he's been on. He shared stories about going to New Orleans and how amazing the experience was being there during the Saints victory on Sunday. The accounts he provides demonstrates why he is an amazing writer. He called the atmosphere in New Orleans "unlike anything that I have ever seen."

I'm not sure what the point is of McCown and Brunt attacking Hockey Canada and the IIHF retroactively for Cormier hit on the Swedish player during the World Juniors. You know what they say about hindsight, and I'm not sure where the outrage was during the World Juniors regarding the incident. I don't even remember it being discussed at the time by PTS. Perhaps a more intriguing discussion is why there was no media outrage at the time of the incident during the World Juniors.

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??

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: Thursday, January 7th, 2010 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Jim Kelley, columnist for Sportsnet.ca, Former head coach of the Toronto Raptors, Butch Carter; Nicholas Routhier, president and CEO of Sensio, ESPN play-by-play announcer, Dan Shulman; Bill Plaschke from the Los Angeles Times; Tim Keown, writer from ESPN The Magazine

Kelley was on fire today, and it was great to hear him back. Razor sharp and hopefully he's in continued good health. It felt like old times.

Butch Carter is one of McCown's favorites. Many one liners and a great sense of humor. The fact that he lives near Tiger Woods provided for a few awesome lines.

3D TV?? BRING IT!!! I'm sooooo in!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Wednesday, December 6, 2010 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: David Branch, president of the CHL and commissioner of the OHL, Bryan Colangelo, president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors; Dave Van Horne, former play-by-play announcer for the Montreal Expos, Ed Olczyk, hockey analyst for Versus and NBC; CNBC's Darren Rovell; Bob Elliott, Toronto Sun baseball columnist.

Alomar should be in the BHOF. Making him "earn" it, after a couple of years is absolutely stupid. Case closed. Congrats to the "Hawk" Andre Dawson for getting in!

So Becker comes on defending Arenas to the nth degree and others have come on to slag Arenas including Colangelo today. I'm not justifying what he did, of course it was in poor judgement. But I do agree with Becker that Arenas will have a major case against the NBA for being "indefinitely suspended."

...and Colangelo called McCown out for calling Bargnani a "D-League" player at best. McCown admitted that it was tongue in cheek, but then proceeded to further call Bargnani out for his inconsistency.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: President of Hockey Canada, Bob Nicholson; basketball columnist for the Toronto Star, Doug Smith, Rogers Sportsnet hockey analyst, Nick Kypreos; Aaron Fox, lawyer representing Eric Tillman, Co-author of "The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies", Glen Macnow; USA Today's Michael Hiestand; Justin Bracci from Tatics Armoured Hockey Socks.

No real compelling guests nor topics, with the exception of Eric Tillman's lawyer (with apologies to 3D TV and sports movies!)

What really interests me is McCown's revelation that long time Prime Time Sports guest Eric Tillman will be on PTS later in the week. I'm quite curious to see how McCown will juggle the on-air discussion with Tillman. Of course what Tillman did (accident or otherwise) is reprehensible. Will McCown get into the sordid details of the event? Does McCown discuss legal strategy and why Tillman was so adamant of his innocence only to plead guilty? What about how he navigated the Roughriders to a CFL final behind the scenes last season. You can be sure there will be discussion about his future in the CFL, and if Tillman is fired from the Roughriders before he comes on PTS, the job in Toronto. To what extent Tillman will be willing to discuss any of these matters is another matter all together.

I don't remember McCown ever having a guest like this come on PTS who has a history with the show in this set of extraordinary circumstances.

An explosive beginning to the year for sure. I am really interested in hearing how McCown handles this one.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Monday, January 4th, 2010 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Boxing expert, Bert Sugar; Darrell Davis, columnist for the Regina Leader-Post, Sports Illustrated's Don Banks; Rob Becker, attorney and legal analyst; Dan Dunleavy, radio play-by-play man for the World Junior Hockey Championship.

…and we're back in 2010! Better than EVER! Hope everyone out there had a great holidays and looking forward to a fantastic year here at the PTSR!

In the opening segment, McCown asked Brunt "It would be hard to send Eric Tillman to the Boys and Girls Club, wouldn't it?" ...and in that question epitomized the point of no return for Tillman. Tillman's only option as I see it is the Roughriders taking him back as no other organization would bring him on in any capacity. Being in Ottawa and remembering what impact Tillman had on this city, there is a tinge of sympathy for the predicament he's in for someone with vision shouldn't have. At the same time, at the time the allegations were made, he insisted that he would be given a complete discharge. Having said that, I don't think anyone thought the complete discharge would come under these admissions. Tillman is guilty. Ultimately the court of public opinion will judge his fate.

Bobcat also feels arenas should be located where people live and not downtown. As a result, I expect to hear absolutely NO negative feedback for the Senators building their arena in Kanata!!!

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

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Richard Griffin, Jack Armstrong, Michael Boone, Neil Smith, Dennis Herrera, Ed Tait.

McCown: "Saw a great store and found a bevy of excellent products at a store that wasn't cheap."
Brunt: "Luckily you are not poor."
McCown: "I am now..."

...and off we go!

As long as I have been listening to Prime Time Sports, the issue of head shots has been an issue (and a heated one) probably 2-3 times a hockey season, typically after an on ice incident has occurred. While the discussion is always lively and passionate, it always seems as McCown and company are trying to push a stone up a steep hill. Perhaps the hope is that the ongoing discussion will eventually penetrate Fort Knox in New York. Given the history of PTS bringing up these kinds of issues, it seems like a discussion between intellectuals and knuckle-draggers.

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Thursday, December 17, 2009 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Guests: Jim Kelley, Chris Bosh, member of the Toronto Raptors, Don Banks, Ed Olczyk, Don Loding.

Awesome to hear Kelley on the radio again. I wasn't his biggest fan, but when someone is going through a struggle, you certainly want to see them come out on top.

In the interest of full disclosure here at PTSR, we did publish the news that Kelley has cancer on our blog directly from William Houston's blog. We also did ask PTS themselves if it was true, to which they said no comment. We were unaware that this had not be "authorized" by Kelley and apologize to him and want him to know that we will not be publishing any stories from William Houston's blog in the immediate future.

Here's a message targeted towards William Houston who (as Kelley pointed out in the show), published the Kelley report of having cancer without Kelley's knowledge:
"As Kelley pointed out on Prime Time Sports last week, William, you are a slime bucket for publishing this without even calling Kelley first to see if it was okay to publish.

Even the dirtiest of journalists will call their subject to give them a heads up first before publishing something so personal. Kelley reports the news, he isn't the news itself. Even if he were, this is a show of disrespect for anyone, let alone someone of Kelley's stature.

Shame on you William. I hope you will call Jim to apologize and publish it here."

What's the big deal about Bosh getting a tattoo? Isn't he the last player in the NBA not to get tatt'd up?? Don't understand what the news is all about (let alone making a DVD about it.) Slow news day in Toronto, I guess?

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: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: Lester Munson from ESPN.com, Nick Kypreos, hockey analyst from Rogers Sportsnet and former NHL player; ESPN's Rob Neyer, The Toronto Star's Dave Perkins, and Scott Russell from CBC; Declan Hill, author of "The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime".

Canadian Athlete of the Year deliberations should be made public. How 'bout a top 10 list?

Great discussion with Declan Hill, Author of "The Fix". I'm not a die-hard soccer fan, but the underbelly of the sports fixing world is absolutely riveting.

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 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!!!