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.

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: Thursday, December 10, 2009 (4:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: John Shannon
Guests: Elliotte Friedman, John Bitove, Darren Rovell, Buck Martinez, Dan Shulman, Chris Rudge, Allan Walsh.

Friedman returns!! Some great historical stories about McCown and negotiating his morning contract and his current contract with the FAN590. Love it - fascinating stuff. You can also sense the deep respect Friedman has for McCown. I think I've mentioned it before, but after listening to Friedman and McCown there seems to be a mutual bond between these two (probably similar to Strombolopolous). I just wonder how nerve racking it is for Friedman and other younger media personalities who grew up listening to Bobcat and are now in the position to work side-by-side with him. I'd be pissin' my pants, and not figuratively either!

Bobcat getting freebies from the Hockey House - c'mon Bobcat…put that pass on eBay! For more info on Hockey House, click here - looks impressive, but geez it looks expensive!!!

Here are two of the t-shirts from zazzle.com that Rovell hinted at:
I guess all Tigers can't climb trees
Tiger Did Me

Martinez was caught in a bit of a fib. He said that he spoke to Shulman about the radio opportunity before accepting it. As soon as Shulman came on, they asked him about it, and he said he had no knowledge about it before the announcement. Hmmmm…something weird about that, and Shannon and McCown knew it. Martinez also called John, Jeff…not a good start. Ah well, we'll always have that play from home plate with the broken leg, won't we??

At around 6:40 during the Chris Rudge interview, McCown exploded on Vanoc, etc for the "smoke and mirrors" these organizations utilize in asking for public funds and then exponentially raising the funds closer to game time. This is going to be coming to a head when McCown heads to Vancouver. I will be listening to see if McCown will end up "exploding" on his traditional view during the Olympics. It will be impossible for him not to, although if the freebies keep coming in, it's gonna be tough!

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: 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: 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: Tuesday, September 8, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Guests: President and CEO of the Toronto Argonauts, Bob Nicholson; David Peterson, chair of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Bid; Don Banks from Sports Illustrated; manager of team travel for the Toronto Blue Jays, Mike Shaw; Brahm Resnik, reporter and anchor for News 12 in Phoenix.

Nothing like the best combo in sports radio, Brunt and McCown!!!

If you think Bettman v Balsillie is insane, imagine Bettman vs MLSE? The battle lines are drawn and the next few days will dictate exactly how close those two are headed towards battle.

David Petterson, Chair of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Bid came on and supposedly the two of them had a loud altercation regarding the bid. Bobcat has been a long time advocate of no public funds going to sporting bid tournaments, especially the olympics. Hell, he's even critical of the Vancouver Olympics that he'll be attending at broadcasting at! When it came down to the Pan Am Games, Bobcat was pretty adament that it was the wrong way to proceed based on a multitude of factors. While it was a very, VERY civil conversation, if this thing gets closer expect a major battle between Peterson and Bobcat on the airwaves.

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

Host: Bob McCown
Guests: ESPN's Dan Shulman; reporter for the Phoenix Business Journal, Mike Sunnucks; Tim Gayda, VANOC's vice-president of sport

(One of the more shorter posts today...)

Manny tests positive for steroids. The world's shock ends seconds after..

You get the sense that Balsillie is playing the NHL for an ultimate power play. Now what that is, I'm not sure. But Nashville, Pittsburgh and now Phoenix seems to be lining up for something bigger.