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: 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: 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!!!

Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown: Friday, May 15, 2009 (5:00-7:00)

Host: Bob McCown
Co-Host: Stephen Brunt
Roundtable with Bob McCown, Stephen Brunt, Dave Perkins, and Jeff Blair

With Balsillie coming on Prime Time sports next week, it sets up for an intriguing match up of idea. Balsillie's dream of Hamilton vs. McCown's 'reality' of Toronto. Interestingly enough, Balsillie and McCown met a few months ago to discuss this issue and from McCowns account while the conversation went well, he couldn't get a read on Balsillie. McCown is clearly drawing a line in the sand, and it will be fascinating to see where the discussion between these two men will go. Can a response from the NHL be far behind on Prime Time Sports airwaves?

I have as much to contribute to the horse racing subject as Blair did during that segment!

McCowns "lies" equals Brunt's "contradictions"...freakin' classic!! ...and what's this about McCown being a cheerleader while Brunt was smokin' a blunt?!?!? Someone fill me in on this story, even with a PHOTO!