By Ami Angelwings
4pm hour – Bob McCown hosting
First segment: Interview with Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro, hosts of the Tim & Sid show, FAN590
- Discussion about whether Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback ever, Bob thinks he might be, Sid says he needs 2 more Superbowl rings, Bob doesn’t think Superbowls matter
Second segment: Interview with Doug MacLean, Sportsnet hockey analyst
- Bob and MacLean discuss MacLean’s involvement as an assistant coach at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects game
5pm hour – Bob McCown hosting, Stephen Brunt co-hosting
First segment: Talk segment
- Bob and Brunt discuss the Baseball Hall of Fame voting, Brunt says that you can’t judge players by morality because a lot of players used various substances or did bad things
- Bob thinks it’s unfair to judge players that haven’t been implicated in PED use simply because they were a power hitter during the steroid era
Second segment: Interview with Rob Becker, Sportsnet legal analyst
- Becker discusses the Lance Armstrong situation and probable confession on Oprah
- Becker doesn’t think it makes sense to lower Armstrong’s punishment if he gives up other cyclists who used because Becker believes he was the ringleader and you don’t make deals with ringleaders for lackeys
Third segment: Interview with Dave Stubbs, Montreal Gazette
- Stubbs talks about Scott Gomez being told to stay home by the Montreal Canadiens
6pm hour – Bob McCown hosting, Stephen Brunt co-hosting
First segment: Interview with Don Banks, Sports Illustrated NFL reporter
- Banks talks about the surprising Broncos loss, points out that Manning has struggled in the playoffs historically, Bob says he didn’t see anything Manning did that was that bad
- Brunt thinks that Manning is just getting old
- Brunt is impressed by the Seattle Seahawks and believes they have a bright future
- Bob asks Banks if the Green Bay loss was an indication that Green Bay is declining, Banks says that they lost because they couldn’t adapt to the strategies of the 49ers
- Banks thinks the Ravens need to score in the 30s if they want a chance against the Patriots, but thinks it’ll be a tough game for New England
Second segment: Bob Elliott, Toronto Sun baseball reporter
- Bob, Brunt and Elliott discuss the World Baseball Classic and the Canadian players that won’t play for the team
- Brunt asks Elliott if it’s possible to make the WBC something people might actually care about, Elliott has an idea given to him by Justin Morneau, which is to hold it instead of the All-Star break every 4 years
Third segment: Denise Stillman, Go the Distance LLC CEO
- Stillman outlines her investor group’s plans for the Iowa corn field used in Field of Dreams and to build a baseball complex next to it
- Stillman says they will preserve the movie site, and make it an attraction for the parents of youth travel baseball teams
- Bob asks if any of the actors from the film have been contacted to be part of it, Stillman says they have been but they aren’t really interested, though they are supportive
- Stillman suggests further plans including a Field of Dreams museum, which Bob finds intriguing, and a brew pub, which Brunt is excited about
Thoughts:
I actually like the enthusiasm Bob shows for the World Baseball Classic and I think it’s interesting that he does seem to care if Canada wins or not. I guess it’s because it’s baseball and he loves baseball, but I don’t see people caring about it like they care about other international tournaments, and I like that he does. 🙂
Usually, I find the Tim & Sid 4pm segments boring, but I enjoyed this one and their debate about Tom Brady and what makes somebody a great quarterback. I agree with Bob that counting whether or not somebody’s team happens to win one game a year or not shouldn’t be held against a QB. It’s interesting that usually he’s on the other end of the discussion when talking with Brunt about baseball, and Brunt telling him that wins are a team stat.
I think Bob’s starting to change his mind about steroids and the hall of fame, because I remember he was very big on banning all the people accused of steroid use from the hall, but I think Brunt’s influence on him combined with Giambi not being voted in is changing his mind. I think if Giambi had been voted in, Bob would maintain his stance, but the scorched earth mentality where all power hitters of that era aren’t getting in seems to be changing his mind.
Banks was very informative, and for a casual NFL watcher like myself, I always like his segments because they explain to me the things I saw on the weekend.
Amazingly, while hockey dominates every sports channel on TV right now, Bob managed to talk very little about the upcoming NHL season (the Gomez talk I guess counts as NHL talk) and that was refreshing.
Photo available here
