It just looks gross.

That'll be baseball r- uh, related, uh, revenue.

So from my standpoint, I, I didn't love a cap years ago, but now it makes sense for the players.

It's the industry standard in North American sports.

And players, not your stars, not the top 30 players that account for 74% of salaries, the rest of the Major League Baseball player population is being, uh, underpaid.

You know, we talk about the average salary in baseball.

I did that math too.

Yeah.

Yes

... to another team.

It's just, it's, it's very difficult to make trades of consequence nowadays if you're not offering up, if it's not a one-for-one deal, you're offering a player who seems to be, uh, comparable, at least at some point down the line.

I think it's gonna be really-- I think, I think it's, I think it's really challenging, right, to earn as many sellers to begin with.

It's just, it's hard to acquire players.

You've got 32 teams in the league and, um...

Is it 32? Jeez.

Yeah.

Oh, yes

... where they would have half the team, or the entire team for half the season.

Uh, I remember wa- speaking to a guy, did a documentary on the Expos, and I remember, like, we were kind of involved in this thing, and Bronfman had said in that documentary that basically suggested that, you know, we're the, we're not prepared to spend that money.

It's, it's, it's a $3 billion investment, right? Two for the team and one for the stadium.

Uh, now, it's not one...

Look, it's not one person who owns a team.

You can get some private equity funding at about 15%.

[laughs]

Can they? Will they? And how can they?

So I guess the starting point is a team can't provide compensation to a player outside the four corners of his deal.

If you do that, that constitutes a circumvention of the cap.

So the ultimate underlying allegation is that Steve Ballmer and the Clippers provided Kawhi Leonard with multiple compensation opportunities outside of his contract.

with Aspiration, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton.

When the law firm's report was reviewed, basically, there's not a single instance of a smoking gun.

There's email that says, yes, let's circumvent the cap.

Can you explain to me what the big difference is here other than interpretation?

But what's the future hold for Mr. Romo?

Well, I guess if, you know, your CBS, you've promoted, was it Mr. What? to work with, what's the name of his, I'm just drawing a blank here, who does Tony work with in the booth? You know, Nance, Jim Nance.

And so from their standpoint, they own $72 million left on his deal.

They don't love the level of disrepute brought to the brand, the CBS brand.

You have to imagine the NFL doesn't like it at all.

Right.

You know, as you know, I work for brand owners and brand owners are inherently risk adverse.

Is this expected? Is this how this was going to go? Do you remember...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All those Js 'cause Jerry Buss, the dad, named them all after Js.

And so they, the, the, the five siblings, this is like the Waltons meets Succession, by the way, with all these different names and fighting over billions of dollars.

All the siblings own a combined 17.8% of the Lakers.

Jeanie Buss is the governor, so she has...

You need 15% at minimum to be kind of the governor, the person that runs the team.

So the other siblings all want to sell.

Uh, what do you think this means, if anything, for Jed York's future as the owner of the San Francisco 49ers?

[laughs]

So that must have felt good for you guys.

Um, they were surprised.

We beat them 3-1, and, uh, I mean, it was an amazing, amazing stretch for our team to win districts, to win provincials against Toronto, Ancaster, and then to go to the little, uh, nationals and to go right to the finals and to have been the best team in the country for seven innings without a doubt.

So is it difficult to wa- I mean, M-

So you're disbarred

... 10 days in Timmins, and it's my second time spending 10 days in Timmins over the past four years because that's where provincials was held four years ago for Daniel when he was a minor player.

And, um, uh, so yeah, living out of a suitcase for the better part.

How, how is it feeling now after everything?

Yeah.

Tracking, I like that term, actually.

Um, yeah, we watched Team Canada, which is Team BC, who beat us in the finals in extras in eight.

The games are six innings.

It was 0-0 after seven.

Watched them play South Korea yesterday, and, and, um, South Korea's a pretty good team.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, some of them have been together longer than that.

A few of us lived basically on the same street during the pandemic.

And I remember just grabbing kids and some other dads going to Champlain Park and saying, look, let's just play some baseball.

We'll teach you how to play.

And then they played together in Rookie.

So many of them have been together for about six years.

Now, like Hammer said, we're not going to break down everything, like the play-by-play here, but generally speaking, you know, you've observed your team, you've observed the other teams, this Final Four, you know, what's it look like?

Mm-hmm.

But back then you didn't really quite see it.

On top of that, I've, you know, I personally have coached a lot of these kids, right? I'm still doing the minor, uh, district team.

But I coach a lot of these kids coming through, know them, have great relationships with them.

They're just wonderful kids.

And it, it's, it is, as a coach, as a parent, as a baseball fan, it's something to see the evolution of each child and how, uh, they've improved over time, how they've become more resilient.

Baseball is different than hockey in one way, in that there's nowhere to hide, guys.

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

But back then you didn't really quite see it.

On top of that, I've, you know, I personally, I've coached a lot of these kids, right? I'm still doing the minor, uh, district team.

But I coach a lot of these kids coming through, know them, have great relationships with them.

They're just wonderful kids.

And it's, it's, it is, as a coach, as a parent, as a baseball fan, it's something to see the evolution of each child and how, uh, they've improved over time, how they've become more resilient.

Baseball is different than hockey in one way, in that there's nowhere to hide, guys.

Yes.

Right.

And he's really happy to go there, and that's a great addition for that team.

And I also don't have, since we don't really have exposed skin in the game anymore, I don't have an issue with a league that has superpowers, because that's what drives ratings.

The ratings for the World Series of the past two seasons have been high.

Yankees, Dodgers, Dodgers, Blue Jays.

They've been really high ratings.

And it- you have to have superpowers.

Yeah

Mm-hmm.

I also look at Bo Bichette, and [lips smack] this was the thing is, is last year I said, uh, at the end of the season, "It's abundantly clear to me that the Blue Jays don't wanna re-sign Bo Bichette." That's a massive, massive mistake.

It's a mistake because he is a personification of what the Blue Jays are.

They're a contact team.

They like playing small ball.

They're a contact team.

And arguably, Bo Bichette is the best contact hitter since 2021.

Mm-hmm.

I guess the, the Bedard contract doesn't exactly disprove your, your thesis there in the first place, does it?

No, but it was interesting because he was interviewed after he signed the contract.

Uh, it might have been...

Well, it...

Uh, I don't know who interviewed him.

Uh, it might have been South of the Border, but they said, "Hey, were you looking for Leo Carlsson money?" And that type of question, I think, maybe doesn't fully, uh, recognize that Leo Carlsson's contract will not stand as a precedent because that contract was designed as a poison pill to overpay, that is not pay someone fair market value, to pay them far more, in this case about six million dollars more than fair market value for that player.

Uh, so I, I don't think that that is gonna stand as a precedent.

But how much of the onus do you place on Pat Verbeek for this Carlsson situation? 'Cause yes, Carlsson didn't have to accept that offer sheet, but Verbeek also played hardball with him prior to, uh, to him signing that deal.

I guess the, the Bedard contract doesn't exactly disprove your, your thesis there in the first place, does it?

No, but it was interesting because he was interviewed after he signed the contract.

Uh, it might've been-- well, it-- I don't know who interviewed him.

Uh, it might've been South of the Border, but they said, "Hey, were you looking for Leo Carlsson money?" And that type of question, I think, maybe doesn't fully, uh, recognize that Leo Carlsson's contract will not stand as a precedent because that contract was designed as a poison pill to overpay.

That is not pay someone fair market value, to pay them far more, in this case about six million dollars more than fair market value for that player.

Uh, so I, I don't think that that is gonna stand as a precedent.

Very much like Connor McDavid's $12.5 million deal the next two years would stand as a precedent.

But how much of the onus do you place on Pat Verbeek for this Karlsson situation? 'Cause yes, Karlsson didn't have to accept that offer sheet, but Verbeek also played hardball with him prior to, uh, to him signing that deal.

I guess the, the Bedard contract doesn't exactly disprove your, your thesis there in the first place, does it?

No, but it was interesting because he was interviewed after he signed the contract.

Uh, it might've been-- well, it-- I don't know who interviewed him.

Uh, it might've been South of the Border, but they said, "Hey, were you looking for Leo Carlson money?" And that type of question, I think, maybe doesn't fully, uh, recognize that Leo Carlson's contract will not stand as a precedent because that contract was designed as a poison pill to overpay.

That is, not pay someone fair market value, to pay them far more, in this case, about six million dollars more than fair market value for that player.

Uh, so I, I don't think that that is gonna stand as a precedent.

Very much like Connor McDavid's $12.5 million deal the next two years would stand as a precedent.

But how much of the onus do you place on Pat Verbeek for this Karlsson situation? 'Cause yes, Karlsson didn't have to accept that offer sheet, but Verbeek also played hardball with him prior to, uh, to him signing that deal.

The billionaire who owns the Clippers wants this to happen, therefore the NBA finds a way for this to happen?

I don't, I don't know.

I, I don't, I'm not sure that that, that's gonna be, it's g- that will be the outcome here.

There have some people have been criticizing the NBA, uh, because they've announced they'll conclude their investigation by the end of July, but really effectively ahead of, uh, the upcoming season, saying it's taking too long.

And I, I don't think it is, and I think that this probably is a little bit serious because the Raptors decided to put the trade on hold.

With respect to the, the investigation taking as long as it's taking, we can't forget th- this is a complicated legal matter involving $28 million paid out to Kawhi Leonard from Aspiration.

And the allegation, right, is that that 28 million was done to top off his salary.

Right

Yeah, I saw that.

He said, "I'll take less because the team matters more." Leo Carlsson is, "I'll take more because I matter more." Nothing here suggests that they are positioned to win in so far as Pat Verbeek's negotiation style, Leo Carlson's inherent level of selfishness, and a team that is inherently dysfunctional that has been offer sheeted more than once.

I, I think Pat Verbeek is not someone I would trust running my business and managing my assets, and these assets are different because these assets are people.

And so you need someone with a high EQ.

I don't think he possesses it.

Nothing he has done to date would suggest that he has the constitution to manage this team.

Fair or unfair?

Yep.

Yeah.

Um, she's not being attacked because of the color of her skin.

This Pflueger guy is a conservative r- uh, Republican taking strong positions on immigration, DEI programs, uh, and lots of decisions that minority groups have characterized themselves as racist.

They're just using this, it's quite transparent and frankly ill-conceived, using this as a platform to further, uh, the manner in which they resonate with their own, uh, base.

When I think of an athlete whose attacks are racially motivated, you think of Jackie Robinson, you don't think of Caitlin Clark.

Uh, the whole thing is so utterly silly, and, uh, but is on script for these types of Republicans.

Scores points with your base, right? Mm-hmm.

Um, you could disagree, but what's the conservative estimate in terms of guys like Connor Bedard or Celebrini or Cutter Gauthier, down the list we go, of w- what happens to their contracts and how their agents represent them based solely off Carlson now?

And is that person gonna be Oliver Kapanen again?

No.

I don't think Oliver...

I think Oliver Kapanen's destiny in the NHL, at least at this early stage, is a third line, you know, forward, uh, maybe center, uh, depending on the team that he's playing on.

I think he's destined to play for the Canadiens, you know, for, you know, for his entire career.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone this off-season.

Um, he did score 20 goals, but the underlying numbers would suggest that without Demidov, he really struggled.

... over the, uh, last couple of days, and, uh, the weird and unexpected, uh, way it came to an end yesterday?

Uh, how many times leading up to this week, and now with the Mike Babcock presser the other day, is he gonna be loser of the week again?

Man, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna triple or quadruple dip.

Once it was Stan Bowman for exercising incredibly poor judgment and engaging in this normalization behavior.

That is, you find someone who also has an NHL rap sheet to make yourself feel better.

Uh, Babcock has been it.

The Oilers franchise has, has been it.

It is ...

... you expect your Montreal Canadiens to do anything between now, maybe let's say draft day on Friday or July 1st, next Wednesday?

Yeah.

You haven't.

Your D core is not a strong D core.

You don't have secondary scoring, right? So there are a lot of flaws with this team which suggest the team will once again struggle to make the playoffs.

And if things don't go well out of the gate, I suspect they will, because typically with a new coach, they do.

Uh, 'cause players, there's a sort of a fear-based, uh, element to their performance, so they try a little bit harder without maybe knowing it.

It's gonna be a complete, uh, disaster.

Hope.

So I guess that's where the question for me comes from about, do they need to make a move because they do have leverage over a couple of the competitors in terms of ammunition, like real legitimate ammo to make a transaction and get one over at least a couple of teams that don't have the, the assets in-house to, to kinda play ball that way.

The Canadiens are in a fortunate position.

The one thing this, this management regime has done very well is draft players.

And so they're, they, they, they have the assets to move.

Uh, you can't fall in love with your players, and I don't think that Ken Hughes is, and Jeff Gorton are those types of, of, of, uh, individuals.

But I, I agree with you, the Canadiens have, uh, the leverage.

I don't, I don't think they'll, they'll be, they'll feel that their hand is forced insofar as making a, a, a, a trade.

Mm.

Are you good with... whether it's a Michael Hage up front or if the Leafs are inclined for a young promising defenseman? Would that be a goalie? Would that be a linebacker for you? Eric, your thoughts,

please.

The Canadians have a very clear need at 2C, and we all know that.

My mom knows that, and she's in her 80s and doesn't follow hockey.

And they also, it would be terrific if the Canadians could add A defenseman, you mentioned a guy like Trouba, but you make a good point, his wife is a doctor, she's not going to want to come here.

Someone of that ilk, and then another top six forward.

But everybody's looking for that.

hurricanes are a bit of an outlier, right? They're put together by,

Has there been any hard questions? Daddy, Daddy, how come we're not courtside?

Well, first, like Daddy, we're at a baseball game.

All the kids are eating sunflower seeds and my kids are like eating lobster.

It's like, oh, we always get dirty looks from other people.

But I'm like, whatever.

Quality first, right? I have done my best I'm not afraid to spend on quality seats.

So we went to go see the Warriors against the Raptors over the Christmas holidays.

I love