The Bob McCown Podcast

It’s safe to say that if this podcast had been recorded a month ago, we would be having a different conversation about the Edmonton Oilers. However, after winning 8 out of their last 10 games, things are looking good for Ken Holland and his hockey club, so we felt it was the right time to have him on the show. We talk with Ken about the current state of the Oilers and find out if they’ve finally managed to put their struggles behind them. We delve a little into their new coaching hire, the inconsistent play from their stars, and even grill him on the team's polarizing new sweater design as we end the week with some hockey talk with one of the greats.

With the Shohei Ohtani drama out of the way, there are still other things to consider for the Toronto Blue Jays, so we brought on Rob Longley to discuss them with John and Dave. The three examine the not-so-clear future for the Jays and their roster as they discuss potential moves that could help. They also explore the future for both Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., while delving into what transpired in Nashville during MLB’s GM meetings. Additionally, they ponder how the massive amounts of money being tossed around will affect the future of the league.

After the details of Shohei Ohtani’s 700 million dollar contract became public, many of us, including John and Richard, were left a little confused, not only by the deferments but about how the heck the LA Dodgers could afford to pay the Japanese baseball phenom that much money. Luckily, Brian Cooper hops on the show to try to make it make sense. We break down the details of his contract as Brian shares with us how athletes’ likeness and cultural impact can be leveraged into even more money for a professional franchise before we switch over to some basketball talk as we discuss the Toronto Raptors and the team's shorter & long-term plans with Doug Smith.

It doesn’t matter what you throw at him; Steve Simmons can hit the curveball, and he puts that skill on display today as he joins John and Daren for some general sports talk on today’s show. We start things off by discussing Shohei Ohtani’s monster deal and the intricacies of the contract before figuring out just how close the Toronto Blue Jays were to getting the Japanese phenom north of the border. We also get into the voting process, of which Steve was a part, for the Northern Star Award for Canada’s Athlete of the Year before shifting our focus to media distribution in Canada. We take a look at one of Steve’s recent articles regarding Rogers Media and their NHL rights going forward.

Pat Verbeek joins the show to chat with John and Daren Millard to start the week off with some hockey talk. We get to know a bit more about the Anaheim Ducks in the first half of the show as Pat gives us an update on the Ducks’ injured players, their short-term and long-term plans with the roster, and more before we shift our focus to Pat as a person, player, and a general manager for the second half of the show.

As of the time of recording with Bob Elliott and Dave Perkins, the Shohei Ohtani situation has yet to be resolved. This round table can do nothing but speculate as we wait with bated breath to hear where the Japanese superstar signs. We discuss every possible outcome regarding the Ohtani signing, questioning whether investing half a billion dollars in one player is a responsible decision. We also explore how Shohei would fit into the Blue Jays' roster if he chooses to sign and take a look at all the other dominoes that will fall once Shohei Ohtani is finally off the free-agent market.

It’s a good ol’ fashioned Hockey Roundtable on todays show as our two Mikes, Harrington and Zeisberger join the show.  John, Daren, Mike and Mike try to cover as much as possible within the NHL with a main focus on the Eastern Conference, breaking down the three Eastern teams that entered the year with higher expectations than usual: The Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres.

We’ve got a little bit of a sports talk medley today as John spends some time with both Daren Millard & Jack Armstrong on todays show. Daren and John cover some of the latest topics swirling around the hockey world as the two break down the possibilities of future “In-Season Tournaments” and world cups before shifting focus to the topic of expansion within the NHL. Jack Armstrong replaces Daren for the second half of the show so he and John can talk about the NBA Cup, the evolution of how basketball players are playing the game and of course, the Toronto Raptors.

We've got some good old-fashioned hockey talk with two guys who know their stuff: New York Rangers Broadcaster Joe Micheletti & Sportsnet’s Greg Millen. They discuss the league-topping New York Rangers and the magic of their goalie coach, Benoit Allaire, before delving into the qualities that make up a great coach. They also touch on St. Louis’ growing hockey culture and more on today's NHL-themed episode.

We haven’t talked Golf in a while which means we haven’t talked to our friends Ian Leggatt & Richard Zokol in a while either. John and Dave Hodge catch up with our resident golfers on todays show as we discuss the return of Tiger Woods, the start of another year of the PGA Tour and  the Dec. 31 deadline to finalize an agreement along with the Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour.