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Episode 13 — Olympics Week Two & Super Bowl 60
45 Plays3 months ago
Leo & Lando are back with a new episode as the Olympics move into the second week and Super Bowl 60 wraps up. The guys go through the main storylines from both events, including Canada’s early results in Milano‑Cortina and what stood out from the NFL’s biggest game. A steady breakdown of a busy stretch in sports. Happy Family Day!
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Transcript
Introduction and Upcoming Topics
00:00:18
Leo Ernewein
Welcome back to the Leo and Lando show. I'm Leo Ernewein.
00:00:22
Lando
And I'm Landon Lando Semenuk.
00:00:26
Leo Ernewein
We're just over one week into the Olympics here, and there's a lot to get into. The hockey, the curling, medals, all of it. And, of course, we've got a lot to talk about in the Super Bowl from the last weekend, or from the last weekend. The game itself and that very controversial halftime show, too.
00:00:42
Leo Ernewein
Well, sort of controversial halftime show, depending on how you view it. We'll find out here coming up. Lando, my man, though, first off, how are you doing today?
Weather and Sports Workload
00:00:50
Lando
I'm doing well man. Yeah, doing really well. Apparently winter is going be coming back into Alberta in the next few days. So yeah, I've been liking this spring weather, wearing these light coats, but looks like the boots and the gloves and the toques are going to be coming back out.
00:01:07
Lando
How are you, man?
00:01:08
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, that's what I'm seeing as well. The winner is winter is coming or no, no trademark, no copyright, hopefully.
00:01:16
Leo Ernewein
lots of work though. that's good. Doing a couple sports. Well, not a couple doing like five or six sports days in a row coming up, which is good.
Valentine's Day Reflections
00:01:26
Leo Ernewein
anything new before we jump into it here?
00:01:29
Lando
no well obviously we've had a long weekend we're in the middle of it and uh i just want to make a you know wish everybody a happy belated valentine's day and uh happy long weekend as well
00:01:48
Leo Ernewein
I was also a fool. I was on air yesterday and wish anybody a happy Valentine's Day once. Didn't even say the word Valentine's Day.
00:01:54
Lando
Neither did I.
00:01:55
Leo Ernewein
So, happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Yeah.
00:01:58
Lando
Neither did I. This is the first time I've actually said it to somebody.
00:01:59
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:02:01
Lando
But yeah, I don't know about you, Leo.
00:02:02
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:02:04
Lando
I don't like Valentine's Day. It bothers me being a single guy. It's a nonsense of a day, basically. It's a day that I'm glad on the calendar that I wish I could jump over and go to the 15th like today.
00:02:20
Lando
Unfortunately, we can't. But yeah, I just I don't like Valentine's Day. It's it's a Hallmark Day.
00:02:24
Leo Ernewein
I just, I kind of ignore it.
00:02:28
Lando
Yeah, I mean, I've been better this year, but last couple of years, it's been it's been a little hard because, you know, with you being with us being a single guy or sorry, with me being a single guy.
00:02:40
Lando
And I know you are too, Leo. But with me being a single guy, it's hard because you all the people I know. either have boyfriend or sorry girlfriend or boyfriend husband wife kids you know it's hard it's hard when you see you know on on social media when you see all these people sharing their you know you know their significant other and it's like you don't have anything to share not that you should should be a competition but it kind it makes you makes you just go oh man
00:03:15
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, it's a crappy reminder of loneliness.
00:03:17
Lando
Yeah.
00:03:27
Leo Ernewein
But I like to think that I do and that I like to think that I still got it. But anyways, you know, they're not really here to listen to that. So we'll jump into the stuff that they might want to listen to. Yeah.
00:03:35
Lando
Exactly.
Olympic Highlights and Debates
00:03:37
Leo Ernewein
Some, you know, Canada finally had its breakthrough moment at the Olympics here.
00:03:41
Leo Ernewein
Mikhail Kingsbury delivered the country's first gold medal of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics in the debut of the men's duel moguls this morning. He already had a silver earlier in the games and his gold gives Canada Sorry, his gold gives him five Olympic medals and five events, two gold, three silver.
00:04:01
Leo Ernewein
Landon, my question for you, though, is nine days in, is one gold actually a slow start for Canada? One gold and nine medals, do you consider that a slow start?
00:04:09
Lando
I think it is. Yeah, it's little concerning too. How do you feel?
00:04:16
Leo Ernewein
I don't think... It's as concerning as people maybe think about it. I did some research actually. Well, not research, but I found some people talking about it on Reddit because that was really the only updated one I could find because after the medal came in this morning, the gold medal,
00:04:36
Leo Ernewein
all the others were you know zero golds and eight days and yada yada yada this one from reddit actually has a canada's predicted medalists at the milan olympics now i'm not quite sure where this is from the screenshot itself so i don't know if it's you know fan made or nothing like that but uh it looks to be pretty organized and it has some good Predictions like, obviously Canada is predicted to win gold in men's hockey.
00:05:04
Leo Ernewein
Mikael Kingsbury was predicted win gold in dual moguls, and he did so this morning. So Elieck Rondin predicted win gold. He ended up getting silver in snowboard cross. So as far as what they're saying on this post is that the scheduling actually has a lot of the events that were predicted to medal in.
00:05:28
Leo Ernewein
or medal in highly further down in the Olympic schedule than we've previously seen. So that's why we're not doing as well as because we haven't had our big events yet in that sense.
00:05:42
Lando
Fair enough. Yeah. You know, I was going to go there too, but one of the things that I, I'm, I am concerned about for Canada, as far as the, where they positionally is,
00:05:56
Lando
I think the world, I know you're going ask this question, but the world, think the world has caught up to us as far competition goes. And also, I think the other thing that Canada hasn't had this year, too, in the East Olympics is the luck hasn't been on their side where there's, you know, there's been some amazing surprises from athletes who weren't even picked to win medals and they've won medals.
00:06:25
Lando
And They've, you know, and then there's been these big wow moments and we haven't had that this year. It's been very, it's been very black, if you want to call it that. Now, I know we've got lots more events coming up here and, you know, this is when the Olympics really, really get going for everybody. But just based on what I've been seeing from other countries winning medals, we're really struggling in every sport.
00:06:53
Lando
And I think that's a little bit of a concern because we should be in other years, we've been top five already and we're not, we're barely cracking top 10.
00:07:05
Lando
And that's a little concerning. And why I think that is, is because I just, don't think we have the talent. Let me back this up. I think we have the talent, but I don't think we have enough of it where, you know, our population's a problem.
00:07:21
Lando
you know, compared to other countries. And, you know, I don't know this for sure, but I know for the States for sure that they pay these athletes to, know, basically go and win a medal for the country. And, you know, a lot of these athletes in the States, even Europe, you know, they're, it's basically, this is their job. Their job is to compete in the Olympics, compete in world championships.
00:07:49
Lando
And that's, they get paid, Not a ton, but they get paid basically to help them, you know,
Canadian Hockey Triumphs
00:07:56
Lando
train and all that. And that's where we're lacking, I think, in our country. And I think.
00:08:01
Lando
If we're ever, ever going to compete against the big boys, think we need to change how we doing things in our country. Because this is just an opinion that I've come up with over the last number of Olympics that I've noticed that we're really struggling in the talent-wise because just they're not getting funded. And they're also...
00:08:24
Lando
our athletes are having to use the their own money to pay so that they can compete and chase their dreams and i think that's a little bit i think that's wrong
00:08:36
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, so, I mean, the Olympics do pay out for gold medals and silvers and all that stuff, but you're just talking like a base salary outside of, like, endorsement deals and stuff like that.
00:08:41
Lando
yep yeah
00:08:47
Leo Ernewein
I think the state's is probably closer to us than you think. Although I do agree that there are lot of other countries, especially particularly in Europe, that these athletes have been able to get funding from government programs and stuff like that to be able to support themselves all year, like year round, right?
00:09:10
Lando
Yeah, yeah.
00:09:12
Leo Ernewein
And performance bonuses or private sponsorships or whatever, it's, it's, it's, yeah, it's tough because don't know. Right. Like I've had people argue that Olympics should be amateur strictly because right. That's kind of what it always was.
00:09:31
Lando
Right, yeah.
00:09:32
Leo Ernewein
And then low, right. What, sorry.
00:09:34
Lando
Yeah, no, no, no, you're right. Yeah, I kind of agree with that.
00:09:37
Leo Ernewein
And then slowly professionalism started to seep into it. And, Don't get me wrong. I love having NHL players at the Olympics.
00:09:47
Lando
Mike Wilberg – Oh me Mike Wilberg – yeah.
00:09:48
Leo Ernewein
You give a rat's about it before when they weren't there. So now I'm starting to watch. It brings eyes to the events. It has pros and it has cons, right? And some of these are the cons that, depending on your country's ambitions at these games, is how the program will be funded. And you're saying that Canada is not necessarily a lack of program depth, but program funding in that sense.
00:10:13
Lando
Yeah.
00:10:14
Leo Ernewein
And I can go ahead.
00:10:14
Lando
Yeah. I, yeah, no, I, I think, yeah, program depth is a problem. I know, I know Jennifer Heil who won gold medal in women's moguls came on CBC.
00:10:28
Lando
It wasn't, I don't think it was directly on TV, but I think it was on their YouTube channel. And she was, this was a, this was about, this was a few days ago
00:10:34
Leo Ernewein
What year should we win?
00:10:38
Leo Ernewein
No, she couldn't have won gold.
00:10:40
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, but what year did she win the gold?
00:10:41
Lando
Oh, to the 2010 in Vancouver.
00:10:44
Leo Ernewein
Okay, thank you.
00:10:45
Lando
Yeah, sorry.
00:10:45
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:10:46
Lando
So Jennifer Howe won gold in Vancouver and women's moguls. And she was on because she's part of the Canadian Olympic team. And she was coming on and basically saying that funding from our Canadian government has not changed in 20 years.
00:11:03
Lando
That it's the same amount of money going in as it was 20 years ago that they haven't changed. And In the last 20 years, lots of things, I agree with her, lots of things have changed in the last 20 years.
00:11:14
Lando
I mean, know, for sure.
00:11:15
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, but most people's wages hasn't in other jobs too, right?
00:11:33
Lando
mean, it took, it took them, you know, how many years before 2010 to finally get to where we were to actually be on top of the podium.
00:11:45
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:11:48
Lando
We were, we were barely hovering over even top 20. Right. So, I mean, I just, my, my, my parents even said to me back in 88 when the Olympics were in Calgary,
00:11:53
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:11:59
Lando
that they got completely blanked. Like there was no gold medals. And I can't remember. They said maybe if Canada won five medals that year and they were the host nation.
00:12:09
Leo Ernewein
Wow.
00:12:09
Lando
Right. So like, so it took.
00:12:12
Leo Ernewein
Jamaican bobsled team beat us, man.
00:12:14
Lando
Yeah, exactly. So, so anyways, that, that's just, that's just where I'm at. I, I, I agree with Jennifer Heil that,
00:12:26
Lando
that I do think the government and our Olympic committees and I need to come together and figure out how do how do we go about changing this because unfortunately, is becoming a downhill trend I mean,
00:12:42
Lando
Beijing was okay, but it was kind of, you could kind of start seeing it starting to spiral a little bit. Because I mean, the 2010s, I think was our, you know, basically, the peak of where we were as Olympic athletes. And now it's starting drop off. And, and if they want to keep doing what they're doing, as far as being on top of the podium, things have to change from the funding part. And you know, I was talking lots of people about this at work. And was talking to my dad about this too, that
00:13:12
Lando
that we need more funding. And the things that our government seem to be funding aren't necessarily for our country's interests, it's for elsewhere. And I'm not going to get into politics because that's not our podcast. But Our government really needs to start helping our athletes a lot more so that it's more affordable for them so that they can compete. And that's not just them, that's just Canadians in general.
00:13:43
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, I think, yeah, it's not necessarily a funding problem, but an economic problem for a country as a whole. But you're right, it's not necessarily our realm of podcasts or in podcast topics.
00:13:54
Lando
Yes.
00:13:57
Leo Ernewein
But there's one more question I wanted to ask you before we jump over to the men's hockey. And it's kind of more of a joke than a question. But I've seen people talk about it on Twitter, and I thought it was kind of cool and interesting concept.
00:14:09
Leo Ernewein
And they were saying it was a tweet by somebody saying, once again, I'm asking the Olympic committee to at least put one average person in each event to let the viewership know, like how good these athletes are for comparison reasons, that sort of sake. What would be your thoughts on that?
00:14:28
Lando
That would be very interesting. actually would actually watch that to see an average person trying to do some of these things that these athletes do.
00:14:38
Lando
Because, I mean, honestly, man, these athletes are unbelievable. Like what they do, know, I basically call them Superman and women.
00:14:48
Lando
That's basically what they are. Like they're super, they're super people doing extraordinary things with their body. That's basically what they're doing.
00:14:57
Leo Ernewein
You're right. And I didn't mean to throw shit at the Jamaican bobsled team earlier when they beat us.
00:14:59
Lando
No.
00:15:02
Leo Ernewein
That was an incredible run by them. And, you know, showed out cool runnings, the movie and all that stuff.
00:15:04
Lando
Oh, for sure.
00:15:07
Lando
Yeah. And it inspired a movie. Yeah.
00:15:09
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, exactly.
00:15:09
Lando
And then,
00:15:10
Leo Ernewein
But, yeah, the people, I would just like to see, don't know if necessarily it would take away from the competition, but maybe have somebody you know, a linesman or a judge or somebody who's like a referee or an official, just kind of, you know, do the pole vaulting pole vault right before,
00:15:31
Leo Ernewein
everybody else goes and competes like kind of like a trial test run like okay viewers this is how it looks when joe schmo does it and then hopefully they don't get hurt you know and then and then we get to see the the real competition but i i just thought that that was hilarious that i would love to see uh just in comparison because sometimes it doesn't do it justice right you got eight at least elite
00:15:58
Leo Ernewein
sprinters or speed skaters lined up next to each other and you're watching them all race and you go, yeah, that's fast, but you can only tell who's faster than who.
00:16:08
Leo Ernewein
You can't really, you know, you can see how fast they're going by the numbers on the screen. Sometimes they'll post, you know, this guy was 33 kilometers an hour on skates or something like that, top speed or whatever.
00:16:18
Leo Ernewein
I'm, I'm, I have no idea what it actually is, but I don't know. I just thought it was funny, but let's look at it.
00:16:23
Lando
That is funny, actually. It's really interesting. It makes you think, though, right? Like, it makes you really think, you know, would people be able to do what these guys are doing?
00:16:33
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, or how bad would it look and how much of liability would that be?
00:16:36
Lando
Yeah.
00:16:37
Leo Ernewein
Like there's a whole bunch of reasons why that doesn't happen.
00:16:38
Lando
Oh, man.
00:16:42
Leo Ernewein
But it's just a cool thought.
00:16:44
Lando
It is cool.
00:16:45
Lando
I think it's really neat. I'm glad you brought that up.
00:16:48
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, I just randomly thought of it and thought I'd put it in there.
00:16:50
Lando
Yeah, good for you.
00:16:51
Lando
No, that's, I like it.
00:16:53
Leo Ernewein
Let's jump over to the men's hockey here. Canada's men's team is perfect so far, 3-0. With wins over the Czechs, Switzerland and France earlier today. One lineup note, Josh Morrissey missed the final prelim game with an injury, so Shea Theodore stepped in.
00:17:08
Leo Ernewein
With the win over France this morning, it was 10-2, so they dominated them. think they outshot them like 40-13 or something like that. It was in the 40s, pretty sure.
00:17:18
Lando
yeah.
00:17:19
Leo Ernewein
And there was even a fight. I'm pretty sure it was Tom Wilson and somebody on the front of the squad that
00:17:24
Lando
It was, was just going to say.
00:17:26
Leo Ernewein
of course they got a game misconduct and i heard somebody talk about tom wilson and that's what you get when you bring a goon to know because i saw this talk a conversation on facebook and somebody else pointed out that you know tom wilson was the first goal scorer of the game he had a nice goal uh he had an assist and he got a fight you basically had a gordy howe hat trick at the olympics i
00:17:29
Lando
Yeah.
00:17:49
Leo Ernewein
That's almost the definition of a beauty in certain people's eyes. So I could see where it's like, I liked it.
00:17:55
Leo Ernewein
I liked it. I thought hilarious.
00:17:56
Lando
I think he's a beauty.
00:17:58
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, I thought it was funny.
00:17:59
Lando
I do. Yeah.
00:18:02
Leo Ernewein
Leading scorers so far in the tournament, McDavid nine points now. Sidney Crosby's got six. Celebrini's got six. Jerov Slefkowski's got six. I think he's playing later today, right?
00:18:15
Leo Ernewein
I believe the state's...
00:18:16
Lando
Yuri Slakkov. I just finished watching it. I've got the TV on in my in my room here and they just won. They won a five one over Germany.
00:18:28
Leo Ernewein
gotcha five one over Germany and Czech Czechoslovakia was playing Switzerland.
00:18:34
Lando
Earlier today it was four three I think they won.
00:18:34
Leo Ernewein
Oh, that was yesterday. Yeah, they played.
00:18:41
Lando
No, four three, four three Switzerland I think it was.
00:18:41
Leo Ernewein
Gotcha.
00:18:44
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, so I'm just going go back and check the stats here.
00:18:45
Lando
So yeah.
00:18:47
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, so Scott, he's played three games as well. So I was wrong. He's tied for second as well with six. Nate McKinnon's got five. Martin Nietzsche's got five as well.
00:18:59
Leo Ernewein
Lucas Raymond, nice. Well, not really a surprise because he's a good player, right, for the Red Wings.
00:19:03
Lando
Mm-hmm.
00:19:04
Leo Ernewein
So he's got one goal and four assists for five points. So those are all the people above five there. you know when you have a 10-2 game obviously you're gonna stack stack up some points there so no questions about it but what part of Canada's game looks the most I don't know I would call it playoff ready heading into the quarterfinals or knockout stage ready like do you think they're ready at that right now or yeah
00:19:32
Lando
Yes, I do. The way they've played, I mean, yeah, they've played three. Well, I wouldn't say that they're mediocre teams because I think the Czechs and the Swiss are, in their own right, actually are really good hockey teams. Just when you have guys like Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Kale McCarr on your team,
00:19:59
Lando
and they're superstars to begin with in the NHL, how do you compete against that, right? I mean, when you think...
00:20:05
Leo Ernewein
That is sort of unfair.
00:20:06
Lando
It is. mean, it's fair, but it's unfair.
00:20:07
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:20:09
Lando
You know what I mean? And so when you...
00:20:11
Leo Ernewein
The only thing that's fair is for Canada to how to balance all that and manage it. And, you know, because the expectation is gold or bust.
00:20:16
Lando
Yeah.
00:20:20
Lando
Exactly. Yeah.
00:20:21
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:20:21
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:20:22
Lando
when you look at the checks, the two best players is Martin Natchez from Colorado and David Pasternak from the Boston Bruins. Then after that, it kind of starts falling off a little bit.
00:20:37
Lando
And then when you look at the Swiss, well, the Swiss has Roman Yossi, who is becoming end of his career with Switzerland and Kevin Fiala, who we'll talk about his injury.
00:20:49
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:20:50
Lando
You know, you have him, have Nita Ryder, Nico Heischer.
00:20:53
Leo Ernewein
Well, you had Fiala, but we'll get to that.
00:20:55
Lando
Yeah, you had Fiala. Yeah, we'll get to that.
00:20:56
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:20:57
Lando
But those guys are good players, but are they what Canada No. And so Canada has steamrolled past both those teams.
00:21:06
Lando
Did they play solid game in both games? You know, to a certain extent, yeah, they did. They put the pedal to the metal when they had to. But the French basically came out and said after the game today, which would be Sunday when we're recording this, that the French said, like, that's an all-star team.
00:21:25
Lando
We just played an all-star team, basically.
00:21:27
Leo Ernewein
20.
00:21:28
Leo Ernewein
right.
00:21:28
Lando
And they said, this is what we need.
00:21:31
Lando
I think it was one guy that said, and I'm paraphrasing, he basically said, This is what, as a French program, this is what, this is, Canada has set the bar for what we need to do in a French program.
00:21:46
Lando
But I think France is like 20 years away from even coming close.
00:21:52
Leo Ernewein
half century dude i mean you would need roots in hockey that the canada has had for centuries right or century yeah i know i know i'm just taking shots at them watching the game this morning was while i was at work it was sort of reminded me of watching like the world baseball classic when like
00:21:53
Lando
While, you know, yeah.
00:22:00
Lando
Exactly. But I'm being generous, man. That's why I'm saying 20 years.
00:22:15
Leo Ernewein
you know, team like Team Japan, who was pretty good, would take on a team, Team Czechoslovakia or Team Czech, right? And they were literally like a rec league.
00:22:23
Lando
Yeah.
00:22:27
Leo Ernewein
They would practice after their work. They were all like electricians or tradesmen and stuff like that. None of them threw over like 80 miles per hour. One of them actually struck out Shohei Otani. So the joke I saw in the comments was, we can actually say Shohei Otani played against plumbers and electricians.
00:22:44
Lando
Yeah.
00:22:45
Leo Ernewein
Because, you know, the argument about Babe Ruth and his stats is, oh, he played against people that weren't really, you know, full-time baseball players.
00:22:53
Leo Ernewein
Now somebody's going to say Shohei Otani didn't either. But, yeah, the, I don't know, like, Canada, they look good for sure.
00:23:05
Lando
Yo, yeah.
00:23:05
Leo Ernewein
And, yeah, I agree that they haven't really had any competition yet as far as, those three games, I shouldn't say any competition, but they, they, you know, those guys obviously weren't on their level.
00:23:20
Leo Ernewein
The only really three or four teams, I think that could compete with them. Finn, Switzerland, no, sorry. So it's a finish, uh, Finland, Sweden, the States. And, I don't even know about Sweden anymore, actually.
00:23:33
Leo Ernewein
Right. Because of, yeah, but, uh, sorry, Czechs, I guess would be the other one.
00:23:35
Lando
They're little iffy, yeah.
00:23:39
Leo Ernewein
And, and, uh, United States.
00:23:39
Lando
Yeah.
00:23:44
Leo Ernewein
Is there pairing that has elevated you like line pairing, sorry, that has elevated their play the most for you or anybody that has impressed you when you've watched the games?
00:23:54
Lando
Well, I've been very impressed with Thomas Harley. I've been very impressed with Dowdy. I've been very impressed with Shea Theodore.
00:24:05
Lando
And why I say Shea Theodore is because we didn't really get a very good grasp of him because he got hurt last year in the Four Nations. So we never really got to see, you know,
00:24:17
Lando
him actually playing games. And he's actually, he stayed healthy through this whole thing and he's looked really good. The guy that I've been very impressed with that I thought would probably struggle a little bit and I thought would get taken off the top line was Macklin Salabrini.
00:24:34
Lando
He's been one of their best players by far.
00:24:36
Leo Ernewein
Lights out, dude.
00:24:38
Lando
he's been lights out and I thought he would kind of struggle a little bit.
00:24:40
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:24:42
Lando
I thought, okay, well, he's on the top line. That'll put you up with his, you know, they're giving him a shot and as the tournament goes on, but he's been lights out. He has not missed a beat yet.
00:24:53
Lando
I mean, he's playing with Mick David and McKinnon. Sometimes that's where he, that's the level of trust that John Cooper has in him.
00:24:58
Leo Ernewein
Yeah. I saw the, that was crazy.
00:25:00
Lando
Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:02
Leo Ernewein
He's playing with them. So quick question for you is that the best line we've ever seen the ice and hockey?
00:25:11
Lando
Yes, one of them.
00:25:13
Leo Ernewein
It's got to be one of them for sure. But somebody, again, this is going up to stuff I saw on the internet where somebody was asking that question.
00:25:14
Lando
One of them.
00:25:20
Leo Ernewein
And the top response was absolutely, well, not absolutely not. I think was no. Gretzky, Lemieux, and whoever the third guy was in the 88 Olympics.
00:25:31
Leo Ernewein
I think they said 88 Olympics. And I just love how they didn't even have to name three people. They just said, no, these two the best match. because they were, in my opinion, Gretzky's probably number one. Lemieux, yeah, I guess I'd probably number two.
00:25:49
Leo Ernewein
So if they were playing together, it's a hard argument to beat.
00:25:49
Lando
Mm-hmm.
00:25:54
Leo Ernewein
What is your thought on that?
00:25:56
Lando
It is a hard argument to beat because, mean, just look how good Nathan McKinnon is. I mean, McKinnon's been lights out all year. McDavid's had a so-so season. He's come on since Christmas time.
00:26:11
Lando
And then Macklin Salabrini since last year in the Worlds has just been phenomenal. So I think this has been by far the best line that I've seen recent memory, probably since, I would say, when...
00:26:25
Lando
I would say probably 2010. would go back to 2002. I remember Joe Sackick, or maybe not 2002, 2004, when Joe Sackick played with Jerome McGinley and Ryan Smith.
00:26:41
Leo Ernewein
Yes.
00:26:43
Lando
Yeah.
00:26:43
Leo Ernewein
Yeah. Ryan Smith was underrated too.
00:26:45
Lando
Yes, he was. So that line kind reminds me of that, that Joe Sackett, Jerome McGillan, and Ryan Smith in the 2004 World Cup. Not the Olympics, the 2004 World Cup. Yes. Yes.
00:26:59
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, and so I wanted to correct myself on the earlier thing where I said Gretzky and Lemieux. It was Gretzky, Lemieux, and the third trio member was Dale Howarchuk during the 1987 Canada Cup.
00:27:13
Leo Ernewein
So that's what somebody argued was the best line ever produced in hockey. I'd go a toss-up now, man, because...
00:27:22
Lando
Yeah.
00:27:22
Leo Ernewein
It's just two different games, right? The game has changed so much since then.
00:27:24
Lando
It is.
00:27:27
Leo Ernewein
The equipment that they use, just almost everything. Even the rules, right? So I'd go 1A and 1B for both those, right?
00:27:32
Lando
Yeah. The clutching, the grabbing.
00:27:36
Lando
Yeah.
00:27:37
Leo Ernewein
And you could put either one first.
00:27:39
Leo Ernewein
I don't really care. But last question here for you, Vite. Is there anything that they need to tighten up before as they head into the quarterfinals here, Team Canada?
00:27:51
Lando
I think I would really watch the turnovers because Colton Perenco made a horrendous turnover when France scored or tied the game up 1-1. If they eliminate their turnovers, they're going be fine.
00:28:06
Lando
Because, I mean, you can't eliminate penalties because penalties are always going to happen. I mean, it's just, it happens. But I think if they quit turning the puck over in the neutral or in the defensive zone, I think they're going fine.
00:28:18
Lando
Otherwise, like, it's hard to pick, nitpick at things because they've just been that dominant.
Injuries and Sportsmanship
00:28:25
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, I mean, it's hard to nitpick things too because I feel like they haven't been tested as well in the sense that, you know, oh, they need to tighten up defensively.
00:28:31
Lando
Correct.
00:28:34
Leo Ernewein
Well, they only allowed like 13 shots against France. You know, are you really going to allow 20 against France?
00:28:39
Lando
yeah.
00:28:41
Leo Ernewein
Probably not. Is 13 worrisome? I don't think so. Would I have liked to see 7, 8, or under 10? Probably. But again, you know, it's hard to dissect.
00:28:53
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, let's jump over here to Kevin Fiala's recent injury with Team Switzerland against Canada. For anybody who missed it, Fiala is out for the rest of the Olympics and the rest of the NHL season, so a tough blow for the LA Kings after suffering a serious leg injury late in Switzerland's game against Canada.
00:29:08
Lando
Yes, big gloss.
00:29:14
Leo Ernewein
He got tangled up with Tom Wilson along the boards. Wilson came down on his left leg, and Fiala was taken off on a stretcher. So he went, he was undergoing surgery. I think he underwent surgery yesterday in Italy, but the exact nature, I still can't necessarily find any public release made on it yet. So it's still there. They haven't disclosed it as least as far as I can see.
00:29:38
Leo Ernewein
pretty tough blow though. Right. And, and, uh,
00:29:42
Lando
Yeah. Huge loss for Switzerland and for the Los Angeles Kings. I like Kevin Fiala. I like how he plays. I like, you know,
00:29:51
Lando
You know, he seems like he's a really good guy. It's just a huge loss for Switzerland. I mean, do I think Switzerland was going to go far in this tournament? No, I do not. But with him in the lineup makes the team a lot better. And that's a huge hole to fill for Switzerland. And then, you know, when you look at the Los Angeles Kings, too, that...
00:30:13
Lando
you know, it's probably a good thing that they did get Panarin when they did now, right?
00:30:18
Leo Ernewein
the means.
00:30:19
Lando
I mean, that trade now makes it look like, okay, we got another guy to fill in that spot where Kevin Fiala is, right? So now again for Los Angeles, now that, you know, whenever the Olympics are over, that they can look at what's out there for the trade market to help fill another hole because they'll have the money to do it.
00:30:37
Lando
But yeah, it just, I...
00:30:37
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, but that's not ideal when you just gave up assets to get somebody else, probably to fill a hole when you were expecting Kevin Fiala to still be there.
00:30:42
Lando
Correct, yes.
00:30:45
Lando
Yeah.
00:30:47
Leo Ernewein
Like, this is the exact situation that GMs were crying over when they were finding out that NHL players were considering being sent to the Olympics.
00:30:51
Lando
Worried about,
00:30:59
Leo Ernewein
And I can totally agree from their perspective that But damn, I love seeing them at the Olympics. And I would give up almost anything for it, including the Leafs winning something.
00:31:14
Leo Ernewein
The reason I say that is because I know that's so far-fetched it's not going to happen.
00:31:17
Leo Ernewein
So it's pretty easy to say that. But yeah, like, I don't know, man. It's a tough, tough line to walk. Like, you know.
00:31:26
Lando
It is. It is. But like I said, lose Fiala like both organizations did, that's a tough one.
00:31:30
Leo Ernewein
Sorry, go ahead.
00:31:35
Lando
And I think what happened with his injury is I think he broke the same leg that he broke back in 2017. I think that's what happened.
00:31:46
Lando
And probably broke it even more than what he did eight years ago.
00:31:53
Lando
Yeah, it's just, it's a tough blow. And it wasn't anything dirty that Tom Wilson did. It's just an accident that just turned, an accident that just went badly for Fiala. And you can see it on Tom Wilson's face. He's like, what did I do?
00:32:09
Lando
How did he get so hurt? All I did is I landed on him, you know, And it wasn't anything like dirty or it's just they both went down and he seemed to have. Yeah, it's just it was really strange to see how that all unfolded. But it was what a nice gesture by all the Canadian players to come on the ice and tap the stick to Fiala. That just shows you the level concern and the level of respect they have for Kevin Fiala too.
00:32:36
Leo Ernewein
To me, that's the epitome of sportsmanship in hockey. And that was always present when we were growing up as kids.
00:32:40
Lando
Yes.
00:32:43
Leo Ernewein
When somebody got hurt, you stopped, you made sure that they could get up and were okay or could, you know, you treated them as best as you could and you showed them respect because no matter who it was or what happened, it's, you know, you're all here for the same reason.
00:32:43
Lando
Yes.
00:32:55
Lando
Yeah.
00:33:01
Leo Ernewein
And that's to have fun and go out there and compete and go home happy and healthy, right? And so I do love seeing that.
00:33:06
Lando
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
00:33:11
Leo Ernewein
And it was a whole, not a wholesome moment, but sort of a heartwarming feeling after I go, you know, anytime they pull out a stretcher instantly makes your heart sink, right?
00:33:23
Lando
It does for anybody.
00:33:24
Leo Ernewein
So that was a nice gesture at the end of that, for sure.
Olympic Hockey Threats and Analyses
00:33:28
Lando
Yeah.
00:33:29
Leo Ernewein
Rest of the field here though at the Olympics outside of Canada and the US, is there any team that looks the most dangerous right now to you?
00:33:37
Lando
You know what? You know what, man? I know we're putting the U.S. on a pedestal. And... I'm not sure about where they're at as a team right now because, mean, yes, they've had an easy field as well with the teams that they've played in as well, but they really haven't dominated like Canada has in their field.
00:34:03
Lando
Like Denmark gave them a good run. Germany, Germany, probably ran out of gas, but they gave them a good run for the I think it was for the first two periods before they started running out of gas.
00:34:15
Lando
And then they played and then Latvia gave them a good run, too. So I don't I think what's going on with the states is the mouth is talking and the actions aren't quite there yet. But I mean, now that they've gotten through all this, they're going to be in the quarterfinals. And we'll see. The games are on, basically, for them.
00:34:40
Lando
don't know where Sweden is either. Like, I watched that Sweden-Finland game. And I'm actually going to put Sweden and Finland together because I watched both of them play against each other.
00:34:52
Lando
I have had hard time. figuring out what they are as both, both for both countries, where they are, where they are, what their identity is, because they really struggled in this tournament too, which is very surprising because as far as talent wise, I mean, Finland, Sweden, right up there with Canada, the United States has the best talents you can possibly get.
00:35:15
Leo Ernewein
As the juggernauts, yeah.
00:35:16
Lando
Yeah, exactly. The best talents you can find in hockey. And they really struggled that they really struggled to gel. So, I don't know where I'm at with Sweden and Finland for both of them, but do I see one of them going into the semifinals? Yes, but I think, unfortunately, for Sweden, they're going to have to probably play the United States, and then who knows after that. And I'll circle back to the United States.
00:35:47
Lando
With the talking that they've done... the big, the chirping that they've done to Canada. I hope a country like Sweden talks them out. Wouldn't that be funny?
00:35:56
Lando
I think that'd be the most hilarious thing that they're all big talking and talking about, oh, Canada, this, and they're not this. And then they, they lay an egg and they get eliminated.
00:36:06
Leo Ernewein
Who's doing the talking? Who's doing the talking?
00:36:09
Lando
Oh, Matthew could, the Kachuk brothers. They're kind of, yeah.
00:36:11
Leo Ernewein
Oh, yeah, okay. I've seen a little bit from them, yeah.
00:36:13
Lando
Yeah, yeah. So wouldn't that be funny?
00:36:14
Leo Ernewein
I've seen a little bit from
00:36:16
Lando
Wouldn't that be funny if they lost in the corner finals by a country like Sweden and they didn't even make it to the medal rounds because of all the chirping that they've done? Karma can come back. So I really hope that happens. So I think the team that – the other team that I've been – two teams that – or two countries that I was really surprised – that I thought the checks would have showed better than what they did this year in the East Olympics.
00:36:42
Lando
They didn't. looked like they were missing a few players, or maybe they just weren't as good as we thought they would be because we look at them what they've done in the World Juniors, right? They thought, okay, well, the World Juniors are good.
00:36:56
Lando
The men got to be good. Well, I don't know that they were all that great. I mean, you look on paper that their team was pretty good on paper, but I think maybe, maybe we put them on little too high than what they were, but I was very surprised. I was very impressed with Slovakia. I mean, they won the group and nobody, nobody even picked Slovakia to win that group.
00:37:19
Lando
Everybody thought would be Sweden or Finland.
00:37:20
Leo Ernewein
So if he's been good, that Dalibor Dvorsky, the center, and I think he's got two assists, four points.
00:37:22
Lando
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:37:28
Leo Ernewein
Pretty sure he's a rookie in the NHL or was a rookie last year as one of the two.
00:37:32
Lando
Yep.
00:37:32
Leo Ernewein
No, I think he's rookie this year.
00:37:34
Lando
Rookie this year.
00:37:35
Leo Ernewein
Yeah. He's, he's been really impressive too.
00:37:36
Lando
But yeah, he has been. And so when you look at for Slovakia, like they basically know he's picking us. So let's go and play. And I think we as in the hockey world, I think we forgot that a lot of the relatively the same team that's playing in these Olympics played in that gold medal game against Finland and Beijing and won silver.
00:38:02
Leo Ernewein
Oh, that's cool.
00:38:02
Lando
So, yeah, pretty much other than a few select NHLers, like Sarkovsky played in Beijing as a young, well, because they basically did it.
00:38:02
Leo Ernewein
I didn't realize that.
00:38:14
Leo Ernewein
What was he like 16?
00:38:17
Lando
18? Yeah, 16, 17, 18. He was basically what we call amateurs, right? And yeah.
00:38:23
Leo Ernewein
Right, but he was he was a grown man size at that age. I bet.
00:38:27
Lando
He was. So basically, like I said, most of the players that were on Slovakia were pretty much played back in Beijing. And some of them are in the NHL and some of them aren't. But yeah, I was very impressed with Slovakia. So those the organizations or countries that really surprised me in this tournament.
00:38:49
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, no, I agree with you, man. You hit the nail on the head there. Let's jump over to the women's hockey here. Canada beat Germany 5-1 to reach the semis. Marie-Philippe Poulain returned after injury. She missed the first two round-robin games, but, you know, played in the Germany game. The earlier shutout loss to the U.S., though, still kind of hangs over the group. That was earlier in the week.
00:39:13
Leo Ernewein
Landon, what did Canada show you in the Germany game that they didn't show earlier in the week?
00:39:19
Lando
Well, I think what they showed was that, you know, they're still a good team. They worked on, looks like they worked on a lot of things. I mean, Marie Fluquen makes that team way better, much better than with her not in the lineup.
00:39:34
Lando
But, I mean, Germany is not really much of a test other than the fact that, you know, I mean, they... They gave Canada a decent run, but Germany's just not there yet as far as women's hockey. The one thing that you touched on, the 5-0 loss to the States without Marie Fouille's plan, and I don't even think they would have beat them with her even in the lineup. And the reason I'm saying that is we talked about this back a couple podcasts ago,
00:40:03
Lando
where I shared my opinion on the women's team about where they are as an organization on the women's side. And I am still not convinced that they're going to beat the States in the gold medal match still.
00:40:17
Lando
I mean, they got to get there first, for sure.
00:40:18
Leo Ernewein
We got to get there first too, right? They're playing Switzerland tomorrow at 1.10.
00:40:23
Lando
Yes, they'll beat them.
00:40:25
Leo Ernewein
The States be playing...
00:40:25
Lando
They'll beat them.
00:40:27
Leo Ernewein
What?
00:40:28
Lando
Canada will beat Switzerland. They'll be in the gold medal game.
00:40:32
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, I'm pretty confident as well.
00:40:33
Lando
Yeah, they will.
00:40:33
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, I'm just being facetious.
00:40:34
Lando
Yeah.
00:40:36
Lando
I like
00:40:37
Leo Ernewein
United States will be playing Sweden tomorrow at 8.40 a.m.
00:40:40
Lando
Yes.
00:40:40
Leo Ernewein
So we'll find out the other half of the gold medal game before Canada gets their chance to...
00:40:40
Lando
Yeah.
00:40:46
Lando
Yes.
00:40:46
Leo Ernewein
book their ticket. But yeah, I am concerned with them as well. The United States are a juggernaut in women's hockey this year.
00:40:54
Lando
They have been.
00:40:55
Leo Ernewein
Comparably to the men's Canadian team, I think. That's how good they are.
00:40:58
Lando
Yes.
00:40:59
Lando
Yeah.
00:40:59
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, they've got the most PWHL players in the tournament and or close to...
00:41:05
Leo Ernewein
No, I'm pretty sure they do, actually. I can't remember. used to know. But it's up there with them in Canada for sure. But I think it's just... You know, they got elite players too, right?
00:41:16
Leo Ernewein
So go ahead.
00:41:17
Lando
They do. Well, the one thing that was going to say is this isn't knock against any of the players that Canada has. Because, I mean, there are good hockey players.
00:41:32
Lando
There are even better people. are great ambassadors to the game. But what's causing Canada's problem, and it happened with the rivalry series this year or this hockey season, is the fact that the United States have now basically turned the page on a lot of their veteran players who are still playing in the PWHL. But they basically said that we're turning the page, we're going younger.
00:41:59
Lando
And we're bringing in all these younger players and these younger players for the United States are carrying the United, basically carrying the U.S. team. And they're contributing, they're scoring, and they're, you know, and they can move really well.
00:42:15
Lando
And they're fast and they're young. And with Canada, the problem with Canada is that their best players are really, basically are, you know, not aged out, but they're getting up there in age.
00:42:27
Lando
They're basically around.
00:42:28
Leo Ernewein
They're getting almost past their prime, whereas the States have number one overall pick in the PWHL, Taylor Heisey, a few years ago.
00:42:30
Lando
Exactly.
00:42:35
Leo Ernewein
They got Abby Murphy, Ava McNaughton, Kendall Coyne-Scoffield.
00:42:43
Lando
Yeah.
00:42:43
Leo Ernewein
Although she's a bit older, I guess. But, you know, they've got really good players.
00:42:45
Lando
Yeah, she is.
00:42:48
Leo Ernewein
Caroline Harvey.
00:42:49
Lando
Yeah.
00:42:50
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, some salt.
00:42:51
Lando
Yeah. And some solid, solid players. So.
00:42:55
Leo Ernewein
And depth.
00:42:56
Lando
And depth and more Canada can't. And so like with Canada's players, they're players around my age. You know, like I'm 37. You know, Marie Foucault is 35. You know, Blair Turnbull is in her mid-30s. There's a lot of mid-30 players. And when you're playing against players who are in their early 20s, early mid-20s, you know, that's a big age gap. And so that's where I think Canada has really struggled to keep up with the United States is because of that, is because of just the youth that the United States has brought. And I think...
00:43:32
Lando
I really wish that Canada... said, okay, we need to change things up. And unfortunately, may have had to hurt some feelings just to say, guys, our program needs to be competitive.
00:43:48
Leo Ernewein
inject some youth.
00:43:48
Lando
We looked at what, injecting some youth exactly, and we need, this is what we need to do in the Olympics.
00:43:50
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:43:54
Lando
And they kept the same team. And I just, I don't think they're not going to be the, first of all, they have to get there. But if I'm, we're going assume that they get there. I don't think Canada is even going to beat the United States. That's just where I'm at with them. Now, again, you have to play the games.
00:44:11
Lando
A winner-take-all game can change, you know, bounce here, bounce there. But that's just where I'm at with Canada.
00:44:17
Leo Ernewein
A few posts here.
00:44:18
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:44:19
Lando
Yeah, that's just where I'm at with Canada. I hope they do well.
00:44:21
Leo Ernewein
I, I agree with you. I think, I think they're, the second best team in the tournament, unfortunately.
00:44:24
Lando
Yeah.
00:44:27
Lando
Yeah, unfortunately.
00:44:29
Leo Ernewein
yeah.
00:44:30
Lando
I hope we're proven wrong. I want them to do well. I hope they win the gold. But in the back of my mind, I just like, no, just based on their history within the last two years, they don't have it anymore. They need to turn the page.
00:44:44
Leo Ernewein
Gotcha. We'll turn the page on something else here. earnings,
00:44:47
Lando
Ooh, this one. Yeah.
Curling Controversies and Rules
00:44:50
Leo Ernewein
controversy in Cortina has been, you know, almost little chaotic the past couple days here.
00:44:56
Leo Ernewein
On Friday, Sweden's Oskar Eriksson accused Canada's Mark Kennedy of a double touch, touching the stone again after releasing it. Kennedy blew up on the ice, denied it, dropped an F-bomb, and Canada won 8-6 in that game. But then a video from a Swedish broadcaster SVT circulated online and appeared to show the double tap, like a hog line violation.
00:45:17
Leo Ernewein
where you touch the rock twice, so you release it, and as you're releasing it, you kind of bump it, either to increase the speed or decrease the speed or rotation or whatever, right?
00:45:30
Leo Ernewein
Most the time, it's probably not even on purpose, but it's the fact that they're accusing professionals of... a rule violation. Right. And, you know, and then the same thing happened the next day with Rachel Holman and her, and her rink and umpire removed one of her stones for the same infraction in the game against Switzerland. She denied it, but again, video online seemed to show a double touch.
00:45:53
Leo Ernewein
Uh, Canada ended up losing that game eight to seven. So having that rock removed was pretty tough. Ward Curling then clarified the rule. If a player touches the granite during the forward motion of delivery, the stone must be removed.
00:46:08
Leo Ernewein
You know, what stands out to you most about how this has all been handled there, Lyndon?
00:46:13
Lando
Well,
00:46:16
Lando
as a Canadian, I'm a little mad at the Swedish broadcast team. And I'm mad at the Sweden...
00:46:27
Leo Ernewein
Mr.
00:46:27
Lando
Curling team as well.
00:46:27
Leo Ernewein
Erickson.
00:46:28
Lando
Yeah. I, you know, do, do I think that they were doing this intentionally? No, I do not. I think, I think if we, if we look back at tapes of all the curlers from Canada, I bet you every single curler has done it when you were unintentionally, because it's just part their routine of throwing the rock and
00:46:49
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, so it's not necessarily a John Herdman situation where he was spying with the drone or whatever.
00:46:52
Lando
exactly. Yeah.
00:46:55
Lando
Yeah, exactly.
00:46:56
Leo Ernewein
It was not premeditated, is what you're saying.
00:46:59
Lando
Correct. Yes. And so would, if I was asking Oscar,
00:47:08
Lando
what was your, what was your intent? As far as in the game, in that moment, what were you trying to gain exactly?
00:47:17
Leo Ernewein
Well, I think his intent was obvious. He was trying to get under his skin because he didn't necessarily accuse him.
00:47:22
Lando
And it worked.
00:47:24
Leo Ernewein
He just said, somebody's touching it. And then Mark goes, who? And Oscar, again, says, I don't know. He's just kind of poking the bear a little bit just to get a reaction out of him, seeing if he can get disciplined or something.
00:47:33
Lando
Yeah, but exactly. But that's it. My reaction, that's why want if I was able to ask him, what were you trying to gain? And that's where I was going to go with that. You're trying to poke the bear world?
00:47:50
Lando
you're basically wrecking the integrity of what curling is actually supposed to be. Because to me, that looks like you're tattletailing. And what this has done is just created so much turmoil in the curling world, which it did not need to happen, period.
00:48:07
Lando
And then the Swiss tried to do the exact same thing in the next match. So it's just like, what are you guys trying to do Exactly.
00:48:12
Leo Ernewein
against the women's team, yeah.
00:48:14
Lando
Yeah, and both people, both women's women's. So I'm just looking at this like, what guys trying to do? You guys are the best in the world as far as curling goes.
00:48:25
Lando
Like, what are you trying to gain here? Like, exactly. Like, if you want to beat them, beat them. Don't tattletale. Beat them fair and square. Like, beat them. Like, beat them. Like, no, you have to create all this controversy. And you just basically, think it's just, it's basically wrecked the game. And do I think curling needs to go back and look at what rule clarity needs or go back and talk about rule clarity? I think they do. But I just, this whole thing,
00:48:58
Lando
was just was unnecessary, in my opinion. And it's just it's it's wrecked the game. It's made people very bitter, get angry.
00:49:09
Lando
Why is this happening? You know, that type of thing. Like, it's just to me, it's just it was unnecessary. Now, do I think do I think that Holman and Kennedy did it on purpose?
00:49:22
Lando
No, I do not. I they weren't. Do you?
00:49:24
Leo Ernewein
I saw the replay of their video and it looked like her hand touched it as she was pulling it back away from the rock.
00:49:27
Lando
Yeah.
00:49:33
Leo Ernewein
And so, yeah, I don't know if it was definitely didn't look intentional either, but it looked like it touched it.
00:49:38
Lando
No, I don't think it was intent. Yeah.
00:49:41
Leo Ernewein
I thought the whole thing was hilarious because I thought they were start dropping the gloves, right? Like I thought it was going to be, you know, start using. No, I mean, we never think somebody would use a broomstick as a weapon, but You know, I thought it was going to go.
00:49:54
Lando
Yeah.
00:49:55
Leo Ernewein
I was finally happy to have some controversy and curling because to me, it kind of seemed rather plain, if that's a good word for it.
00:50:06
Lando
I see what you're saying
00:50:07
Leo Ernewein
And that threw a little bit of spice on it. And of course, the Canadians men's team had a nice little bounce back win this morning. They beat...
00:50:13
Lando
yeah. China yeah.
00:50:14
Leo Ernewein
China, what was it, to improve their record to 4-1. Of course, it's a nine-game round robin, though, so they still have a bit more games to go before the semifinals appear.
00:50:18
Lando
yeah.
00:50:26
Leo Ernewein
But I feel like that controversy put a little bit of extra pressure on Canada heading into the medal rounds in both the men's and women's games. Do you?
00:50:37
Lando
Yes, I do. Yeah, I think it motivated them.
00:50:40
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, maybe, you know, place a little bit chip on the shoulder. Does, you know, so after they put out a statement today saying, you know, the stone must be removed if a player touches...
00:50:53
Leo Ernewein
Like, how does this even happen? Do they need to be more clear on the rules or better enforcement at the Olympic level? Is that because if you're saying that it's happened on a lot of Canada's throws, it's probably happened on a lot of other curlers throws.
00:51:05
Lando
Yes, probably.
00:51:05
Leo Ernewein
Is it sort of like traveling in the NBA? Like, how often do you call traveling in your basketball games? Right. Like.
00:51:11
Lando
Well, I call traveling. Well, in high school.
00:51:14
Leo Ernewein
Oh, sorry. Not traveling like a carry. I should say a carry.
00:51:17
Lando
Oh, Carrie. Carrie's are very hard to call now.
00:51:20
Leo Ernewein
I know, right? And they never get called in the NBA.
00:51:21
Lando
They're so hard to call. Yeah. No, they're hard to call.
00:51:24
Leo Ernewein
There's egregious carries in the pro league, so...
00:51:27
Lando
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And even high school. it's really hard to call because they actually are pretty decent dribblers, but it's so hard to call because when you, it, it, it has to be so egregious that, and it has to get, they have to gain an advantage by, by doing it.
00:51:47
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, and so obvious.
00:51:47
Lando
And yeah, and obvious.
00:51:50
Lando
And like, I,
00:51:50
Leo Ernewein
And when you're reffing the game alone, it's not as easy to get that angle on it, is it?
00:51:54
Lando
correct. Yeah, it's not.
00:51:55
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:51:55
Lando
So, but far as curling goes,
00:51:56
Leo Ernewein
That's good
00:52:00
Lando
I don't know where they go with this because they've been so wishy-washy with about this for the last couple days that I think they need to – I agree with a lot of the players that are saying about the Empire's backing off because I saw this on curlingnews.com.
00:52:15
Lando
that a lot of players on all fronts are all saying that these umpires need to back off. That think after the Olympics, I think the World Curling Organization needs to sit down and be a lot more clear because obviously this has happened.
00:52:31
Lando
And this it's been a habit of everybody that I think they need to be more clear about about touching rocks. And I actually asked my dad about this because my dad curled back in the day and I asked him, I said, what do you think about this rule? And he thinks it's absolutely he thinks it's a stupid rule.
00:52:51
Lando
He doesn't think that. Touching, double touching rock is actually going affect how the stone curls or moves or slows down, goes fast or slows down.
00:53:01
Leo Ernewein
Do you think it's actually detrimental as opposed to beneficial because you're more likely to throw off your line than you are to help it?
00:53:11
Lando
I think you're more, I think you're basically, think you're making it, making your rock worse than making it better.
00:53:17
Leo Ernewein
Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:18
Lando
Right?
00:53:19
Leo Ernewein
Throwing off the line a little bit more, right?
00:53:20
Lando
Yeah, yeah.
00:53:20
Leo Ernewein
Because you're messing up whatever you just tossed, even if you don't think it's great. The odds of you fixing it by just tapping it a little bit are slim because it's probably just going to make it worse.
00:53:33
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:53:33
Lando
Yeah, exactly.
00:53:34
Lando
Yeah.
00:53:35
Lando
So.
00:53:38
Leo Ernewein
yeah, well let's jump over to the Superbowl here then. Uh, you know, first thing we'll talk about the game.
00:53:42
Lando
Oh. Root, sorry to cut you off there, man.
00:53:45
Leo Ernewein
Oh yeah. You wanted to mention something else.
00:53:46
Lando
Yeah, sorry to cut you off, Root. We forgot to talk about where we think about Canada reaching the gold medal matches for both curling.
00:53:57
Lando
Be real quick, then we'll go to Super Bowl because I really want to talk about the Patriots.
00:53:58
Leo Ernewein
Uh,
00:54:02
Lando
Don't get me wrong. But for Rachel Holman for the Olympics, I don't know what's going on with her when it comes to the Olympics. I think it – I don't know if the pressure gets to her or what it is, but they – it's basically they're playing the exact same teams that they play in the World Championships.
00:54:19
Lando
So what's so different about the Olympics compared to the World Championships? I don't know if it's just because it's the, quote, unquote, the Olympics that puts that extra pressure on.
00:54:28
Lando
I don't get it. Like, she's done this – I –
00:54:29
Leo Ernewein
I think it's just the game. I think it's just the way the game goes, the bounces, that sort of stuff. I don't think it's, I don't think it's necessarily like a mental thing or anything like that.
00:54:35
Lando
Yeah, maybe. I don't know what it is with her.
00:54:40
Leo Ernewein
I just think it's just poor luck.
00:54:44
Lando
Maybe. I have no idea what's what. But I think the men have a pretty good shot at getting to the medal rounds. The women, basically, when you're one at four, you basically have to run the table. And I don't know if they can do that.
00:54:56
Leo Ernewein
And didn't Rachel Holman's rink just compete in the Scotties Tournaments of Hearts like last week or something?
00:55:00
Lando
Yes. Yes.
00:55:03
Leo Ernewein
Like that's a lot of curling in a really short amount of time.
00:55:05
Lando
It is a lot of curling. Yeah.
00:55:09
Leo Ernewein
So, you know, correct me if I'm wrong. I think Brad Jacobs' rink wasn't at the Scotties, right? I'm not sure. Now I've got to find out.
00:55:19
Lando
Brad J.
00:55:19
Leo Ernewein
Hold on.
00:55:19
Lando
Oh, Brad. The men's curling is what they call it the briar. The briar is not until after the Olympics.
00:55:25
Leo Ernewein
Oh, yeah. Scotty's is the... Yeah, sorry.
00:55:26
Lando
Yeah.
00:55:26
Leo Ernewein
You're right. Yeah. So...
00:55:27
Lando
Scotties is the women's. Yeah.
00:55:28
Lando
Yeah.
00:55:29
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
00:55:30
Leo Ernewein
So, to me, it almost screams like it's just a little bit of poor luck in the timing as well because, you know, Holman and her rink just had to beat out everybody at the Scotty's to book this ticket here.
00:55:46
Leo Ernewein
And then...
00:55:46
Lando
Yeah, too.
00:55:47
Leo Ernewein
You know, so that's, that's almost like you're, you're throwing your best stuff out of the way, not throwing it, but you've almost ran out gas, I should say.
NFL Game Highlights and Analyses
00:55:57
Leo Ernewein
Whereas I do have a bit more high hopes for the men's curling team based off what I've watched so far as well.
00:56:03
Lando
Yeah.
00:56:04
Leo Ernewein
But it did, it didn't clue into me that maybe the homens rink is just pretty burnt out after, you know, eight straight weeks of probably on the road curling, right?
00:56:14
Leo Ernewein
Like not staying at home and,
00:56:15
Lando
Yes. Yeah.
00:56:17
Leo Ernewein
I don't know about eight straight weeks, but at least almost a month straight. But yeah, let's jump over to the Super Bowl here.
00:56:23
Lando
Let's go.
00:56:25
Leo Ernewein
Seattle beat the New England Patriots 29-13. Their defense was pretty dominant all game. I don't know why myself. I was talking about how good their defense, both teams' defenses were ahead of the game.
00:56:36
Leo Ernewein
And then when we gave score predictions, I was yeah, 29-13 actually lot higher than... you know, what I thought it was going to be for most of the game. It looked like it was going to be a pretty low scoring affair.
00:56:50
Leo Ernewein
Who's what's Walker's first name? The guy that won MVP, the running back. Kent?
00:56:55
Lando
First name or last name? I forget his first name.
00:56:57
Leo Ernewein
Kenneth Walker III.
00:56:58
Lando
Kenneth Walker. Yes, yes.
00:56:59
Leo Ernewein
There we go. Sorry, just splunked on me there.
00:57:02
Leo Ernewein
He won MVP. Awesome performance. Drake May, quarterback for the Patriots. Never really found his rhythm. I mean, that defensive line was... I think I was right when I said he hasn't faced a defensive line like that all year, and neither has their offensive line. Poor Will Campbell, a guy who I'd said...
00:57:18
Leo Ernewein
Look out for him. He's been pretty good so far in the playoffs. He was playing left tackle. think he's which not... It's a bit undersized for left tackle as far as height goes.
00:57:29
Leo Ernewein
But his real detriment has been his arm size length because that was always his knock coming into the draft. And the Patriots picked him at fourth overall to play tackle, which they will probably have to move him into guard at some point when they find another competent tackle, which is tough, right? Because...
00:57:44
Lando
Mm-hmm.
00:57:45
Leo Ernewein
I think the only other guard that was picked at four overall was Quinn and Nelson. And he's been really good, but you know, to pick an offensive lineman that high and have them to move positions, um, positions,
00:57:56
Leo Ernewein
He hasn't moved yet, but I think it will be coming. It's pretty tough. And I think he got torched all game. Like, he was just giving up so many pressures to Drake May. So I feel bad for Drake May because there was one time saw Drake May get clocked on the sidelines. And as he was, like, scrambling, threw it away, got clocked.
00:58:15
Leo Ernewein
Mike Vrabel, the head coach the Patriots, went up to him. And he goes – he hands him a hand to pull him up right off the ground. And he goes, you still want to be in the game? I was like, oh, man, I feel rough. Because he, yeah, he was getting torched.
00:58:30
Leo Ernewein
And also, back to Will Campbell, the offensive lineman, he had a quote when he was at LSU where he was like, you know, if you give up one sack, or no, sorry, the quote went, if you're a defensive player and you get one sack a game, you're going to be making Pro Bowls.
00:58:47
Leo Ernewein
If you're offensive player and you give up one sack a game, you're going be working at Amazon. And nothing wrong with that, but we strive for a higher ceiling here. We have higher standards. And that was a phenomenal quote. Like, Will Campbell is a football guy. He's also had that quote when he got drafted by the Patriots that they were like, what are to bring to New England? he's like, I will die to protect my quarterback. And everyone was like, yeah!
00:59:10
Leo Ernewein
yeah he was he's an awesome dude i love him but uh that quote kind of didn't turn out to uh look great so far and you know probably still has a long career ahead of him so i will uh i'll jump into the viewership stuff after here landon i want to get to the game reaction stuff first here so what was the biggest difference for you between the two teams in the games that you saw in the game that you saw
00:59:26
Lando
Sure.
00:59:34
Lando
Well, in my opinion, the Seattle defense was just phenomenal. I've never seen a defense like that in a long, long, long time. And they just basically dominated the game. I mean, the Patriots defense did really well too.
00:59:47
Lando
They did really well as well. But they started running out of gas because pretty much just went punt, punt, punt, punt.
00:59:54
Leo Ernewein
Well, they had to be on the field the whole time, their offense.
00:59:56
Lando
Yeah, they've been, yeah. And so Seattle's defense was basically the story. But one of the things that frustrated me as a Patriots fan, frustrated and concerned me as a Patriots fan, I mean, know last podcast, I was like, you know, I'm not worried about them. But I mean, as a fan of the organization and the team, you want to send as much positivity you can into the game. But in the back of my mind,
01:00:22
Lando
Drake May did not have a good playoffs. He was horrendous all playoffs long. He just did enough to get them to win. But it was mostly New England's defense that got them to the Super Bowl.
01:00:32
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
01:00:33
Lando
And yeah, and so I know, I know you're teasing me about Drake May. And I know I was basically saying, you know, Drake May is gonna be fine.
01:00:40
Leo Ernewein
You're not the only one.
01:00:41
Lando
I know, I know.
01:00:42
Leo Ernewein
was seeing it all over the media. was looking up game stories to tease for work and stuff like that. And all of them were about Drake May. And I'm like, man, have you guys not watched the games? The only reason they beat...
01:00:54
Leo Ernewein
Denver, no, sorry, Seattle beat Denver, so sorry, never mind. But the only reason they beat their teams is because their defense, right? Like Seattle-Denver, even without Denver starting quarterback in Bo Nix was still the better game, right?
01:01:11
Lando
Yeah, yeah. Well, New England played Denver and New England played Denver and New England played Houston and
01:01:17
Leo Ernewein
Oh, you're right, England, Seattle's in the NFC.
01:01:19
Leo Ernewein
Sorry, I'm wrong.
01:01:20
Lando
Yeah, Seattle played LA and San Francisco.
01:01:27
Lando
And yeah, New England did enough offensively to win the game. Drake made to look like it hit the rookie side of him.
01:01:36
Lando
it showed and he got out quarterbacked. He looked shell shocked. He was on his backside lot. And I think, yeah, like I, do I think the Patriots are on the right track as far as, you know, being that elite team again? Yes, I do.
01:01:52
Lando
Do I think they're going to make the playoffs next year? No, I don't.
01:01:55
Leo Ernewein
don't think they're going the playoffs next year?
01:01:55
Lando
Because I think, no, I don't.
01:01:57
Leo Ernewein
The Patriots?
01:01:59
Lando
No, I don't.
01:01:59
Leo Ernewein
Why is that?
01:01:59
Lando
I, well,
01:02:01
Leo Ernewein
From 2-14 to the Super Bowl and then back to missing the playoffs. You think they're going to have regression, eh?
01:02:11
Leo Ernewein
Interesting.
01:02:12
Lando
I think they'll be kind of in the mix to make the playoffs again. But I think they're going to have just a tiny bit of a drop-off just because I think they need to tweak some things. Now, am more than...
01:02:22
Lando
I'm willing to be proven wrong because, mean, I'm a fan of this organization, but I just – I think this year they played it way above their heads.
01:02:33
Lando
And I was actually – as a fan, I was actually ecstatic that they even made it because I – at the beginning I didn't even pick them to be even – even come close to this part.
01:02:40
Leo Ernewein
that's fair i didn't pick them at the beginning the year but next year i i totally have them in in the hunt for a playoffs if not a contender for sure because like they're they're just made a super bowl they're a year older with experience they got christian gonzalez still in the defense who's going to be you know he's an awesome quarterback and
01:02:43
Lando
Yeah.
01:03:02
Leo Ernewein
And until the Miami Dolphins show me something, that division is a two-horse race between the Patriots and the Bills. Because the New York Jets have never shown me something.
01:03:12
Lando
Correct. Yeah.
01:03:14
Lando
Nope.
01:03:15
Leo Ernewein
And Miami had, like, in 2020 or something like that. But now they've got a new head coach. don't even know who it is. Who is the head coach?
01:03:22
Lando
I don't, I, let's put this way, man. I don't even pay attention to the dolphins or the jets because, Oh, Halfley.
01:03:27
Leo Ernewein
Jeff Daly. Jeff Daly. Jeff Halfley. Where did he come from? Where'd you go? Where'd you come from? Where'd you go?
01:03:38
Leo Ernewein
No, I don't want to. Jeff Halfley.
01:03:42
Leo Ernewein
Dolphins head coach. Do-over. Oh, he came from Green Bay. was defensive coordinator.
01:03:48
Lando
Oh, that's where I've heard him from. Yes. Okay.
01:03:50
Lando
Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. But yeah, you're right about Miami.
01:03:50
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
01:03:52
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
01:03:54
Lando
But like, why I'm saying New England may not make it because I think the NFL is going to put them in a tougher schedule. They had a pretty easy schedule this year.
01:04:03
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, the NFL will definitely... I don't... You know, how do you feel about NFL scheduling and doing that? Because that's a fairly new thing, right? That gets started maybe five years ago or something like that.
01:04:18
Leo Ernewein
Whereas before, it was always just randomized and looked at the draw. And I'm sure some people would have the nerve to complain, but...
01:04:27
Lando
You know why they do it?
01:04:28
Lando
Why they do it? It's not because they want to make it tough. They do it because viewership. They do it because of viewership. I 100%.
01:04:35
Leo Ernewein
Oh, for sure.
01:04:36
Lando
I think that's exact. And I think the networks of NBC, CBS, Fox, Prime, And ABC, ESPN say, we want these matchups in these games, make it happen. And I think that's where the pressure comes. Because, I mean, let's face it, these networks are one of the reasons why the NFL is a juggernaut as far as money goes.
01:05:00
Lando
Anyways, right?
01:05:00
Lando
Because they're paying a lot of money. They're paying a lot of money the NFL to cover games. So they have every right to say, we want these teams to play against each other.
01:05:05
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
01:05:09
Lando
And I think that's what's going on within the last five years.
01:05:12
Leo Ernewein
And nobody wanted to watch the Raiders and Giants if they were on primetime or something like that last night.
01:05:17
Lando
Exactly, right? The networks want the best of the best.
01:05:20
Lando
So, yeah.
01:05:22
Leo Ernewein
get it. Yeah, exactly.
01:05:22
Lando
Yeah, and that's why I think the Baltimore Ravens ran, why they didn't make the playoffs this year and why Harborough is in with the New York Giants is because the Ravens' schedule was just that tough and they also didn't play very good either.
01:05:38
Leo Ernewein
And I think Lamar Jackson missed a few games too.
01:05:38
Lando
But they also had a
01:05:41
Leo Ernewein
I think he missed like four weeks.
01:05:42
Lando
Exactly.
01:05:43
Lando
Yeah. And they had a tough schedule. They had a tough schedule against, against teams too. So, and they missed the playoffs and they missed the playoffs, but Baltimore was also on lot of primetime games too.
01:05:48
Leo Ernewein
For sure.
01:05:53
Leo Ernewein
They missed the playoffs by a field goal.
01:05:56
Lando
They did. Yeah.
01:05:57
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, they barely missed it.
01:05:59
Lando
To the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, yeah, yeah.
01:06:01
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, yeah.
01:06:03
Lando
But anyways, that's just – to answer your question, that's what I think. I don't think they do it on purpose just to say, well, we want to make this team tougher because owners would be all over the NFL's backsides if that happened.
01:06:15
Lando
I just think it's network pressure. That's what I think.
01:06:19
Leo Ernewein
Gotcha. So I'm going to go with the Patriots stuff here still, and then we'll go into the viewership stuff and then the halftime.
01:06:26
Lando
Sure.
01:06:28
Leo Ernewein
New England, you know, they're now six and six in Super Bowls.
01:06:32
Leo Ernewein
Is there, obviously the next step for them is to continue to make it to playoffs, but, you know, we already mentioned that you don't think that they will. In your opinion, do they overachieve as a franchise this season or is this their new baseline now?
01:06:48
Lando
I think it's a bit of both. I think they set the bar.
01:06:51
Leo Ernewein
Okay.
01:06:54
Lando
But I also think, like I said earlier, I think they played above their heads too, just based on, you know, do I think they're a good team? I do. But I think they played over their heads.
01:07:06
Lando
Where I think New England needs to figure things out is I don't think – obviously, they have the quarterback. They have the running backs. You know, their defense is phenomenal.
01:07:16
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
01:07:18
Lando
They really need to work on their offensive line because that's what killed them.
01:07:21
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
01:07:22
Lando
That's it. And it killed them all season because, I mean, Drake may had Drake may fumbled the ball out of mold. Let me rephrase this. Drake may turn the ball over more times than any other quarterback in the NFL.
01:07:40
Lando
And mainly because was being pressured by the defenses he was facing. So they really need to protect him. So their offensive line needs to upgrade.
01:07:50
Lando
Their coaching is fine. think if they can continue to draft and build and get this ball rolling, I think they're on the right track. Am I excited about this team? Yes.
01:08:01
Lando
But I think they've just, like I said, we talked about earlier, think they've overachieved. I think they overachieved. overachieved as a team this year. And as far as the 6-6 record goes as an organization, that's a pretty impressive record. I think many teams in the NFL, in the NFL and the football world, would be ecstatic to have 12 Super Bowl appearances and win half of them.
01:08:27
Lando
I know a lot of organizations, including the team you cheer for, would be ecstatic to have that stat.
01:08:34
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, that's true. The one thing I guess they can pride themselves on is they don't have the Chargers offensive line because I was just looking up the QBs with the most pressured face in an NFL season, or at least last season, and Justin Herbert was faced with pressure nearly 30% of the time. He also took 54 sacks.
01:08:53
Leo Ernewein
But I remember watching a meme or something like that where they – You know how sometimes when they show a graphic of a player and they'll show their pro football focus grade or something like that or where they rank in the NFL? Well, they went through the Chargers offensive line and it was ranked 34 out of 34, ranked 33 out of 35. And I'm like, there's only 32 teams. How are they getting these rankings and not realizing that some teams don't have a permanent starter at that position and they'll swap out?
01:09:25
Leo Ernewein
two players like that. And the Chargers still had like 30, 35 out of 35, you know, like 32 out of 32, just the bare ball, like if not the worst, the second worst rated for not only that year, think it was like that year or if not the year before something like that, but it was brutal. I do agree that the Patriots will need to fix their offensive line though. And one of those things I would,
01:09:48
Leo Ernewein
be looking at is trying to get another tackle. I don't know if that's possible in free agency, though, because tackles,
01:09:51
Lando
Yep.
01:09:55
Leo Ernewein
that you go, okay, I can keep this guy here for the next two years.
01:09:55
Lando
Are hard to find.
01:09:59
Leo Ernewein
Yeah. They're hard to find, especially in free agency. You've got to overpay for those guys if they want to even come to you. And so it's nice. You got to either trade for one or find them in in the draft and finding them in the draft is probably just as hard as finding them in free agency.
01:10:15
Leo Ernewein
Because again, everybody else is looking for some of those guys too. Right. So it's, it'll be a, a tough, uh,
01:10:23
Leo Ernewein
off season for them, but an off season that's necessary for them to improve for sure.
01:10:29
Lando
Correct.
01:10:29
Leo Ernewein
Uh, I'm not too sure if they're losing any key pieces, but,
01:10:29
Lando
Yeah, I agree.
01:10:32
Lando
No, I don't think they are.
Super Bowl Viewership and Criticisms
01:10:35
Leo Ernewein
I wanted to ask you stuff about the viewership, though. Super Bowl 60 averaged 6.8 million Canadian viewers, down 20% from last year and down 30% from two years ago.
01:10:46
Leo Ernewein
It reached 16 million unique viewers and peaked at 9.6 million during the Bad Bunny halftime show.
01:10:52
Lando
you
01:10:54
Leo Ernewein
That was originally... when i was watching it too so that's funny great cup meanwhile just drew over 4 million and peaked at 10 million all this according to three down nation.com uh what's the biggest driver behind the drop is it you know was it the matchup it's a timing was it the halftime show that we'll get into here is it something bigger you know like what's what's behind that for you landon
01:11:20
Lando
Well, I think what's happened is I think Canadians are – because it's an American product, I think a lot of Canadians are just upset with America that they just don't want anything to do with the American product. I think the matchups kind of had a little bit of something to do with that too because, you know, you don't really have – you didn't have like the Taylor Swift sort of thing going on.
01:11:46
Lando
at the Superbowl either. And, and, and then I, I, I just think also it's been, it's Olympic time as well, that I think a lot of Canadians were more interested in watching our Canadian athletes than watching the Superbowl. So I think, I think it had a little bit to do with a lot of things, but what I found really interesting about that three down nation.com that they shared when read this and you know, we put this in our lineup for podcast is that the, the great cup,
01:12:18
Lando
had almost the same amount of years as the Super Bowl. And usually Great Cup is not really, you know, people in Canada don't really pay attention to the Great Cup as much. Well, this year, lot of people did. And so don't know.
01:12:32
Lando
It's hard to pinpoint where this is actually where this has turned sideways but if i'm bell who is who has a contract with the nfl to bring games here in canada who where they put it on ctv and ctv ctv2 ts and tsn that i think if i'm bell i'd be a little concerned about what what about these numbers because The last couple of years has gone downhill. So if I'm Bell, I'd be a little concerned. But like I said, don't know where you could pinpoint other than all those things that I just said.
01:13:13
Leo Ernewein
Do you think if it was a Superbowl between the bills and the, what's it called? The bills and the, uh, Seahawks would have made a difference or do you,
01:13:26
Lando
No, you know what? I don't know. It's hard to say. really don't. I really don't. Because, I mean, the Buffalo Bills are a well-followed team in Ontario, but so are the Patriots, right? The Patriots are well-watched in Ontario, too. So, I don't know. I just – I think it's just a lot of the things that I just said. I think it's just – I think the timing of the Super Bowl where it landed
01:13:54
Lando
where the Olympics are as well, that I think just people were just more interested in the Olympics than the Super Bowl this year, right?
01:14:00
Leo Ernewein
That's fair. Yeah. Yeah. So good for the Olympics.
01:14:04
Lando
Yeah.
01:14:05
Leo Ernewein
I did want to ask you though, little bit, where did it go?
01:14:12
Leo Ernewein
Where did I find that question? Sorry, I had it on my mind and then it just slipped my mind here.
01:14:18
Lando
That's okay.
01:14:19
Leo Ernewein
It was sort of, yeah, sorry. I was going to kind of, jump the halftime conversation into this because I think the halftime show had something to do with the viewership.
01:14:33
Leo Ernewein
I just feel like me as a non-Spanish speaker, like I watched the halftime show, listened to it, but I couldn't understand thing.
01:14:41
Leo Ernewein
So I didn't necessarily, wasn't interested in it at all beyond being like, oh, wow, this is it.
01:14:41
Lando
Yeah.
01:14:46
Leo Ernewein
Okay. Like next. And I think you know, there's still Spanish speaking demographic in Canada, but it's a lot smaller than it is in the States.
01:14:57
Leo Ernewein
So I definitely feel like that had an impact on it.
01:14:57
Lando
Mm-hmm.
01:15:00
Leo Ernewein
And, I don't even know if Canada had an option to watch the kid rock one or whatever it was, but I saw clips of that one too. And it was like, I just want to drink my beer.
01:15:11
Leo Ernewein
I just want to cut my grass. Like literally cut my grass was one of the lyrics of his songs. I was just like, I don't know if I want to watch that either. That one seemed pretty boring and dull, too.
01:15:24
Leo Ernewein
I don't know. want to see, like, a band. Like, not a band. Sorry, like an orchestra or something like that. You know, or like a college band. And they do bunch of famous songs, like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars Imperial March. You know, like, all this...
01:15:43
Leo Ernewein
cool stuff. don't know, maybe I'm just, I see that in college football, you know, before third down and I get all hyped up and that's what I love about college football is, it's, you know, hearing that sort of stuff and, and it just adds an extra element to the game for me, as opposed to hearing like, I don't know, some Lil Uzi Vert song or something like that playing in between places. I don't know, maybe I'm just old.
01:16:09
Leo Ernewein
Is there a part of the Bad Bunny halftime show? Did you watch it first, Landon?
01:16:13
Lando
I did. did. had to because I was at Boston Pizza with my Seattle Seahawks friend.
01:16:14
Leo Ernewein
Did you?
01:16:18
Leo Ernewein
So were they playing music through the sound?
01:16:21
Lando
Yes, they were.
01:16:23
Leo Ernewein
And could you hear it at all?
01:16:25
Lando
No, no.
01:16:26
Leo Ernewein
Yeah.
01:16:26
Lando
Even with my bad hearing that I have, no, I couldn't.
01:16:29
Leo Ernewein
Well, I don't blame you, man. I can't hear that stuff in a bar either the time, right? I watched... many games. I watched the Minnesota miracle where the saints lost to Minnesota.
01:16:40
Leo Ernewein
Stefan Diggs caught that catch and they beat him in the playoffs on like the last second, last play of the game like that. was just devastating. I watched that in a bar. We couldn't, couldn't hear anything, but I don't think you need to hear anything when the whole bar erupts, when the guy misses the tackle and whole bar goes, Oh, Oh, Oh, anyways.
01:16:59
Lando
Well,
01:17:00
Leo Ernewein
Was there a part of the halftime show that stuck out to you or, at all.
01:17:05
Lando
you nailed the head on the coffin. Like, I... Without sounding racist, like I got to be careful how I say this, but I think the NFL really dropped a bomb on this one because I really don't know what they were trying to prove exactly with bringing Bad Bunny. Now, I understand that Bad Bunny has a big following on YouTube and all that stuff, but...
01:17:31
Lando
You know, I just, don't think it was something that they really needed to do. don't think that was something that they needed to prove and show. And I just, I think a lot of people were, think just a lot of people didn't matter what race whatever. just, I don't think a lot of people really enjoyed the halftime show. I know I didn't. Was it entertaining?
01:17:53
Lando
Sure. Was it, was the props and all that stuff?
01:17:57
Lando
Sure. Was it really neat? Yeah. Was it entertaining? And was it kind of catchy? Yeah. But didn't really enjoy it. I didn't really like the halftime show. I think this, as far as halftime shows, I think this year and last year, I think this was the two worst halftime shows I think I've watched in the Super Bowl.
01:18:16
Leo Ernewein
Did you ever play Pokemon as a kid growing up like on the Game Boys?
01:18:19
Lando
I did. I still have my Game Boy, man.
01:18:20
Leo Ernewein
So So you know when the part at the start when Bad Bunny was walking through the grass, right?
01:18:22
Lando
And the Pokemon game.
01:18:28
Leo Ernewein
all those people standing in the stands couldn't see anything. I thought that was funny. I also thought that, you know, playing, having played Pokemon as a kid, somebody sent me a picture of bad bunny halftime show.
01:18:41
Leo Ernewein
And it was a video of somebody playing Pokemon on the old one with no color, like, or maybe it had color. I can't remember, but they were just going through the grass in the wild, you know, and just finding like little pockets, little pockets that they were safe
01:18:52
Lando
yeah yeah
01:18:55
Leo Ernewein
And then, going through the grass again. And then it was like playing his song in the background. I just thought it was hilarious because I'm like, that's totally what it was for me.
01:19:02
Lando
Mm-hmm.
01:19:04
Leo Ernewein
And then I also saw somebody of, they clipped up every A that he did in the song because he does a lot of ad-libbing, which is basically just A,
01:19:15
Leo Ernewein
Those are his ad libs, at least. That's what I think. And no disrespect to Bad Bunny or anybody who speaks Spanish because I don't. So maybe he says a lot more ad libs than I don't understand. But I just thought it was hilarious because it was like a 45 second to a minute long video of a,
01:19:31
Leo Ernewein
Hey, hey, hey, hey. Like just snippets of his music because he said it so much.
01:19:36
Lando
yeah.
01:19:37
Leo Ernewein
I thought it was hilarious. But I do feel that some people, especially the older generation, the fans that have been the NFL for a long time, probably felt slighted a little bit with that halftime show.
01:19:48
Leo Ernewein
Like, why are they giving me this? But for my reasoning, I see why the NFL is doing it. It's part of their global initiation stuff where they want to expand. It's the same reason why they're playing all these games in Europe and Spain and Germany and, you know, and Madrid and all that jazz and,
01:20:07
Leo Ernewein
they want to grow the game elsewhere because I think their end goal is to have American football played outside of the state so that they can have other leagues and compete and sort of like a, have the winner of the Superbowl play the winner of the whatever in some other league and, or whatever kind of thing, or something like that. I don't know, just more money.
01:20:28
Leo Ernewein
It's always been down to more money and I'm sure they're looking at their numbers here and going, okay, the only way we can get new fans now You know, they've tried the SpongeBob games and all that jazz, and that
NFL Global Expansion and Season Analysis
01:20:40
Leo Ernewein
didn't. I don't think that really worked. Like, it didn't work for me.
01:20:43
Leo Ernewein
don't know about you. But, no, I was going to get this out of here, man.
01:20:45
Lando
No, it didn't work for me either.
01:20:49
Leo Ernewein
Like, what is this? So I think the only thought that they're like, okay, the only way we can get new fans now is if new new kids are born of older football fans. So we got to reach out to the rest of the world because there's it's an untapped market, which they're not wrong. It's just like, there's already a football in the rest of the world. So it's, it's kind of hard to grow American football, especially with the name football in it.
01:21:16
Leo Ernewein
I don't know, especially with, you know, America and some people still don't necessarily like them. Some people are like, yeah, awesome so i i don't know i don't necessarily agree with it but i see where they did it i just think it was a dumb move too so i i agree with you in that sense we'll jump over here to uh my probably my final question here before we wrap things up actually i got two more questions first off i'm just gonna ask this one when you look back at the entire nfl season so far what was the storyline that defines it for you there landon
01:21:54
Lando
Well, that in every game in and game out, there was not really a clear-cut favorite, that everybody had their ups and downs. I think it shows that if you have a good defense, you're going to go far.
01:22:10
Lando
And Seattle showed that from start to finish. I think as far as the season goes, I think teams need to be patient.
01:22:21
Lando
I don't think they need to rush to change or panic their rosters or anything like that. But I think what stood out for me this year was that defense continues to win championships.
01:22:34
Lando
And then I think the other thing that stood out to me is that coaching is a big, big thing in the NFL. That if you have the right coach and the right mix, you're going to go far as well.
01:22:44
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, coaching is almost, to me, it's the most, football, American football, is the most impacted sport by coaching.
01:22:53
Lando
Mm-hmm.
01:22:54
Leo Ernewein
It literally makes or breaks the game.
01:22:54
Lando
Yeah.
01:22:59
Leo Ernewein
Whereas other sports, sometimes you can have just athletics take over, right, or have a player take over or whatever, right?
01:23:04
Lando
Yeah.
01:23:06
Leo Ernewein
But for me, yeah, the NFL is all down to coaching for sure. Yeah.
01:23:12
Leo Ernewein
What was the first? Oh, yeah, you said the biggest storyline for you is like parody. And I kind of agree with that. There wasn't necessarily a clear defined favorite for who was the top seed.
01:23:20
Lando
No, there was not.
01:23:23
Leo Ernewein
Sorry, I remember being blown out when we were like eight or nine weeks in and the Colts were like 8-0 and Daniel Jones. You know, was like, what's going on?
01:23:32
Lando
yeah
01:23:34
Leo Ernewein
Of course, they imploded and didn't make the playoffs, which was kind of bummer because they traded two first round picks for cornerback sauce Gardner to play defensive back. And, you know, he's a good player too.
01:23:45
Leo Ernewein
And I don't think he necessarily played bad. It's just, I think their second half of the schedule is a bit tougher than their first half, maybe right. And banked a little bit more on their hedges, but you know, if I were eight, no, I'd be trying to shore up some a little bit too, and try to make that push for the rest of the end of the season.
01:24:00
Leo Ernewein
But the second question I wanted to ask you was, you know, you were talking about the Seahawks and their defense and Who do you think feels more shafted after watching the Super Bowl?
01:24:12
Leo Ernewein
Would it be Geno Smith who left the Seahawks? I think he went to the Raiders.
01:24:18
Lando
Correct?
01:24:20
Leo Ernewein
Would it be Sam Darnold? Or not Sam Darnold. Would it be the Vikings who let Sam Darnold go? Or would it be, who's the wide receiver, DK Metcalf, who left to go to the Steelers?
01:24:33
Leo Ernewein
Because, you know, Geno Smith was there last year.
01:24:35
Lando
Ooh.
01:24:37
Leo Ernewein
Same with DK. And they had pretty much almost the same defense. And it was Mike McDonald's first year as a head coach there.
01:24:48
Leo Ernewein
So, or I think the first year as a head coach in general. But, yeah. because I think he was a defensive coordinator at Georgia in college, if I was.
01:24:56
Lando
Yes, that is correct. Yep.
01:24:58
Leo Ernewein
But an awesome defensive coordinator, by the way. But I'm starting away from my point. Who do you think got shafted the most out of that? Because, like, Vikings watching Sam Darnold win a quarterback, sorry, a Super Bowl with the Seahawks has got to be pretty tough, knowing they let him go.
01:25:18
Leo Ernewein
Gino's got to be pretty tough, but He doesn't probably have a job next year and DK at least still has a job. Like what's your take on that?
01:25:26
Lando
Well, I think to your question, I'm going to answer all three because I think they all kind of tie all into my answer.
01:25:36
Lando
think Geno Smith and DK Metcalf were problems on the Seattle Seahawks to begin with, and I think that's what hindered their chances of going far last year.
01:25:46
Lando
And with them out of the... the picture, I think they brought some fresh brought and that seemed to energize the Seattle Seahawks. But I think that the, I think who got cheated out of this was the fact that Sam Donald was a Seahawk this year and he played unbelievable year last year with the Minnesota Vikings.
01:26:07
Lando
And Minnesota was one of the best teams in the NFL last year, but unfortunately Donald's play kind of teetered off and he had a horrible, horrible, horrible, playoff game, but there was also a matchup that they, unfortunately, they ran into.
01:26:23
Lando
I can't remember who they even played last year. That's how bad my memory is. But I do remember how bad Darnold played in that game. And unfortunately, that was his demise in Minnesota, which I don't think, which I don't think, like, I don't think McCarthy was a, the Rams.
01:26:37
Leo Ernewein
They lost to the Rams last year, Yeah, they're a little good.
01:26:40
Lando
Okay. But again, yeah. Yeah, but again, that was the team that they unfortunately faced, and the LA Rams are really good still, right?
01:26:49
Lando
So... Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
01:26:49
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, they had Jared Verse as the, think he was the defensive player of the year, either last year or this year, a really good defensive end out of Florida State.
01:26:58
Leo Ernewein
Pretty sure they had drafted him like 19th overall or something like that. An absolute steal in the draft, at least as far as his production goes, because he turned out to probably be the best defensive player in the draft so far of his class.
01:27:11
Leo Ernewein
doubt that I don't think they would have won with Geno Smith. I don't think they have went near as far. It was obviously time to move on from Geno. With DK, I think you really opened my eyes to that too because you said opened doors for fresh blood. It wasn't necessarily fresh blood, but Jackson Smith and Gigma was allowed to be the number one option as opposed to...
01:27:32
Leo Ernewein
uh, sort of slot receiver kind of guy. And he really, really started to embrace that.
01:27:34
Lando
Yeah.
01:27:39
Leo Ernewein
And man, did he explode? And then obviously Sam Darnold with the efficiency and, and yeah, the Vikings and Sam Darnold last year losing to the Rams in that, uh,
01:27:50
Leo Ernewein
And that wildcard round, you know, where they were 14-3 in the regular season and lost to the 11-7 Rams. So it was severely disappointing. And Sam Darnold's performance was probably the reason why they only offered him a one-year deal. I just want to look to see if I can get the stats in that game here.
01:28:10
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, Sam Darnold, 245 yards, one touchdown, one interception, 25 40.
01:28:16
Leo Ernewein
So I know stats don't always tell the whole game. He was, I don't remember if it was a bad interception or anything like that, but to not score, well, I guess they did score a touchdown.
01:28:19
Lando
No, they don't.
01:28:29
Leo Ernewein
They added a two-point conversion after or safety, one of the two. But to only score once and not hit a field goal, I guess, is pretty rough. You only scored nine points, right?
01:28:39
Leo Ernewein
Like, you're not going to win the game in nine points.
01:28:41
Lando
No.
01:28:42
Leo Ernewein
This isn't football in the 1960s against the Bears and Packers, right, at Lambeau Field. But, yeah, I guess we'll start to wrap things up here because you're probably tired of listening to us for an hour and a half.
01:28:52
Leo Ernewein
Any more final things here, Landon, you want to mention before we get to the extra?
01:28:56
Lando
So what I was going to say is while you going to look at the stats, but I was basically going to say, like, I think – I don't know what Minnesota was thinking when they went Sarmad-Darnacle. And I know Leo, you and I were texting back and forth at the time when Darnold even left Minnesota. Like, what were they thinking? And it shows that, you know, like I – Minnesota has a good team, but they just don't have a quarterback that can get them the ball to move the offense.
01:29:24
Lando
And that killed them this year. And I don't think McCarthy is their answer in the ownership that they thought he was going to be in management or whoever made that decision.
01:29:29
Leo Ernewein
No, it's not.
01:29:35
Lando
But yeah, I just really want to answer your question because that's just kind of where... I was out with all, with all those, all three players or two players in one organization.
01:29:46
Lando
I just, yeah. Yeah. They just, yeah.
01:29:46
Leo Ernewein
No, I think you're right, though.
01:29:49
Leo Ernewein
Oh, sorry.
01:29:49
Lando
I don't know what Minnesota, I don't know what Minnesota was thinking. I really don't. So
01:29:53
Leo Ernewein
You're right, though. Hindsight, it is 2020. But at the same time, like quarterbacks are coming at premium. So when you have a decent season like he did, he had a pretty good year last year.
01:30:02
Lando
give them another shot.
01:30:04
Leo Ernewein
You got to offer him more than a one year deal because, you know, he's going to walk on that and be like, I'm test the market because somebody's going to give me a better deal than that. And obviously Seattle did.
01:30:11
Lando
Yeah.
01:30:13
Leo Ernewein
And for J.J. McCarthy, right, like it's. It's tough because I thought Kevin O'Connell was, I think I mentioned this before, the quarterback whisper. And JJ McCarthy is a reminder to me and everybody else out there that even if you have Sean McVay or Kevin O'Connell as your head coach or offensive coordinator, even though they're both head coaches, you have an offensive guru in your organization that you still need the talent there too. And I just, no disrespect to JJ McCarthy, but I just think the talent necessarily...
01:30:47
Leo Ernewein
He's more of a running quarterback and he's not a running quarterback at the NFL level. To be a running quarterback at the NFL level, you got to have speed and agility like Lamar Jackson.
01:30:54
Lando
Yes.
01:31:00
Leo Ernewein
You got to have size and strength like Josh Allen. And you still got to be able to throw the ball well and make decisions and audible and all that stuff.
01:31:11
Leo Ernewein
It's early, but... And he hasn't gotten a lot of reps either. But that, that whole ACL thing really derailed, I think his entire career did because he had an awesome spring training. I think he threw like five touchdowns, not spring training, sorry. Uh, preseason. I think he threw like five touchdowns in it and he was leading the preseason in touchdowns.
01:31:32
Leo Ernewein
And so everybody was like, the Vikings got their savior, yada, yada, yada, yeah. And then he gets hurt and they bring in Sam Darnold from where was he like Carolina something like that? even know.
01:31:42
Leo Ernewein
But yeah, no crazy stuff. Anyways, that's going to do it for us today. Another packed episode, a long one for sure. Another wild week.
01:31:50
Lando
Yeah, very long one.
01:31:51
Leo Ernewein
Yeah. Another wild week across the Olympics and the NFL. We'll be back with full coverage as the quarterfinals get going. And as the metal table starts to take shape as well.
01:32:02
Leo Ernewein
And as always, thanks for hanging out with us. We appreciate every single one of you for tuning in. Make sure to tap those like and subscribe buttons just to help out the channel. If you can, please. And thank you, Lando, my man. The floor is yours. Hit us with the shout outs.
01:32:16
Lando
Real quick shout out. I want shout out to my friend, Daryl Young. He listens to us. He's a big fan of ours. He's also my pastor my church. He's actually the one that told me today to take it easy on the New England Patriots because of just how good the Seattle Seahawks were in the Super Bowl. So I want to make good shout out to my friend, Daryl. Thanks for all the encouragement. Thank you for being a friend and thank you for being a fan.
01:32:43
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, thank you, Daryl. Shout out. Thanks for listening. We appreciate you. It's always a good time talking sports here in Calgary slash the Bull Valley. So thanks for tuning in.
01:32:56
Lando
Thanks, everybody. Thanks for tuning in. Take care.
01:33:01
Leo Ernewein
And the music will come up shortly here because I already have it prerecorded and I don't have a dial. So here we go.
01:33:11
Lando
we go. It's rolling.
01:33:14
Leo Ernewein
Almost a two hour long episode. Sorry.
01:33:24
Leo Ernewein
And noise.