Our apologies for the delay in releasing this Olympics-focused episode. (Life got crazy for both of us as hosts). But with Beijing 2022 in the rearview, let's percolate on some of the landmark moments of these Winter Games. On the bright side, we have key triumphs by Canadians, most notably Marie Philip-Poulin and the women's hockey team. Yet the scandal involving teenage figure skating phenom Kamila Valieva ties into a much greater (and more disturbing) trend that the Russian Olympic team has embarked on for many years. (We highly recommend the Netflix documentary Icarus, which we reference thoroughly, if you want to learn more).
Today's football-centric episode focuses on the hunt for the Super Bowl. While some favourites, like the Green Bay Packers, shockingly flamed out of the NFL Playoffs, the Cincinnati Bengals overcame all odds (and a poor offensive line) to reach the promised land. They will face the Los Angeles Rams for the Lombardi Trophy in what will probably be their toughest test of all. Join us as we talk football, the big game and the retirement of one Tom Brady. (This episode also pays tribute to Chelsea Finnigan, a former high school classmate of David's who passed away earlier this month. Although we did not know Chelsea well, we wanted to acknowledge her and the tragic circumstances of her death. We send prayers and well-wishes to the Finnigan family).
We start by revisiting some key milestones that took place over the last few weeks. The University of Georgia won its first college football National Championship in 41 years. Former FCS receiver Cooper Kupp became the first NFLer since 2005 to outright win the receiving triple crown. T.J. Watt tied Michael Strahan's single-season sack record. Then we pivot to chat about NBA rookie Scottie Barnes, and why passing up touted guard Jalen Suggs to draft Barnes has paid off for the Toronto Raptors...at least so far. Today's main course, however, is an interesting hockey hypothetical. Would you rather have a starting lineup full of young superstars like Connor McDavid and Cale Makar, or a veteran group featuring Sidney Crosby and Victor Hedman? Tyson and I don't agree, and we view the proposition quite differently. We'd love to hear your take on it as well.
In this episode (recorded Dec. 21, we apologize for the delay in releasing), we have good news and bad news. First, the good: IUPUI basketball fans are thrilled after their women's team downed the at-the-time #15 Iowa Hawkeyes for IUPUI's first-ever win over a nationally ranked opponent. Alas, that fact was of no solace to hockey fans around the world as the NHL has chosen to withdraw from the 2022 Winter Olympics due to ostensible concerns over COVID-19. (Since then, we know that the Omicron variant also caused the cancellation of this year's IIHF World Junior Championship, setting an unfortunate trend). Meanwhile, Stan Fischler of The Hockey News released an article arguing for the abolition of butterfly-style goaltending due to an apparent rise in injuries to top goalies around the NHL. While we agree that more should be done to mitigate player injury in this realm, the idea of a return to classic stand-up goaltending seems questionable at best.
The Draft Board returns with a casual conversation about sports. We talk about new NBA 3-point king Stephen Curry and how his play style differs from a traditional point guard like the (blasphemously underrated) John Stockton. We've got some opinions about Team Canada and Team USA's new hockey jerseys (spoiler alert, they're not positive). Finally, we showcase the differences between Canadian football and it's American counterpart with a zany thought experiment: what if you tried to play both at the same time?