The Sports Lunatics Show
Shawn Lavigne, a longtime Toronto radio producer, and Howie Mooney, Ottawa television sports personality and author, discuss sports and sports history and delve into why what happened in the past is relevant today. Fun sports talk, lively interviews and always a good time.
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Episodes
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Feb 2026 - A New Documentary on The 1980 Miracle on Ice & The Passing of Mickey Lolich
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
It's February and the Winter Olympics are in our collective consciousness and so our thoughts naturally float to a couple of weeks back in 1980 when the sporting world was focused on what was happening at the hockey venue in tiny Lake Placid, New York and what a group of college kids were doing by upsetting the vaunted Soviet Union juggernaut. There's a new Netflix documentary and Shawn and Howie discuss it and the 1980 tournament and the players and personalities involved. They also take a look back at the life and career of Detroit Tigers' great pitcher, Mickey Lolich.
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Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Belichick Snubbed by PFHOF On First Attempt! - A Sports Lunatics Reaction Show
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
On Wednesday morning, January 28, 2026, it was reported that Bill Belichick would not be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Reaction was swift and intense. Tom Brady said, "I don't understand it!" Other athletes and observers were equally shocked. Shawn Lavigne and Howie Mooney discussed the snub in this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show.
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Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - What We Missed About The 1970s
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
In this freeform episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie look back at the things they loved about the 1970s (and some things they didn't). It's kind of a wild show and the boys go back and forth on a whole bunch of topics that were perhaps peculiar to the 1970s. You might remember a bunch of the topics they discuss here as well.
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Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Glenn Hall, Guy Chouinard and the 50th Anniversary of Philly-Red Army
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Another legendary NHL goalie has passed away. On this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie examine the career, life and legacy of Hall of Famer Glenn Hall. They also look at the career of the first ever 50 goal scorer for the Atlanta Flames, Guy Chouinard. The second week of January also marked the 50th anniversary of that infamous match between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Soviet Red Army team back in 1976. The guys close the show by talking about the little consolation speech by reporter Lynn Jones to Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen.
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Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Twenty Worst Teams In CFL History with guest J.C. Abbott from 3downnation.com
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Howie sat down with J.C. Abbott from 3downnation.com to discuss a piece he wrote for the website on the twenty worst teams to ever step on a Canadian Football League field. Abbott explains how he chose the teams and the two men talk about some if the teams. The conversation is interesting and this episode is a must-listen for CFL fans. Go to the Sports Lunatics Facebook page to make your feelings known on the whole subject!
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Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Remembering David Branch and Bob Pulford
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie look back on the lives and the legacies of two hockey giants - David Branch and Bob Pulford. Branch was the commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League for 45 years and the president of the Canadian Hockey League for 23 years, all while being one of the most personable executives that anyone ever met in hockey. Bob Pulford was an all-star and a Stanley Cup winner as a player in Toronto and Los Angeles before moving on to coach the Kings. He then went on to become the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks before taking on the role as the t...
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Dec 2025 - Sports Lunatics - 2025 Year In Review
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Shawn and Howie look at the sports year that was 2025 in this episode. The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl; the Florida Panthers took the Stanley Cup; the Oklahoma City Thunder was the NBA Champion and, in what some have called the best World Series they had ever seen, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. The NHL, in what would be its All-Star break held a 4-Nations tournament that turned out to be everything they wanted it to be. The Luka Doncic trade? What were they thinking? There is more too! Enjoy the show!
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Dec 2025 - Sports Lunatics - The Festivus Episode
Tuesday, December 23, 2025
We have reached that time of year. It's Festivus. That includes the airing of the grievances. The time went by so quickly that Shawn and Howie didn't get to discuss all their points. But it's an absolutely lively conversation and the boys hope that Toronto Maple Leaf fans aren't too angry with them. They cover the Leafs, the way the Kansas City Chiefs season is arriving at its end, the movement of franchises, the pricing out of some families when it comes to pro sports and how the Canadian Football League went about their upcoming rule changes this year and how will they...
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Dec 2025 - Sports Lunatics - The End of Eras - Mahomes, Rivers, Cena, Dick Van Dyke (and Babe Ruth?) and Remembering Rob Reiner
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
In a wild and bizarre weekend the Kansas City Chiefs lost Patrick Mahomes to an ACL tear and lost their game to end their quest for another NFL playoff berth, ending a run of success that was incredible. That same day, 44-year-old Philip Rivers came out of retirement to almost lead the Indianapolis Colts to a win over the Seattle Seahawks. But poor clock management resulted in Seattle having enough time to kick a field goal and pull the game out. On the Saturday night, John Cena appeared in his last wrestling bout as he tapped out against the Swiss giant, Gunther. On the cultural side that ...
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Dec 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Baseball HOF Eras Committee Votes - Who Got In?
Monday, December 8, 2025
The Contemporary Eras Committee voted for their Baseball Hall of Fame candidates this week. Would Don Mattingly finally get in? Dale Murphy, maybe? Nope. Neither. One man was selected to be inducted in 2026 from this vote. Jeff Kent. Shawn and Howie discuss the selection and what they thought might happen. It's a lively and wide ranging conversation and they bring up a lot of names and comparables for the men on the ballot.
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Dec 2025 - Sports Lunatics - December 8, 1980, The Night John Lennon Died
Monday, December 8, 2025
On December 8, 1980, as we were watching Monday Night Football, Howard Cosell informed us all that John Lennon had been killed outside the Dakota Hotel. Shawn and Howie discuss their memories of that night, the following week and the impact that Lennon's death had on them and the world as they saw it at that time. Some illuminating audio accompanies their conversation.
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Dec 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Colleen Jones, Fuzzy Zoeller, Griffin's Double Heisman, The Dolphins Ruin The Bears' Undefeated Season and The Night St. Patrick Walked Away From Montreal
Thursday, December 4, 2025
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie cover a lot of ground. First, they remember the lives and legacies of the great Canadian curling giant, Colleen Jones, and 1979 Masters winner, Fuzzy Zoeller. Then they look back at three sporting anniversaries. In 1975, Archie Griffin won back-to-back Heisman Trophies. He's the only man ever to achieve that NCAA Football feat. In 1985, on Monday Night Football, the undefeated Chicago Bears went to South Florida and pulled the Nine of Hearts against Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins. It was their only loss of that 1985 season...
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Nov 2025 - Sports Lunatics - A Look Back - Guertin Arena, George Foreman, August 12, 1994 and Ken Dryden
Sunday, November 30, 2025
In this episode, Howie put together a compilation show of pieces from four different episodes. There are highlights from an interview Howie did with Ken Warren about the demolition of the Bob Guertin Arena in Hull, a show that Shawn and Howie did on the life of George Foreman, a short episode on the importance of August 12, 1994 and 1976, and a piece from an interview Howie did with SiriusXM's Mick Kern on the passing of Ken Dryden.
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Nov 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Randy Jones, Joe Theismann's Leg, Baseball's New TV Deal, The Grey Cup and More
Thursday, November 20, 2025
This episode is a bit of a random mish-mash of topics all over the sports history map. Shawn and Howie start off by discussing the passing of the first great pitcher for the San Diego Padres. Randy Jones won the Cy Young Award in 1976, winning 22 games and completing 25 of his 40 starts. He pitched 315.1 innings that year to lead the majors. But his 1975 season might have been even better. Howie explains why. The boys examine Major League Baseball's new agreement with ESPN, Netflix and NBC is back in the baseball business too. They talk about the good old days of the NBC Game of the We...
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Nov 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Remembering Lenny Wilkens, Paul Tagliabue, Mel Bridgman and Leon Stickle + A Bit More
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
The sports world lost a few luminaries and Shawn and Howie do their best to remember them all. NBA All-Star player and one of the greatest coaches who ever walked the sidelines, Lenny Wilkens, passed away on November 9, 2025. He was 88. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue suffered heart failure and lost his life on that same Sunday. He was 84. Mel Bridgman, who was the first overall selection in the 1975 NHL Draft and played 977 games in a 14-year career, died on November 8. He was just 70. Leon Stickle, who worked as a linesman in the NHL for 30 seasons from 1969 to 1998, in an era when...
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Nov 2025 - Sports Lunatics - The Greatest World Series of All Time?
Thursday, November 6, 2025
On this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie do a post-mortem on the 2025 World Series. They examine it from a number of points of view and eventually pose the question of whether or not it was the greatest World Series ever played. It was a series that even Alex Rodriguez said that it was awful that one team had to lose. Howie brought up the 1975 World Series and the epic sixth game of that year. It's a lively back and forth and in the end, they both agree that it was, at least, the greatest World Series in the last fifty years.
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Nov 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Shawn Interviews Howie About His New Book, An Unlikely Story
Monday, November 3, 2025
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn turns interviewer and Howie is the subject as they discuss Howie's latest book, An Unlikely Story, about the season for the 1981 Ottawa Rough Riders which culminated in an appearance in the Grey Cup. Despite being 22 1/2 point underdogs, the Riders gave the reigning champion Edmonton Eskimos all they could handle. In the dying minutes though, a referee's call takes the Riders' hopes away and the Esks eventually kick a game-winning field goal with just seconds remaining. The Ottawa CFL Alumni Association called the book "a hea...
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Oct 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Shawn and Howie Examine The New Netflix Documentary on the Montreal Expos
Monday, October 27, 2025
Netflix recently released a highly anticipated documentary on how the Montreal Expos met their ultimate demise and who might be responsible. As Howie says in this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, there was a blame pie with a number of responsible parties. The guys discuss the documentary and provide some historical analysis that accompanies the narrative of the documentary. You may agree with some of the things they say or you may not. Feel free to weigh in on the show on The Sports Lunatics Facebook page.
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Oct 2025 - Sports Lunatics - The Blue Jays Head to the World Series!
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
After an incredible seven game series against the Seattle Mariners, the Toronto Blue Jays are headed to the 2025 World Series to take on the highly favoured Los Angeles Dodgers. Shawn and Howie discuss the wild finish to that seventh game, how things have gone for the Blue Jays and their prospects against the vaunted Dodgers. They also look back fifty years to the sixth game of the 1975 World Series and Carlton Fisk's game winning homer against the Cincinnati Reds.
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Oct 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Montreal Expos Memories
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
With the anniversaries of so many fall baseball accomplishments and the coming of a new documentary on the team, Shawn and Howie decided to take a look back at the life and memories that were created by the Montreal Expos. The team still holds a place in the hearts of many and the guys reminisce about some of the ups and some of the downs and a few of the wacky moments that took place in the 36-year history of the club.
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Oct 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Howie's Top Ten Blue Jays' Postseason Memories
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Listen in as Shawn and Howie discuss a list of the Toronto Blue Jays postseason memories. Howie made the list and Shawn doesn't let him forget it. From Dave Stieb to Marco Estrada, from Devon White to Josh Donaldson, from Dave Winfield to Jose Bautista to Joe Carter and a whole bunch of other memories in between. Shawn inserted some amazing audio to help make all the memories come alive!
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Sept 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Why Is September 28 So Important?
Sunday, September 28, 2025
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Howie explains why September 28 is so important. Specifically, the anniversary of that date in 1972 - the date that Paul Henderson scored the goal that allowed Canada to overcome the Soviet Union in their Summit Series.
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Sept 2025 - Sports Lunatics - CFL Rule Changes, Sept 22, 2025
Monday, September 22, 2025
On September 22, 2025, Canadian Football League commissioner Stewart Johnson held a media conference during which he laid out numerous rule changes that would take effect in 2026 and 2027. The reaction from fans was mixed. BC Lions quarterback called the new rules 'garbage'. Moments after the media availability, Shawn and Howie discussed their responses to the declaration and to Rourke's reaction as well. While it's too early to tell how everything will play out, the guys speculated on how they thought things may go.
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Sept 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Remembering Bernie Parent
Monday, September 22, 2025
There was a two-year period in which the Philadelphia Flyers' Bernie Parent might have been the greatest goalie on Earth. His team won two Stanley Cups and Parent won two Conn Smythe Trophies and a couple of Vezina Trophies as well. His career was a colorful one and in this episode, Shawn and Howie examine his life and legacy.
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Sept 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Ed Giacomin, Bob Goodenow, Robert Redford & The Natural
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
It's been a time for loss and remembrance. Within a few days, the world lost Rangers' great Ed Giacomin, former NHLPA executive Bob Goodenow and legendary actor and director Robert Redford. The boys recount how the scene in The Natural in which Roy Hobbs gets shot by Harriet Bird was inspired by a real live incident involving a former major leaguer. In the course of recording this episode, Howie got word that his latest book had been released on Amazon. It was a wild show. (52 minutes)
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Sept 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Davey Johnson Remembered
Saturday, September 13, 2025
Howie flies solo on this episode as he remembers the late Davey Johnson. A Gold Glover, 4-time all-star and World Series winning manager, Johnson had a colourful career both on the field and as a field boss. You'll hear some insights into why he left North America for Japan in the mid-70s, how he treated his players "like men", and the fact that he used his mathematical training in university to introduce rudimentary analytics to managing. Johnson was 82 when he passed away on September 5, 2025.
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Sept 2025 - Sports Lunatics - Howie & SiriusXM's Mick Kern Discuss the Passing of Ken Dryden
Saturday, September 6, 2025
On September 5, 2025, Ken Dryden passed away. Dryden was a Hall of Fame goalie, author, Member of Parliament, NHL executive. He was an astute and intelligent man. Yes, he was an athlete, but he was more than that, especially to a generation of kids who saw something different in him. Howie sat down with the NHL Network Channel's Mick Kern from SiriusXM's Under Review Show to discuss the life and the legacy of Ken Dryden.
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Sept 2025 - Sports Lunatics - 1972 Canada-Russia Series - Howie with Terry Mercury from SiriusXM
Friday, September 5, 2025
It's September! Howie and special guest, former SiriusXM reporter Terry Mercury sit down to discuss their memories from around September of 1972. That was when Canada faced the Soviets in their intense eight-game Summit Series. They talk about the games but they also go through their memories and the feelings they experienced through that whole time window. It's truly a lively conversation between a couple of guys who lived through that time as 12-year-olds in different parts of Canada.
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Aug 2025 - Sports Lunatics - CFL Interviews, A Look Back
Friday, August 22, 2025
In this rebroadcast episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Howie has compiled excerpts from three interviews with former Canadian Football League personalities, Jo-Anne Polak, the first female general manager of a North American pro sports franchise, former Edmonton Eskimo Jed Roberts and the former Ottawa Rough Rider slot receiver Pat Stoqua. Canadian football people are absolutely awesome and each of today's guests have some amazing stories of their times in the league.
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Aug 2025 - Sports Lunatics - 1976 Canada Cup and Lionel Taylor
Friday, August 15, 2025
This one is for the hockey fans. Specifically, this one might be for the older hockey fans. Shawn and Howie talk about what might be a forgotten Canadian hockey landmark - the 1996 Canada Cup. Sandwiched between the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series and the 1980 Miracle on Ice, the team that Canada iced in 1976 was possibly the greatest team that ever played. There were 18 Hall of Famers on that team. The guys discuss their memories from that team and that tournament and what it meant for the game of hockey as we see it today. They also talk about the career and the legacy of the great recei...