Episodes
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...
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
If you ask come Canadian baseball fans of a certain age what August 12 means to them, they may or may not have a memory of 1994. If they do, that date will bring sadness. On that date, the Montreal Expos were in first place in the National League East. That was also the day that major league baseball players went out on strike. They stayed out long enough to throw away the season, and with it, the Expos' chances of maybe getting to a World Series. Rewind to 1976 and the day that Toronto's major league team got its name. Howie talks about the sadness of August 12, 1994 and the reac...
On August 2, we observed a tragic anniversary. On that date in 1979, Thurman Munson perished in a small plane crash in Ohio. He was practicing takeoffs and landings in his personal Cessna jet when he missed the runway and died at the scene. His death hit so many people hard. He was a star on the New York Yankees and was instrumental in their World Series victories in 1977 and 1978. In light of that, Shawn and Howie looked back at other tragedies involving players and athletes who died while they were still active in their respective sports. It was not a fun episode nor was it an easy one to...
In this edition of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie look back at the career and the life of Chicago Cubs great, Ryne Sandberg. From how he got to the Cubs, to that magical game in 1984 that propelled the team to the National League Championship Series to the unending respect that was shown to him by teammates and opposing players throughout his career and even after it, the guys leave no stone unturned in discussing Sandberg's legacy. Shawn also looks back at the stroke that abruptly ended the pitching career of the great James Rodney Richard and the 100th anniversary of the b...
Terry Bollea, also known as Hulk Hogan, by the end of his life, was hated by many and loved by many. By 2025, his life and the way he was perceived and portrayed, was complicated. But as media personality and wrestling fan James Cybulski posted on Twitter, "To say Terry Bollea the person was an incredibly flawed individual would be an understatement, but the character Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest reasons wrestling is what it is today." indeed, there was a time when he was an absolute cultural phenomenon. In this edition of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie try to look at the lif...
The baseball world lost a couple of pitchers recently. A member of the original Toronto Blue Jays who pitched twelve seasons with the team and one of the last pitchers in the majors to make 40 starts in a season, Jim Clancy passed away on July 14, 2025. Clancy was an all-star in 1982 who was near the top in many team statistical categories. He was 69. Bobby Jenks was the closer on the Chicago White Sox when they won the World Series in 2005. He was an all-star in 2006 and 2007. He was second in franchise history in saves. He passed away in Sintra, Portugal on July 4. He was just 44. ESPN ha...
As the calendar edges its way to mid-July, sports fans' minds might travel to a few different things. If you're a golf fan, you'll be paying attention to the British Open. If tennis is your thing, then it's likely that Wimbledon will be your thing. If you love baseball, then your focus will be Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. For almost a century now, the midsummer showcase has given us a myriad of moments. In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie went on to ChatGPT to get the bot's Top Ten All-Star Game moments. It's not a bad li...
It's always interesting every once in a while to look back at what happened on a certain date and kind of analyze what went on and what went down on that date over numerous different years. Of course, mid-July offers us a few different things. There are All-Star games in baseball, of course. Wimbledon can come into play. But then there are outstanding feats that occurred as well. In this one, you'll hear about the first ever Soccer World Cup, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, an unprecedented and singular swap that took place in the NFL, the first All-Star game played outside the United St...
We had an eventful 36 hours or so from July 1 to the morning of July 3. In that narrow window of time, Clayton Kershaw fired his 3,000th career strikeout, the great Alex Delvecchio passed away at the age of 93, hockey insider Bob McKenzie announced he was walking away from broadcasting and hockey after 48 years of work, and the soccer world mourned the loss of Portugal and Liverpool's Diogo Jota. A lot of material for Shawn and Howie to cover in a single episode.
The passing of the newly inducted Baseball Hall of Famer, Dave Parker brought sadness to a lot of people who were looking forward to seeing the baseball superstar with his plaque at the ceremony in Cooperstown later this summer. Shawn and Howie look back at his career and the careers of some other players who so far have been snubbed by their respective halls of fame. They look specifically at the case of Carey Price and this year's Hockey Hall of Fame selections. It was a spirited conversation covering a wide range of people and sports.
On June 24, 2025, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted eight new members and Shawn and Howie were standing by with their thoughts and opinions on the inductees and some of the players who did not make into the class of '25.
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Howie talks about the Florida Panthers winning the Stanley Cup and their celebrations with the trophy. He talks about Jonathan Toews signing with the Winnipeg Jets and his hopes for next season for Toews and his new team. He also talks about a number of things that happened on June 22 through the course of sports history.
Shawn and Howie had so much fun discussing ChatGPT's Top Ten Stanley Cup Heroes list that they decided to check out a similar list for the Canadian Football League. There were some surprising results, both on the list and off. Give it a listen and see where Russ Jackson ended up.
Jim Marshall was a great defensive end for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Cleveland Browns and most notably, the Minnesota Vikings. He was truly an ironman. His NFL career lasted 20 seasons. He was an All-Pro, and the Vikings captain as a member of a stalwart defensive line on those great Vikings teams that went to four Super Bowls. That front four included Carl Eller, Alan Page, Marshall and Gary Larsen and was known around the league as the 'Purple People Eaters'. Marshall had his jersey number 70 retired by the team and his name sits in the Vikings Ring of Honor at their sta...
The Sports Lunatics are never afraid of trying something new. With the Stanley Cup Final Series now taking place, Shawn asked ChatGPT to make a list of the Top Ten Stanley Cup Heroes since 1970. Shawn and Howie were somewhat surprised at the players on the list and the order in which the app ranked the players. They sat down to discuss that list in this episode.