Episodes
In this episode, Shawn and Howie look back at the life, career and legacy of Mike Ditka. He played for the Bears, the Eagles and the Cowboys. He was an associate head coach of the Cowboys with Tom Landry and, of course, the coach of the Super Bowl Champion Bears in that historic 1985 season. He was also iconic as a football analyst after his playing and coaching careers were done. The boys tell some stories from his life and those who've remembered him as well.
In a free-form discussion, Shawn and Howie start by discussing Alexander Ovechkin's decision to retire at the end of the 2026-27 season, the latest edition of Jeff Pearlman's Press Box Chronicles podcast in which he talks about the life and career of Gary Carter and how teammates mocked his personality while he played but they knew they could depend on him as the great catcher that he was. The boys also talk about Canadian University Sports' greatest spectacle, the Panda Game that is held every year between the University of Ottawa Gee Gees and the Carleton University Ravens at TD Place in ...
Craig Wallace is a Toronto author. He's written a new book on the 1974 series between the Canadians in the World Hockey Association and the Soviets. He joined Howie to talk about that series and the two go pretty in-depth on the whole subject. The conversation was great. And it helped set the stage for the very first Canada Cup two years later.
After a brief hiatus, Shawn and Howie are back with a brand new episode of The Sports Lunatics Show. In this edition, they discuss the lives and legacies of George Gillett, Barry Melrose and the great George Chuvalo.
On September 1, Howie was a guest on the Gridiron America podcast with the hosts, Dave Cieslinski, a former sports executive, Mike Tackett, a former pro football player in Europe and Greg Saint James, a sports historian from Chicago originally but residing now in Japan. The guys love the Canadian Football League and a good portion of the show was on what happened the weekend before in the CFL. The show went on for more than ninety minutes, so it's been broken up into three digestible segments. Here's the third part.
On September 1, Howie was a guest on the Gridiron America podcast with the hosts, Dave Cieslinski, a former sports executive, Mike Tackett, a former pro football player in Europe and Greg Saint James, a sports historian from Chicago originally but residing now in Japan. The guys love the Canadian Football League and a good portion of the show was on what happened the weekend before in the CFL. The show went on for more than ninety minutes, so it's been broken up into three digestible segments. Here's the second part.
On September 1, Howie was a guest on the Gridiron America podcast with the hosts, Dave Cieslinski, a former sports executive, Mike Tackett, a former pro football player in Europe and Greg Saint James, a sports historian from Chicago originally but residing now in Japan. The guys love the Canadian Football League and a good portion of the show was on what happened the weekend before in the CFL. The show went on for more than ninety minutes, so it's been broken up into three digestible segments. Here's the first part.
Among those sports figures we've lost in August of 2026, Shawn and Howie go back and look at the lives and careers of the great pioneer and pitcher Tommy John, Hockey broadcaster Peter Maher and CFL and NFL champion O.J. Brigance.
Shawn and Howie continue their series of great sports stories from individual decades. This episode, they talk about the 1980s. If you were alive then, you probably have memories of each of these. Great moments for sure! What are your memories? Go to the Sports Lunatics Show page on Facebook and let the guys know!
Shawn asked AI to pick the Top Ten sports stories from the 1970s that people still talk about and will continue to talk about in the future. He and Howie discuss the list and add memories of their own. It's a fun show with some great old audio clips added.
At the beginning of this episode, Shawn nails it. It's a bit of a mish-mash. Shawn and Howie discuss the 1976 Olympics and how the Games changed after 1976 with the boycotts in 1980 and 1984 and the loss of amateurism in the games over that time. They also talk about the remarks of the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong about the actual existence of Babe Ruth. Also, Canadian news legend Lloyd Robertson passed away on August 4, 2026. The boys remember him.
Howie sat down and did a segment on four things that happened in Baseball History on August 4. You'll likely have a memory of each of them. The earliest one goes back to 1980. The most recent one took place in 1993.
It's August, the meat of the summer. We've put together a 'best of' show for you. Three clips from past shows. First, I talked with former Edmonton Eskimos special teams great, Jed Roberts, about the passing of the great wide receiver Waddell Smith. Next, Shawn and I talked about the anniversary of the passing of Thurman Munson on August 2, 1979. Lastly, Shawn has talked often of the greatness of Bo Jackson. Here's one of those occasions.
Shawn asks Howie about Ottawa football history and Howie talks about the Ottawa Bootleggers and how they should be in the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame
Howie talks about the players who will be in Ottawa for Legacy Night. Clements to Gabriel. One of the greatest moments of the last fifty years.
This episode goes in a bunch of directions, before finishing back in Ottawa. Shawn and Howie talk about Lebron James signing in Philadelphia and the possibilities for him there. They also talk about the Macklin Celebrini signing and the ramifications of the offer sheet for Leo Carlsson and what may be next in hockey. Then they move on to the Baseball Hall of Fame inductions and the lack of that 'it' factor. They also go back to that topic of who is still not in that deserves to be in. And they finish off with a discussion of Ottawa football history and the Football Legacy night on July 31. ...
In this multi-pronged episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie take one last look at the World Cup, the sudden and tragic loss of Duane Ward and his career, the passing of Ron Hunt and his impact on the Expos in his time in Montreal and his career and the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
In the final installment of this mini-series, Howie and SiriusXM's Mick Kern count the Top Five NHL teams, according to The Sporting News, down from Number 5 to Number 1. The discussion is fast and fun.
The summer is usually a quiet time on the sporting landscape, but with the Home Run Derby and the baseball All-Star Game going on and the World Cup heading for their grand finale, the summer of 2026 has been buzzing with excitement and activity. Shawn and Howie discuss all of that and also possible impending labor strife in Baseball in 2027. Also, the boys look back on the life and career of former CFL All-Star Jim Corrigall.
Howie and SiriusXM's Mick Kern continue their look at the Sporting News' list of the NHL's greatest teams. In this episode, they look at the teams from #10 to #6. Do they agree with the teams on the list? Not always. Do they agree with each other all the time? Again, not always. It's a fun look back on some great NHL teams and Howie and Mick inject some really interesting facts into the whole conversation.
Wild couple of days in sports. Kyle Lowry signed a one-day contract to retire as a Toronto Raptor. Daniel Alfredsson leaves Ottawa, the city where he has been lionized, to become an associate coach with the (checks notes) Toronto Maple Leafs? And the World Cup just keeps on being the most compelling sporting event on the planet......Shawn and Howie discuss all this in a fast-paced and exciting episode.
The venerable Sporting News, which bears the nickname, 'The Bible of Baseball', unveiled their Top 20 NHL Teams of all Time recently. Were they right? Were they wrong? Howie sat down with SiriusXM's Mick Kern to look at the list and evaluate its contents and its accuracy and validity. Howie has at least a couple of issues with the list and the conversation is lively and fast-paced.
There's a lot in this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show. The day this was recorded, the Toronto Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard. Also, Lebron James announced that he was going to pursue free agency. The boys discuss these two events. Also, the Florida Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky announced that they would be parting ways and this was a point of discussion. They also go over Stephen Eustaquio's goal for Canada in the World Cup to advance to the round of sixteen in elimination play. Where does it go down in history? What happens if Canada Soccer fails to use this goal and victory as a jum...
The verdict is in. The playoffs in both the NHL and the NBA were spectacular television. Shawn and Howie talked about some of their favorite moments in each, especially since each of the winning teams hadn't entered the winner's circle in a while - for the New York Knicks, it had been 53 years. The boys talk about the stars and the great moments.
As Shawn says in this episode, what a 24 hours if your last name is Tkachuk. Starting with the trade of Brady from the Ottawa Senators to the Florida Panthers and culminating with the Hall of Fame selection of his father, Keith, it was a whirlwind day for the Tkachuk family. Shawn and Howie discuss that and the 2026 selections for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. There's some serious conversation and some fun as well.
On June 16, 2026, it was announced that the Saturday night broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada had come to an end. The agreement between Rogers and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had expired and there were no plans to renew it for the 2026-27 season. Shawn and Howie discuss the demise of Saturday night hockey on the national broadcaster, first from a business and contractual standpoint and then from the emotional point of view. There will be change for a lot of viewers and their personal trips down memory lane are worth the listen.
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Howie sat down with Craig Wallace, author of one of the seminal books about the Toronto Argonauts of the late 1960s and early 1970s, A Slip In The Rain, and their iconic coach, Leo Cahill. There are some great old stories in this conversation that illuminate the personalities of some of the great people of that era. Get A Slip In The Rain on lulu.com and get Howie's book, An Unlikely Story, on Amazon.
Sports fans have been blessed with a tremendous spring with the NHL and NBA playoffs giving everyone a boatload of spectacular moments. Game 4 of the NBA Finals saw the New York Knicks overcome a 29 point deficit and take the lead with 1.2 seconds left in a 107-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs to take a 3-1 series lead. Over in the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes are giving us all a great Final series where many were thinking of only paying sparse attention to it. Every night has been, as Shawn says, 'must-see TV'. Shawn and Howie also look back at the lives and care...
Howie caught up with former Calgary Flames' Trainer and Athletic Therapist, Brian Patafie following the passing of Hockey Hall of Famer Cliff Fletcher. Patafie shares a number of stories of Fletcher's intelligence, generosity and his sense of humour. It's an enlightening and enjoyable conversation.
Howie sat down with Paul Woods, a longtime Toronto newspaper man and writer. They talked extensively about the league and the Argonauts and the books that Woods has written about the team. He's probably best known for his book on the Argos' 1991 season, The Year Of The Rocket, dealing with the ownership group of Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy and the recruitment of the superstar, Raghib "Rocket" Ismail. His other book on the Boatmen, Bouncing Back, chronicles the team of the early 1980s that eventually won the 1983 Grey Cup. His pet project is his YouTube page called the Canadia...