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A podcast on sports books where journalists Neil Acharya and Neate Sager discuss the latest titles with authors and athletes.
Episodes
Thursday May 04, 2023
Thursday May 04, 2023
Step into the arena. Step outside the bubble. Justin Davis offers the public a personal story of a life in hockey with all aspects considered.
What was wrong? What can be changed? What did he like? What should be maintained?
With Canada’s national winter sport facing a moral audit, check out our discussion with an NHL draft choice and Memorial Cup champion player turned high school teacher who has an inside perspective.
Conflicted Scars was released by ECW Press in October 2022. It features a foreword by Hockey Hall of Fame coach Brian Kilrea and a cover blurb from Davis’s one-time OHL teammate Joe Thornton, a member of the NHL’s 1,500-points club.
Monday Mar 27, 2023
Monday Mar 27, 2023
Baseball banter comes easily to John Gibbons, but it was a hard and winding road to get to that point.
Over two stints covering 11 seasons, Gibbons won over Toronto Blue Jays fans. Getting the Jays back into pennant contention helped, but he became more relatable, a shrewd observer whom fans could imagine sharing baseball yarns and beers with up in the 500 level. Getting there involved 22 seasons in the minors, first as a catcher whose MLB days were curtailed by injuries before he moved into coaching and managing.
“Gibby” was written with past guest Greg Oliver (S1E02, Grattoony The Loony). Gibbons lives in his native San Antonio with his wife, Christi, and cohosts The Gibby Show podcast with his agent John Arezzi.
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Whether one calls it soccer or football, the women’s game is coming into its own.
The advancements might seem brand-new considering the first World Cup was held in 1991 and the inaugural Olympic tournament kicked off in 1996.
It would also be easy to assume that the charge forward for female footy began in North America.
After all, the United States has had the most success, while Canada is the reigning Olympic champion and boasts the all-time time leading goal scorer - Christine Sinclair.
There is far more to the story.
In A Woman’s Game – The Rise, Fall and Rise Again, of Women's Soccer, journalist Suzanne Wrack (The Guardian) dives back well over a century ago to document and contextualize the progression of The Beautiful Game as it pertains to women.
She joined us from London to discuss how the past connects to the present, what the future holds and why even with recent breakthroughs and momentum, she feels that the women’s game is at a critical juncture.
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
Canada ascending to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was surely cathartic for every footballer who has worn the Maple Leaf — especially Dwayne De Rosario, one of this nation's best ever .
The Scarborough man helped grow the beautiful game in North America as one of the first stars of Major League Soccer, contributing to four MLS Cup-winning teams and twice earning Cup MVP honours. It gnawed at him, though, that the Canadian men’s national team was never able to reach the biggest stage in global sport, which in turn hurt the sport’s perception of Canadian-produced talent.
In 2021, De Rosario and broadcaster Brendan Dunlop released the star’s candid autography, “DeRo: My Life.” The kickoff of the World Cup, with Canada represented and competing for only the second time, was a perfect opening for ‘DeRo’ and Dunlop to discuss the book and a northern nation’s place in the fútbol world.
Sunday Nov 20, 2022
Sunday Nov 20, 2022
Steve Simmons dishes it out, and Steve Simmons takes it.
He would not have that any other way. It’s been A Lucky Life.
As a national columnist with Postmedia, his articles are some of the most widely discussed amongst Canadian sports fans.
He has also appeared regularly on radio and television including TSN’s The Reporters.
Simmons began his professional writing career in 1979 at the Calgary Herald. He then shifted to the Calgary Sun right as the NHL Flames moved to town and joined his hometown Toronto Sun in 1987. He has had the privilege of covering major personalities, and incredible moments in sport, including 17 Olympics.
Simmons has written four books and collaborated on six others. His latest is a collection of selected works which were published between 1986 and 2021.
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
In 2019, veteran live sports producer John Shannon was — no need for an euphemism — fired by Sportsnet.
As he has learned across nearly a half century in sports media, one has to evolve or die. In this memoir, Shannon writes of how he has absorbed and applied lessons that are wrapped as mortal blows in order not merely survive, but thrive in an often cutthroat field.
In “Evolve or Die,” he writes of how he had a vision, from his early life in the British Columbia interior, to be a storyteller. That aspiration led him to Toronto in the 1970s right at the inflection point for a sports broadcasting boom in Canada.
Shannon quickly became well-regarded as a producer with Hockey Night in Canada while in his early 20s. Later, he became executive producer (1994-2000) when that crown jewel of live sports production instituted the now familiar Saturday doubleheader and Satellite Hot Stove intermission panel.
Since 2009, Shannon has created a seemingly unprecedented second act in front of the camera as an analyst and insider.
Currently he is a regular panelist on Edmonton Oilers broadcasts and continues to co-host the Bob McCowan Podcast on Sirius XM Radio.
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
When it was announced that Hockey Hall of Fame centreman Bryan Trottier was releasing a memoir, one had to wonder why that had not already happened.
Trottier won the Stanley Cup six times as a player and once again as an assistant coach. The son of a Cree-Chippewa-Métis father and an Irish-Canadian mother from a Saskatchewan ranching family, he also earned multiple major awards an 18-season NHL career (1975-94).
Timing is the answer.
At age 66, Trottier believes he is far enough removed from the game where could tell some “secrets.” As well, In the age of Reconciliation between Canada and First Nations, the publishing industry is eager to amplify a story like his.
In "All Roads Home," the example that Trottier set for Indigenous youth in his hockey heyday is captured in a foreword by author and historian Jesse Thistle (author of the international best-seller "From The Ashes"). Trottier's narrative, written with esteemed Canadian sportswriter Stephen Brunt, details his obligation to make the people who shaped him proud, especially his family.
Over his life in hockey, Trottier has touched individual and collective greatness. He has also taken the time to listen, learn and share his experiences with Indigenous communities across Canada.
Join us for our conversation with one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Barrie Shepley had his eureka moment while working a summer job in an auto plant.
Captivated by Canadian swimmer Alex Baumann racing to gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Shepley realized that he wanted to be in elite sport. His skillset was best suited to being a coach.
Chasing greatness began with hustling. Starting from his residence room at McMaster University, he bootstrapped and helped triathlon move from a loose structure into something with a foundation, a fanbase and young athletes who would become its long-term future. One of them, first spotted in Sharbot Lake, Ont., was Simon Whitfield.
Eventually Shepley became Canada's national triathlon coach for several years beginning in 1991. In 2000, all his groundwork was validated when Whitfield became the first Olympic men's triathlon champion at the Sydney Olympics.
In Chasing Greatness, Shepley shares his experiences working with elite athletes and hobbyists who were bent on proving something to themselves. In addition to his commentary work, Shepley is cofounder of Personal Best, a Caledon, Ont.-based health and wellness firm that works with corporate and individual clients.
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
Friday Oct 07, 2022
Friday Oct 07, 2022
Corey Hirsch played 14 seasons as a professional goalie, including 108 NHL games.
He raised the Stanley Cup and came within a postage stamp goal of backstopping Canada to an Olympic Gold medal.
But the save of his life never happened on the ice.
It happened when he stopped short of driving off a cliff.
The plan was to finally be rid of intrusive thoughts he couldn’t shut off. Now he has learned how to deal with them.
Corey’s brain lies to him, it tells him things that aren’t true.
It is called OCD and the form he has is probably not what you think it is.
People such as Hirsch can drown in irrational thoughts about harming themselves or others, contracting deadly diseases and/or need constant self-assurance about their sexual orientation.
Corey, like so many others that suffer from this mental illness was ready to end it all…but he didn’t, he got help and came forward.
While so many out there suffer, often in silence, Hirsch uses his platform to make sure they aren’t alone.
Five years after his important mental health revelation in The Players' Tribune, his new book with Sean Patrick Conboy goes deeper into that journey from despair to hope.