The Tom Gazzola Show - Sept. 10th, 2026 - Hour 2

0:00I want to have a show. Presented by bet three six five gambling is affecting your mental health or well-being 211 Alberta is here to help call her text 211 or visit a B 2 11 dot C A 18 plus only terms and conditions apply lots of text coming in about the Alex formants and signing and we heard from him in the last segment and we're going to discuss further with Mark Spector for on the mark presented by and brought to you by Northgate Chevrolet Buick GMC Mike and his team at Northgate care about the community and this month the portion of proceeds from every vehicle sold will go to the Edmonton Food Bank only at northgate GM dot com spec I'm going to tee this up with a text from HD HD says hey Tom. Are you cherry picking the text? I am reading a lot of SM post social media posts in support of giving this guy a second chance in life plus he was reinstated by H. C. which stands for hockey Canada. Well HD I don't know what that stands for.

1:00I am telling you about 90% of these texts are negative Brando ballot yep the positive ones I have no problem reading. I social media I saw a lot of negativity I saw some positivity so I'm trying to be as transparent as possible. Spec you were down at the rink yesterday we heard from for ms and we played the first couple minutes of his availability in the last segment as well after the discussion you wrote your piece on it yesterday you've had some time to think about it where you at with all of this. Well you know I guess it depends through whose eyes you're looking at this thing you know obviously if you're Alex for a month and you're happy to be back you've missed you know it was almost a decade ago right the London incident happened in 2018 so let's say it's almost about nine June I think of 18 so we're about nine years in plus. So it's been a long nine years for that guy and that's fine it's been a long nine years

2:04for the woman to E. M. He wants to resume his life he's had nearly a decade of him you got it lost his living lost millions of dollars he had to go to your play hockey he's finally back to NHL he's happy. I guess I'd say if you're a fan you have every right to hold whatever opinion you choose you know the other one that pays for $22 bills beers at Rogers and if you don't want to pay for them don't pay for them that's your call. I would say Tom if I was you know as an older guy with kids if I was looking through the eyes of if this was my son I go back to this what I'm thinking about you know a contract negotiation if Conor Halibuk was my son what would I tell them if if Queen uses my son what I tell them if this guy was my son if Alex form it was my son how would I think well you know I don't know I think I'd part of me would I mean if he's my son I wanted to have a good life I feel like he was found not guilty and we the process in our society

3:05is if you go to court and they find you're not guilty there's not supposed to be a punishment right right and these are facts this isn't my opinion right I'm not throwing my pit shade on this thing he was found not guilty so you know he should in our society be able to go resume his career now do you want your team to be the one that helps him along well that's up to you the fat right to think about my point and I guess if he and was my daughter I may say I hope that guy rots and never gets a job again the rest of his life and that would be fair too so I think it just depends on where you stand and when you're looking at this thing Tommy yeah and that's you laid that out very nicely and then spec I guess when I'm looking at this and how I viewed it since the announcement yesterday I'm more so on the hockey side of it and and listen what he did and what transpired in London all those years ago was it good no you're right they had their day in court the judge came about her decision

4:11and I also like second chances for people in life yes people make mistakes but when I look at this situation I go okay from a hockey standpoint I don't know what he really can do to help this team I can I can understand the the thought of him potentially helping this team with the penalty kill in the speed and then the forecheck aggressiveness yes I understand he has those those tools that teams would salivate over and that's why he was a high prospect high and prospect for a time and all that but given the body of work given what's transpired over the last few years do I feel like he is the right guy to help make this team better not necessarily that's how I viewed this you know what I mean I think yeah I hear you completely I think there's a bit of you know let's throw away for just a moment his history here the whole London thing he was just a guy he six foot two or three he skates great yeah he did score 18 goals when he was

5:17in league of what five years ago he led the league with five PK goals that year sure had a goals he you have a team that has a bad penalty kill every year the penalty kills crappy year limit true fact you have a team that's trying to engage your third and fourth lines more that's the plan this year the player's free doesn't cost me anything if I'm the GM I just found a player pull them off a tree yep and you sign for eight fifty which means if I if I set into the miners he doesn't affect my cap one bit felt valid there's there's only one downside and the signing for the avatinoiders and that's the public outcry over this thing yeah right so now that we get to the point where we weigh that out the orders I'm sure have we weigh this out is it worth it you know let's go back to a player who's who's a bad player in your dress room I'm not gonna name any names here so you got a guy as a bad player in your dress room but he's a good player and you go well I think I got a strong enough dress cream that I his production will outweigh any hassle he he I predict he's

6:25gonna cause me during the season you know he's this guy's gonna he's gonna up he's my team a little bit I know that but he's also gonna get 25 goals I have some fights and throw some hits I'll take that gamble mm-hmm well this guy here he's gonna be on his best behavior like he's gonna be the best teammate you ever saw in your life like this is it for him this is one big chance and I think the public outcry lasts for how long Tom you know like how long did the probably cry last when they signed a van der kane maybe four days a moment when they signed Cory Perry when they signed Mike Babcock how long is the last is it a week nope not even not even right so I get the player all year long and I get the the public backlash for name the amount of days less than seven mm-hmm that's that's a gamble the oilers are totally willing to make and take and they've they've done it over and over again they're gonna probably keep doing it yeah now I'm in and listen the the tone is set from the top and if they're reviewing bringing in guys that have checkered pass

7:31um they decide whether or not that's going to be part of their MO and this this franchise has said we're okay with that and like you said willing to sacrifice some disruption publicly or behind the scenes for production on the ice and well that's pretty bad a can of good player here yeah like most oiler fans and many of them probably who didn't like the signing love this guy now there's tons of people who think he's so awesome and that's there that's great because he was a good player here yeah you know the Andy was hurt a lot and they traded him away and they sort of you know it didn't end great but when they first signed him and he came in here man he was good and there's a lot outcry Cory Perry lot outcry he was an excellent player and I've killed our good person and helped this team and the young the leadership people learn from he was a wicked signing yep well people cried and pretty long and loud about Cory Perry right you know Stan Bowman I don't know yet let's see what his window is that's you know he's not finished he's no you can't judge Stan Bowman yet

8:35Mike Babcock hadn't coached a game yet yeah so let's see if I don't think they're all gonna work now it's Alex Farmington's turn but so far uh the oilers gambles have paid off that's all I'm saying you may not like the gambles but they've paid off for the oilers yeah that is true and and here's one like you said relatively inexpensive um maybe he he proves to be a valuable commodity or a good piece of the puzzle or I could go the other way and he doesn't have the game and he's been out of the NHL for long enough that uh he can't find it again and they sent him down in Barry's contract that could happen to he's gonna be hungry to prove he can still play let's see what happens here but yeah they've signed him to the deal um obviously we'll continue to monitor and follow reaction and all that but you're right and expect people to text him into the like what it that bin dangles says how quickly did people forgive Zach Cassian after his first hit remember Cassian broke Sam Genghis jaw with the very flagrant um careless cheap cheap cheap lousy play slash with a stick yeah cheap

9:39play in the preseason that's right yeah there's an awful cheap needless bad play and people love Zach Cassian I like Zach Cassian too me too you know and Zach Cassian came to Edmonton he's another guy they took a chance on I mean he just the Montreal canadians cut him loose after a a drunken truck crash yep broke some people in his ankle and hurt some people and that was his last chance to mention all the orders gave him another one and he became a huge fan favorite here he had some good years here that's for that's for damn sure that's for sure so no what I don't know what to tell you yeah it's it's just it's kind of one of those ones I think at the end of the day and maybe there's some people are just worn out that it's always Edmonton plucking these guys you know what I mean and for some it's they've kind of reached wits end if you will and others are just like he was found not guilty reinstated about hockey Canada NHL

10:39game the green light let's see what he can do and I understand both sides of it and listen and some people don't like this discussion too spec we had people saying yesterday even yesterday like an hour after it was announced move on already like stop it enough of this I understand that mindset but listen this is something that needs to be discussed and anytime see oilers it's the number one discussion I guarantee you around water coolers today I think there's a ton of them left in offices more yeah exactly the courting station perhaps we have to change that around the care station this will be discussed in and around oil country so yes we have to hit on it absolutely okay let's shift gears because there's more in the sports world that has happened you and I watched the football game yesterday with our dear friend DVD and our good buddy Larry ring and and and I think Larry summed it up as a boring NFL game that ended like a CFL game what did you

11:40think of that description by our friend Larry yeah I did it ended with a little mayhem I didn't like the I mean the quarterback play in the end for me was a very good you know it wasn't a great football game not a lot going on Seattle loses according back early the backup actually gave him a pretty decent game brought him back to a win but I don't know I don't know how you you know they really through may really through that game away from England I mean oh my god here feel good race to tie the game and you throw that pass and it gets picked with whatever was left 38 seconds or something disappointing I would say if I'm a Patriots fan that was a very wasteful way to lose a football game wasn't it absolutely back foot throw to nobody and like two plays before that spec weren't we being like wow he gunned that thing in there he zipped it in these these guys are marching and then he goes and he does that like oh boy came out of nowhere yeah came out of nowhere yeah so anyway I like Seattle good for Seattle good good win to start the season now they got to figure

12:44what they're going to do with their quarterback I don't know yeah I know what's happening there but nice to have the NFL back there's another game tonight correct in Australia what do you think of that taking the league to us or they in Melbourne I believe Melbourne it looks like they're playing in one of those giant round Aussie stadiums where they play Aussie rules football and cricket and stuff right 100 percent it's a huge stadium like people say oh that track in Commonwealth you're too far from the field take a look at this place tonight I'll far you are from the field folks like you could you'd have to pump the ball to get it from the first row of the stands to center field yep that is never going to work like I get it how they might play in Europe or they might put a team in London and all that I can talk you we can talk about that it might happen you are never going to play football in these big round Australian stadiums you're going to see tonight man for get it it's unique it's weird and the NFL apparently can do no wrong so let's see how it goes spec time flies man time flies when you have an fun great segment and I know you'll be on

13:49with Greg's later today maybe catch you at the rink if I can get there in time I will talk to you tomorrow though all right sounds good to me there you go there's on the mark with spec powered by Northgate this trucks for you coming up next we're going to get to a break a rash Medanee will be joining us from the Zufa boxing and get it done league you can also catch him on his he's got a podcast with Stiegel and flutie which is awesome Doug flutie and Milt Stiegel we'll go around the sports world and talk about this boxing match up he's got and league going on with Dana white that's coming up right here on the gizola show presented by bet three six five next eight 22 rolling on here on a Thursday talk gizola show presented by bet three six five lots of text coming in one eight three three four one 14 40 lots of stuff on the Alex formant in signing and that conversation continues it's top of mind obviously and some people like it some people hate it we're getting all kinds of opinions on that so feel free to have your say we'll continue on with that conversation throughout the show but we're going to shift gears we're going to talk to

14:52Rashmidani a longtime broadcaster reporter he's been in the sports world in our country for many many moons and I know Dave jameson has told some stories about the cfl days together and I always got a good laugh from jamo stories and it's nice to touch base with the rash I don't think him and I have crossed paths before so this is great he's our headliner of the day brought to you by mr. rudder plumbing because your pipes take a beating to on game day ready for overtime even when you're plumbing isn't that is mr rudder dot say hey rash thanks for hopping on great to chat with you I know we're going to talk about the new promotion in the boxing match that's coming up on september 12th did you did you want to touch base on the form it's inciting first you want to get right into the boxing promotion well I'm just I just wonder why what what is the upside of this I get it's a veteran minimum contract to understand you know all the things but are they just is this

15:54kind of regime just going to come out and set the place on fire right away and then from there back off I I'm just interested in in what their thought process in all of this is and I guess I shouldn't say I'm surprised but the line that I I had to chuckle at Tom was when they said we're following hockey candidates lead on this you know we're following red crosses lead on on the victims of earthquake relief that that's the one that got me and I'm like ah I know that there is a moral compass at all in professional sports anywhere true but that that to me was an all-time line to Shay that's all that's all a response to that to Shay okay I thought I'm sure you sure them what what what what what what was your reaction when you saw it yeah I wasn't surprised because we've we've seen this with this franchise ownership group management teams over the course of

17:03you know the last couple of decades I I worked for the team when Zach Cassian was brought on and signed and he had done a lot to resuscitate his career and I am proud of him I mean I got to know him really well caught up with him at a charity event earlier this year and was happy to see that he was doing well with his life post hockey and so I understand and I respect second chances did I like what formantin and the other guys did no it's not good um and then ultimately as I said when when spec was on a few minutes ago from a hockey standpoint I don't think this was a necessary signing is it low risk yeah could there be a decent reward and pay out and maybe you found a diamond in the rough maybe do I think that's likely not really I could be proven out Tom it's it's such a good point like and I tell football coaches this all the time and friends of mine who get in the front office and I know this sounds so basic but I tell them like you've been around

18:05pro football a long time now you know what you got to do every day twice a day is leave your windowless office that has its lights turned off and just with film on from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and just go for a walk and get some fresh air because it almost feels like you're sitting in there and and your brain gets atrophied and you start believing a lot of your own BS and it's like no there's a different world out there outside of this yep you know I remember a long time ago when there was talk of you know signing a controversial player or whatever and somebody said to me like basically your bar has to be does the end justify the means does the end justify the means is this needed right now how much better is this going to make us etc etc but I also believe this is a flex by Mike Babcock this is Mike Babcock letting everybody know

19:14this is who I am this is what I'm going to do I'm going to run my hockey team the way I see fit I don't care if people don't like the way I operate maybe I won't ask for players phones anymore but outside of that this is who I am my Babcock hasn't really changed and even in his press conference he was very defiant in saying so and this is yet another sign and signing that this is the way it's going to be with me in charge and I don't care if you don't like it yeah yeah there is there's an element of that in all of this there really is and here we're endless and we're going to million texts or ash people from both sides of the argument and yeah it's and I pointed it out some people are saying just stop talking about it's not all you have to talk about this this is

20:15important this is top of mind across the hockey world so yeah it's a conversation I will continue does the end justify the means is I'm not comparing the two at all but I remember when a very controversial sports figure was available for anybody to sign and Andy Reed decided when he was in Philadelphia I'm going to bring Michael Vic to be our quarterback after he was released from prison yeah and then Michael Vic ended up becoming their franchise quarterback and stuck around the league post prison for a while yeah and so does the end justify the means in that in a position in pro sports where the demand is the biggest demand at any position anywhere is pro football quarterback the supply of capable pro football quarterbacks is not even small it's tiny Andy Reed's like yeah

21:19the end does justify the means because he's going to go make a significantly better because there aren't a lot of them out there my point in all this is Alex Formenton God bless him is a dime a dozen player right now at the stage of his career he is is he going to transform the Edmonton Oilers and so what's what's the message you're sending to your fan base what's the message you're sending to the public it's we don't really care what some of you think and we sure don't care what the detractors think and we're just going to do whatever we want anyway so that's that's the decision they've made and I guess as a consumer as a stakeholder people just have to decide if they're going to if they're going to support this or not yeah and you know what there's

22:19been those prior prior examples of guys that had checkered pass that Oilers fans quickly embraced and some of them paid off and and the end justified the means in those cases and I guess time will tell but yeah the body of work is is limited for this particular player and he has an opportunity to change that so we'll see how it plays out but yeah you've you've summed that up very nicely rash rash but Andy joining us now and we're going to talk about Zufo boxing and this is a Dana white promotion and boxing has kind of it's it's taken an interesting turn in the last couple of decades because it used to be top of mind obviously things have changed a little bit but but why is this venture going to be a little bit different in your opinion how is this going to bring boxing back to the forefront and and why should people be interested in this again yeah it's Tom and I agree with that first point like you think about where boxing was you know it's wild

23:22the 30 years ago baseball was a bigger property than the NFL like imagine telling the match telling a 25 30 year old that today boxing and baseball were massive they move the the needle completely in the North American sports ecosystem and it's just kind of you know withered away and then a lot like I since I've been learning more about the Zufo boxing I've tried to think about why that may be and I think part of it is it got really complicated for people to follow like there was a WBC there was a WBA there was an I.B.F there was a WBO and you're like what does all of this mean yes and then the star power kind of went away and then you're like okay so we don't know what each of the divisions really are we don't really have people to follow and then I mean I covered Mayweather Pacquiao I covered Mayweather McGregor and I'm like well

24:25these have kind of become spectacles yeah sports and so when we were there for Mayweather McGregor in Vegas we actually got a tour of at the time a brand new UFC development facility and basically they identify fighters from all over the world they bring them in under one roof they not only have a bunch of octagons only the best gyms in the world not only you know food and hydration stations and you know all where you get your shakes and recovery that that becomes your headquarters it's almost like an NFL facility or a spring training facility but for fighters and now that same group has kind of started this Zufa Boxing where as you mentioned it's kind of led by Dana White they want to have a UFC model where they have everything like one key roster they're going to have rankings you're going to be able to follow

25:26kind of who's moving up and down and what kind of caught my eye is that there's a couple of Canadians fighting in this thing like I'm originally a I'm a maritime run from Nova Scotia Ryan Rosickey of Sydney Nova Scotia he's been in this mix he fought overseas in June Steven Butler of Montreal I mean he fought at MSG under this under this Zufa Boxing so what it becomes where it's going we're about to see but it's here Canadians can watch it it airs on Paramount plus it's easy to subscribe and the fact that there are Canadians in this mix is a great one and the next fight is coming up on Saturday from Vegas and I guess for us Tom the best part is there's no pay-per-view like the old days this isn't getting a Tyson fight and getting all your buddies together in the basement yeah Paramount plus there's no additional fee once you once you have the streaming service

26:28and that fight is Garcia versus Connor Ben why is this a good match up and and what should we know about these two guys if if people in Canada want to tap into boxing again I do remember I remember Holyfield versus Tyson I remember when Lennox Lewis had his his ascension and kind of was up in the mix I we had we had one of those illegal cable boxes I am okay limit this now I'm admitting it we had that back then my dad greasy Italian North side are from Edmonton we had one of those are ash but now it's much more streamlined and less illegal yes I remember having one of those direct TV satellite god yeah hold Tom listen to us right I remember phones hooked up to the kitchen wall I mean that's a tool we are yeah um so the main event Garcia Ben I mean combined between the two of them they have 34 knockouts um I just think that the story of both of these guys is really interesting

27:30I mean Connor Ben is the son of a British boxing legend and there's you know a lot of talk about him growing up and then first professional fight boom loss it's like oh okay this is how it's going to be and he's had to work his way back up he's 125 fights since he hasn't lost since so that's that's been interesting um and then Ryan Garcia I mean he's got a Walter Waite title in the WBC what like these are two dudes who are aggressive they're controversial um it's US and the UK and it's down there in Vegas this weekend is Mexican Independence Day weekend so I think there's going to be a lot of fireworks down there in Vegas this weekend around this fight so I think it should be pretty fun uh I think this is awesome too and listen Dana Waite has had a lot of success in different ventures and and they went out and got the WWE and um man it's it's like it's a

28:32snowballing so if he can align boxing and put it back on or at the forefront of people's minds and and this is the path to to doing so then I think this is pretty cool so for you like how how about you getting involved with this like what what spurred you on and what made you go you know this is worth doing well I've always been a fan of boxing as I mentioned I covered those two fights growing up I mean Lennox Lewis I still remember Buster Douglas Mike Tyson I still remember Trevor Burbank like it was a thing and then I got kind of interested in the idea and uh and here we are um I'm interested see what it's going to become you know as I mentioned like May and whether McGregor was and being in Vegas that entire week for it it was such a side show that I was like I was thinking to myself man is traditional boxing as we've

29:32known it now gone and this is taking a like part of the good things about traditional boxing and adding a different slice to it they're trying to modernize what it was so I'm I'm really interested um and I'll be honest the fact that they're the Canadian hook is really important to me you know especially that there's a Nova Scotia fighter I also covered the Paris Olympics Tom a couple years ago and uh to Maritibo who fought for Canada she's now in she's now a pro boxer but the real cool story for me was why it's Sanford um Sanford ended up winning a bronze Canada's first Olympic medal in boxing since 1996 oh wow yeah and Sanford's from a community with a population of something like eight or nine hundred um in east-hands Nova Scotia and the on the morning of his fights morning back home afternoon in Paris like four hundred people gathered in a park

30:38bringing you know picnic chairs and they they have a band shell they have a big um they have a big bedsheet that they streamed the fights on and everybody there and like it kind of tells you it doesn't matter the size of your village like there's a story here yeah and and and how like I got a chance to interview why it before um before the Olympics had a chance to interview him after he won the medal and he's like man like I can't wait to go share this with everybody because they were all part of my journey and I think that's part of what boxing is too you know it's not just it's fighter versus fighter but the people behind that fighter um there's a lot there so I'm interested to see how this all pans out I love that story too a little Canadianity there and uh to steal Jonathan Torrance uh term that he used in his book um yeah I'm intrigued I would like to see boxing streamlined I enjoyed it growing up and you're right it has become a side

31:40show especially with the Paul brothers and and all that stuff yeah to get it back to normal quote unquote normal would be would be good and to see it in prominent um parts of of the sports world and and on the discussion talking points and in front of mind that they could be great okay I have to ask you one other thing I have to ask you about flute versus steagle and and you get to be the man between those two how did that come to be and and what's it like with two characters and and great football players so it's it's honestly like getting a PhD in football every week and I and I mean that sincerely because like over the course of I don't know say a 30 minute show yeah you're talking ball you're talking storylines whatever and then you know we'll pick out I'll pick out a few plays from the week or Doug will say hey this is really interesting and then we'll it's almost like a chalk talk session and he'll talk about things that are happening I'm like whoa

32:41it's at a level that's so advanced of things you don't see and mill you know you have a quarterback and a receiver and milk and dog see things on such an advanced level that before the receiver even thinks about making his break for instance on a post route he could really cut that route off there he could you know go towards the uh you go towards the pylon he can go towards the middle of the field and what the quarterbacks looking for what the receiver is looking for that part of its the two of them have a million stories you know from all the characters they've met along the way from their journey and what's been really cool is we've got on a group chat and through the summer Tom Doug Flutey is locked in on the CFL that's cool he is he's following things he's got an opinion on Chad Kelly being high risk high reward he really likes he really likes the moxie of Davis Alexander

33:45and you know like he was crush for Bolivai when he got hurt he's watching live whether it's on I don't know CBS sports network or whatever it is south of the border um it's been a blast we're gonna get that thing started in a couple of weeks flutey versus digel wherever you get your podcasts on youtube and um yeah it's it's been cool getting to know them too um I worked with milk for a year but um getting a no Doug and hearing some Boston college stories especially those are great I've seen the clips and I'm just going damn that'd be awesome or lucky your rash got to be the man in the middle I think that's fantastic I had to ask you about this but uh a rash zufo boxing Garcia versus Ben in Vegas September 12th paramount plus thank you for enlightening us on it thank you for sharing some stories and thank you for your thoughts on the orders recent signing of Alex form it's in this this was awesome and enjoy the the fight and and hopefully we're talking again yeah you got it anytime and by the way what a job mark kill

34:50over there huh it's it's great to see for football fans in northern Alberta uh much needed and and yeah they've done a great job absolutely yeah I think there's a lot to be said for having a special teams coach as a head coach because he touches so many different parts of the roster and uh in the payoffs there but thanks uh Tom thanks for having me man thanks to you this was awesome thank you or ash there's a rash madani uh long time broadcaster and you've seen him on sports sports net obviously uh you heard him talk about covering the Olympics for the conglomerate and then uh he's involved with zufo boxing which is going to be on paramount plus on September 12th Ryan Garcia versus Connor Ben as uh Dana white is a part of this promotion and they're trying to streamline boxing as you heard a rash say and kind of bring it back to normal and make it prominent in top of mind front of mind um because it has become a side show and and I do blame the Paul brothers for a lot of it and I know those dumb dumbs make a ton of money and there is an intelligence

35:54to them um for marketing themselves and and one of them's in the WWE now but that's not boxing right that's not boxing neither is a packy overs is may weather fight that was like five years too late maybe even ten years too late um so maybe maybe they've got something here with zufo boxing so check it out paramount plus like a rash said you don't need an illegal cable box or direct tv satellite or you don't need to uh pirate it to watch it if you got paramount plus great stuff from rash we're going to get to some texts and more I think we have cam and eggs coming up as well right rando yeah cam and eggs taders got that cookin and ready to go for us we're going to roll on here on the guzzola show presented by bet three six five forty nine Sean Bell already here he'll be joining us at nine a.m. so many texts um good stuff from a rash conversation continues uh we do need to get to cam and eggs uh tom brando fanny also in studio and the thung is a little show rolls on anything anything you guys want to touch on about uh what a

36:59rash talked about zufo boxing real quick because I know we had to cut the break real quick there I really liked when you brought up ready to start tom about um um the how boxing is changed in public perception right like it used to be the marquee sport in the world right and we're talking about the all time greats allie Tyson phrasier foreman right like those are the names we all know amongst many others who who I'm not even aware of because I'm just so ignorant uh to the topic and a lot of it came before my time I will say and we've talked about this when we had um the ufc uh malat uh in here a few weeks ago with you and bell Z you know seeing combat sports in person boxing is so cool I've got a chance to do it and just at the local level like right down the road here at the river creesi and uh good elect uh local proctor leises kubicki yes we had a text about eath and halabi yeah north side kid I saw him fight that night as well it is so cool and I would love to have that kind of come back around where instead of us tuning on a netflix to watch some shirad yes of jake paul fighting

38:05and I put that in air quotes Mike Tyson a legitimate boxing event where it's you get the gang together you go to the bar to watch it again a group of people or you know you host fight night at your house yep around boxing because I think that's just a little bit more stomachable to watch than some of the ufc stuff because it isn't as graphic at times where some of the injuries you see and the the the the more violent nature of it and all the power to ufc like it's obviously very successful it's just not quite for me because of that that element um boxing you kind of get the best of both worlds you get the physicality you get the combat sport but it's also a little more I don't know old school I guess in a certain sense if that makes any it makes any sense at all so I'm all here for it I'm interested to see how this this new promotion works out on our side of the border I was gonna say maybe there's more honor in boxing it was weird the the term like gentlemanly was right in the tip of my tongue and we've seen plenty of dirty stuff in boxing oh yeah talk about Tyson I mean bit of geyser off for goodness sake but I do think it's just a

39:10little bit different when you talk about boxing compared to ufc and they in these are very broad strokes we're using mm-hmm but I do think there is an application for them Edmonton has a deep and strong tradition of boxing as well can you can you lakusta Scotty the bulldog Olsen Gillian and virginavitch um yeah and we we've had lakusta on quite a few times with because he he is um I don't know if trainer is the official term we're up but for Ethan Halabi who's one of the bright up and comers from our city and we've had him in studio stuff really really good guy like the stories obviously the the guy sees fought places he's been it's so cool yeah it's um it's not what it used to be and that's unfortunate they agreed agreed uh great stuff from Mirage there all right we do need to get the cam and eggs tater cooked it up for us do we have it ready to rock let's go here we go camera every day we make choices every day we decide who we are

40:17what we stand for what we will and won't do and every day we live with those choices the Edmonton Euler signing of Alex Formetton has brought all of that rushing back you know the story June 2018 London Ontario a hockey Canada gala a woman alleged she was sexually assaulted by multiple members of the Canadian world junior team hockey Canada settled the lawsuit players were named Alex Formetton was one of them no criminal charges were ever laid but the damage was done i understand the reaction of Euler's fans completely i understand the anger i understand the disgust i absolutely understand why some people cannot separate the player from

41:17that night in London because here is the brutal truth Alex Formetton may forever be defined not by his hockey but by what allegedly happened in that hotel room in 2018 that is the consequence of choices made that is how this works but here is where i land on this the Edmonton Euler's have given Alex Formetton a chance to refine himself to show who he is now to prove on the ice and off it that he is more than the worst moment of his life i honestly embrace that possibility because if we believe people cannot change if we believe there is no path back than none of us are safe every single one of us is only as good as our next choice I'm Cam Tate Camin eggs sports 1440 good stuff there from cam obviously touchy subject and very real

42:30I like listen tater is pretty on the ball and it does remind people of what happened and the story and going through if if you paid attention to the court proceedings and and then he also outlines an opportunity to get things right this is an opportunity for Formetton to get things right a second chance if you will let's see what he does with it but the blowback is understandable we've had a lot of texts that have come in i'll read one right now just just and listen all there's positive ones that like the Formetton signing or okay with it there's way more negative ones i'll just outline it there and then i think hd had texted really so you check cherry picking these i'm trying not to honestly and i'm being as transparent as possible most of them don't like it there are those that are saying hey hockey move move on he can help the penalty kill in the forecheck yes i'll just read this one to you from gd t says Tommy as a 67 year old male sex abuse survivor i have an opinion on

43:36Formetton based on what has happened to me stopping him from playing does nothing to solve this issue we have hidden sexual abuse away for too long because it's uncomfortable to talk about let's get guys like him to help educate woman has done some of this himself have Alex help educate young man it's not an easy conversation so surround him with the right kind of support and put something positive on something terrible it's from gd t via the text line so there's there's another way to look at this it's not an easy topic it's not a fun topic but it's something that is top of mind today and understandably so all right we're gonna step up step out for another commercial break when we come back Sean Bell will be joining us he's my co-host on hello hockey he's an oiler's analyst former player and my friend this sports 14 40 update brought to you by first round sundays got even better at first round you can win an NFL helmet or jersey enjoy their

44:38pro ball brunch only at evidences NFL Horde headquarters first round downtown or on burbistry like that bellsy giggling over there here's brando