POPnJOE Podcast – episode 7

generic media cover image

mp3 download
.mp3

POPnJOE Podcast – episode 7

Recorded March 25, 2015.

Episode breakdown:

Segment 1:
This episode is mostly about Steve Nash who announced his retirement over the weekend. We talk about his career, his place in basketball history and in Canadian history.

Segment 2:
We start of our fondest memories of Steve Nash. The Franchise talks about the time that Nash was beat up, broken nose, one eye closed and he still played. Showing the true heart he played with.

Segment 3:
Pop states then whenever you talk about Steve Nash it was never just about his skill. You would mention how great Steve Nash was and how good of a person he was. Truly made Canada proud. The personal moment I have was that my oldest son’s name was mentioned by Chuck Swirsky during a game and Steve Nash was on the screen when he said that.

Segment 4:
The Franchise feels that Nash’s last move to Los Angeles left a bit of a bitter taste in his mouth as the timing made it seem that the Raptors may have been used as leverage. Pop disagreed, mentioning that both Nash and Brian Colangelo (who was GM of the Raptors of the time) that the reason he went to LA was because his children lived in LA.

Segment 5:
We start discussing his MVP years and who was in competition for those awards and not only whether he deserved it, but debating the value of assists and are they as valuable as scoring.

Segment 6:
If there was a Mount Rushmore of Canadian Athletes, who would be on it and who would be first, second or not. The Franchise leaning towards Wayne Gretzky and Pop is leaning more towards Steve Nash.

Gretzky dominated hockey more than Nash dominated basketball however only 73 countries have recognized ice hockey federation whereas basketball has over 200 and therefore greater impact.

Segment 7:
Battle continues and Nash is on the level of a Ferguson Jenkins or Donavon Bailey that was good in a sport but hockey rules Canada and therefore should be on top.

The counter to that is if there was no Gretzky or Lemieux, there would be a Crosby or Rockey Richard or a Martin Brodeur. However, if you remove Nash than there is no Wiggins, no Bennett as he was such a great influence on young Candians today.

Segment 8:
We finalize the debate on the topic of leadership and whether Nash had the advantage because he didn’t have a Mark Messier on his team like Gretzky did.

Segment 9:
We try to find successful Canadian athletes that did not have a good person and the only one we could come close to was Patrick Roy and even then couldn’t really state that it was all that bad.