27 - Year-end spectacular! Team report cards, best sports moments and jeers of the year
Doug Smith and Laura Armstrong eschew the bad of 2016 and focus on the good ― sports! ― while reviewing the year in the final episode before a month-long break. The I’ll Have Another co-hosts pick their beer of the year, their favourite stories in hockey, basketball, soccer and baseball as well as get in a few more praises and jabs with their most beloved cheers and jeers of the last 12 months. Plus, a report card for Toronto’s five main franchises: TFC, the Raptors, the Blue Jays, the Maple Leafs and the Argos. All in all, the verdict is in: Smith and Armstrong agree 2016 was the best year in Toronto sports history. Who gets the honour of being named the city’s team of the year? You’ll have to listen to find out. But who’s the real winner of this successful sports season in The Six? The fans, of course.
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26 - Should a championship be decided by penalty shots? Who will win the Lou Marsh award?
After sitting in a cold press box Saturday night watching Toronto FC lose to Seattle Sounders on penalties, Doug Smith and Laura Armstrong have much to dissect on this week’s I’ll Have Another. Some stalwart opinions prevail as the co-hosts look back on the Reds coming just short of the championship: the grassroots movement that is TFC fandom is some of the best in the city and no; a game of that magnitude should not be decided on penalties. Smith even has some suggestion for how to change it. Also on tap: MacKinnon Brothers’ Crosscut Canadian Ale, jumping in on the debate about which of Canada’s athletes should win the Lou Marsh award with an out-of-the-box suggestion and — no surprise here — slagging the upcoming World Juniors.
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25 - TFC are going to the MLS Cup! Is Edwin Encarnacion really gone? A Houston concession stand gamechanger!
Laura Armstrong told you Toronto FC was going to Major League Soccer’s cup final and she’s happy remind co-host Doug Smith of that in this week’s I’ll Have Another. Well, maybe she waivered during the Reds rollercoaster season. But that’s beside the point; TFC will play for the championship Saturday and between talk of forward Jozy Altidore, Seattle Sounders and the possibility of a parade, it’s kind of a big deal on this week’s episode. After a week’s hiatus, Smith and Armstrong also discuss the movement – or lack thereof – by the Blue Jays and whether or not the fact that the Toronto Raptors can’t seem to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers is cause for concern. Plus: Polly Wants A Pilsner, cheering Steve Kerr, medical marijuana and Houston’s Toyota Centre concession game, jeers for FIFA and Blue Jays fans and surprise praise for the Canadian Football League.
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24 - Raptors buzzer beater beaten? Who is going to the Grey Cup?
Sunday’s late night buzzer beater that wasn’t has everyone buzzing on this week’s I’ll Have Another. Doug Smith calls in from Sacramento to answer the obvious ― what exactly happened after Toronto Raptors Terrence Ross made that shot against the Kings ― and talk player reactions, the risk with replays and whether or not the away team would have actually won the game in overtime. Plus, what’s more worrying: the blown call or the Raptors giving up more than 30 points in the first quarter? Also on tap: coffee, sizing up the Grey Cup match up and whether anyone will actually attend, Toronto FC’s time to shine and double cheers for Jerry Howarth and the Canadian Football League.
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23 - What are the Blue Jays thinking? Who is the Raptors all-time best player? Is the MLS crazy?
It’s supposed to be a slow time of year for sports, but there is still a lot to talk about on the latest I’ll Have Another. Doug Smith and Laura Armstrong predict a downwards spiral for the Toronto Blue Jays, discuss whether DeMar DeRozan’s hot hands make him the No. 1 Raptor of all time and use United States men’s national team goalkeeper Tim Howard as the poster child for why international breaks during Major League Soccer’s playoffs is a bad idea. Also on tap: Whiprsnapr, all the way from Ottawa and cheering hockey — for once!
In the Toronto Star’s sports podcast, veteran sports reporter Doug Smith teams up with his colleague, rookie reporter Laura Armstrong to banter over pints about the latest sports headlines.
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