Show Open:
Are you ready? Let's go. From AMI Central. Now start playing in the neutral zone. Here's a pitch on the way 36 yards for the win. This ... here comes the big chance, the shot ... is .... to tiger ... The Neutral Zone. This is as good as it gets. Now here's your host, two-time Paralympian Brock Richardson.

Brock Richardson:
What's going on? It's time for another week, another edition of The Neutral Zone. I am, indeed, your host, Brock Richardson and a couple of panellist shout-outs first. First of all, Cam Jenkins has no voice so he'll not be joining us. And one, Claire Buchanan is having some family stuff going on at the moment so she'll not be joining us but we send her our best and she'll be back with us in the coming weeks. But who is with me right at the moment is one, Josh Watson. Josh, how are you?

Josh Watson:
I am all right Brock. It is one of those Mondays where I wish I had a weekend from my weekend but that's okay. I will grin and bear it because I get to be here. I get to join you on The Neutral Zone and we get to talk about all kinds of wonderful sports including one of my favourite events of the year, the Super Bowl.

Brock Richardson:
Yes. We're going to have some fun with the Super Bowl for sure. And what we can expect, I've got some pretty cool prop bets that are lined up for us to chat about. We're going to hear about that in the latter half of the program. Producer Jeff Ryman will be joining us and also, we're going to be joined by Simon Richard who is the coordinator for New Brunswick Parasports. He'll be coming along in mere moments from now.
And I just want to shout out you. Talk about wanting a weekend from your weekend. Well, I would like a day from my busy day because as often said on this program, Monday, as we record this, is my busiest day as it is when I have two other obligations beyond this program. And sometimes, like today, I had a third obligation and I was on Kelly and Ramya, which you can catch on AMI TV at 10:00 PM Eastern time every evening. Plus, then they're live from two to four every day. So I've been on there for the last little while and today was another add-on day. And so, we are at the home stretch of my busy day but it's always fun to be a part of different programs. But I love coming back and talking sports with my panellists and in this case, it is Josh this week so looking forward to a great show.

Josh Watson:
I did have a chance briefly while I was at work today to tune in to Kelly and Ramya. You guys looked like you were having a great time and talking some ChatGPT and some other topics so that was pretty cool. You definitely do take the cake for cramming as much as possible into a day. My excuse is that I played four hockey games over the weekends so I'm not probably nearly as busy as you've been today.

Brock Richardson:
Did you notice I catch myself on a slip-up because I almost said 10:00 PM Eastern today? You can catch the repeat. But the podcast isn't until Tuesday so you can catch them live from 2:00 to 4:00 PM Eastern every weekday, as I tried to fumble my way through that. I just came off of doing something live and now it's pre-recorded. But nonetheless, we have good content coming your way starting with our headlines.

Show narrator:
Neutral Zone headline, headlines, headlines.

Josh Watson:
Well Brock, we're going to start today under the category of everything old is new again as we let you know that Tom Brady, quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has announced his retirement from the NFL for the second time in two years. Ed Donahue has more.

Ed Donahue:
If this sounds familiar, Brady announced at the end of last season he was retiring.

Tom Brady:
I won't be long-winded. I think you only get one super emotional retirement essay and I use mine up last year.

Ed Donahue:
The 45-year-old has won seven Super Bowls over a 23-year career.

Tom Brady:
Really, thank you guys so much to every single one of you for supporting me, my family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors.

Ed Donahue:
Brady and model Giselle Bundchen finalized their divorce this past fall. He was picked 199th in the 2000 draft by the New England Patriots behind six other quarterbacks, three kickers, and a punter.

Tom Brady:
Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn't change a thing.

Ed Donahue:
Tom Brady has signed a deal with Fox as a TV analyst once he retires. I'm Ed Donahue.

Josh Watson:
Yes. As Ed just mentioned, we are not done with Tom Brady. He will still be around. He is going to be joining Fox as an analyst from the looks of things so we will get to hear that voice again going forward. Congratulations Tom on a wonderful career. As a Dolphins fan, and I'm sure Brock, you agree as a Bills fan, we can say good riddance.

Brock Richardson:
Yes. I agree. But just to add a little bit more, Tom Brady made $333 million over his career and will make an additional $375 million over the next 10 years with Fox. Needless to say, Tom Brady ain't going to starve. He will be fine. Don't worry about Tom Brady. Congratulations to Newfoundland Parasports as they will receive the Canadian Tire Jumpstart. This funding will go towards buying new equipment for the organization. We're going to talk a little bit, in a while, about grassroots sports and I think this is sort of the precursor to the importance of grassroots sports and what that can be used for, as a jumping point for your own career, if we don't have grassroots sports, we don't have much.

Josh Watson:
That is very true. After much speculation, I think it's safe to say that Soccer Canada has made a very wise decision to stick with head coach John Herdman for their men's national soccer team. There was talk that Herdman could potentially move on to coach Team Wales. However, Soccer Canada has officially decided to remain with their head coach. Given the success that Herdman had with the women's team and the length of time it took to bring that program into respectability, I think it's only natural that we can expect that the men's program, which is already making great strides, will continue to improve under Herdman and we can't expect that it's going to take just one cycle in order to do so. The program has a long way that they have come and there's still a long way to go. So I, for one, am glad to see that John Herdman will continue to coach our men's national team.

Brock Richardson:
Team Nunavut took home the gold after defeating Alaska four to one in the Arctic Winter Games. With this win, the male hockey team wins the first championship in the territory's history. And I have to tell you, I am not a fan of the cold weather and the fact that it is called the Arctic Winter Games means that these athletes are much stronger athletes than I would ever dream to be. Congratulations because if there was an event titled the Arctic Winter Games in my career, it would be a hard, hard pass.

Josh Watson:
Not only that Brock, if you noticed, there was the world record holder in an event called the Knuckle Hop, which our friend Devin [Haru?] was reported on earlier this week. That is quite an event in itself where you basically move around a circle on your knuckles and on your toes for as long as you can possibly stay up. That's an event that you wouldn't catch me even attempting so they are definitely a hardy lot.

Brock Richardson:
Given that I sit on my keister most of the day, I don't think my knuckles and toes will do much good for me whatsoever. Those are your headlines for this week. Let's check in on our Twitter poll, as we often do at this point in the program. All right. Let's go back to last week. Are you happy with this year's Super Bowl matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs? 90% of you said yes and 10% of you said no. Who will win this year's Super Bowl is this week's question and your options are simple. Philadelphia Eagles or Kansas City Chiefs. You may cast your votes at our Twitter handle coming at you right now.

Speaker 1:
And welcome back to the Neutral Zone AMI broadcast booth.

Speaker 2:
Play ball!

Speaker 1:
And we are set to get this ballgame underway.

Simon Richard:
The first pitch brought to you by Brock, Richard Sims Twitter account at Neutral Zone br.

Speaker 2:
Strike!

Simon Richard:
First pitch strike, and hey gang, why not strike up a Twitter chat with Clair Buchanan for the Neutral Zone? Find her at Neutral Zone CB. And there's a swing and a chopper out to second base right at Claire. She picks up the ball, throws it over to first base-

Speaker 2:
Out!

Simon Richard:
For a routine out. And fans, there is nothing routine about connecting with Cam and Josh from the Neutral Zone. At Neutral Zone Cam J, and at J Watson 200.

Speaker 1:
Now that's a winning combination. And this Oregon Inner Loo is brought to you by AMI Audio on Twitter, get in touch with the Neutral Zone type in @AMIAUDIO.

Brock Richardson:
This week we are pleased to be joined by Simon Richard, who is the program coordinator for New Brunswick Parasports. He is here today to tell us about the organization and what they have to offer. He is also a Paralympic athlete and we will get to that later in the interview as well. Simone, nice to chat with you. We often do email exchanges. I bug you for athletes from New Brunswick and you've always told me, listen, I want to come on your podcast. And so pleasure to have you here and it's nice to put a face to the name if you will.

Simon Richard:
Yeah, for sure. Well thanks for having me on Brock and Josh, it's a pleasure to be here and yeah, looking forward to spending a little time with you guys.

 Josh Watson:
Well, we're very glad to have you. And can we just start by talking a little bit about how you got involved with New Brunswick Parasports?

Simon Richard:
Well, my journey in the Para sport world, if you want, began when I was like nine years old. So basically I've been visually impaired to my whole life with a condition called Aniridia. And at a young age I started playing sports just like any other kid. Played hockey, soccer, go ball, started playing go ball at the age of nine, which is the first experience in the Para sport world if you want, that I had. Kind of went up from there in that sport, went up all the way up to the national team in that sport and finally switched to blind hockey.
And after that I had a great opportunity to join a great organization in New Brunswick. Parasport New Brunswick, as a program coordinator and now I'm a program manager with that organization. So my job really revolves around making sure all the programs are running well, making sure all the gyms that are booked participants are having a good time and that we can deliver as many programs as we can across the province for everybody. So that's kind of the way that I got involved in the Para sport world and especially with Parasport in New Brunswick if you want.

Brock Richardson:
Can you tell us what sports the organization offers?

Simon Richard:
So Parasports New Brunswick, we have a mandate of governing currently three sports. So right now our three sports are wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, and bocce. Those are the three sports that we govern personally as an organization.
Now we also have a mandate in the province of New Brunswick to help develop all the other Paralympic sports around New Province. So in the Paralympic games, there's the summer sports and the winter sports. In total I believe there's 26 sports in the two games. The summer into winter total. So as an organization, we have a mandate to grow all of those in partnerships with all the other provincial sport organization. So for instance, Athletics New Brunswick have their own parasite of it, and swimming have their own swimming side of it. And as an organization, Parasport New Brunswick, we have the mandate of helping those provincial support organization to grow oversight of the parasite of their organization. Whether it's programming, coaching, finding the athletes, making sure that the programs are accessible, they have the equipment needed or all the resources that they need to grow over programs on the parasite. So that's kind of the sports that we govern if you want or the way that it's organized in New Brunswick.

 Josh Watson:
Now you've had some recent events and some more that are coming up. I was wondering if you could highlight some of those for us.

Simon Richard:
So we just finished a little bit of a run here where we had a lot of programs that were going on. We're still in our full-blown season of programming right now with all of our wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, goalball programs.
We also have some three-on-three tournaments that we did for a fall. This past weekend we just had a little bit of a tournament for wheelchair rugby that included some athletes from New Brunswick as well as PEI and Quebec. The big event that's coming up that we're really excited though is the wheelchair rugby nationals that we're hosting this May 5th to seventh at the Moncton Coliseum in Moncton, New Brunswick. So we're really excited about that. That's going to be a really good opportunity for not only team New Brunswick to play, but also it's during the first wheelchair rugby nationals that we host ever in New Brunswick. So it's a really historic event for us to host and be behind and we're super excited and honoured to host this event and making sure that we can provide some wheelchair rugby competitions for participants from coast to coast to coast, and we're looking forward to welcoming everybody in Moncton in a couple months time here.

Brock Richardson:
Those are always good events to host national championships. You see everything from the high-level athletes to the athletes who have reached their potential at National Championships. National Championships in Paris board and in all sports are really great events. So best of luck with that and we will certainly have some of your athletes, and or you back on again in May or close to May to preview that event a little bit more in detail. But we appreciate you sharing that with us. Now we're joined by Simon Richard, who is the program manager for Parasports in New Brunswick. You're listening to The Neutral Zone. I'm Brock Richardson alongside Josh Watson. Let's move forward to a question we're going to have in a few minutes and we're going to delve in deeper on this one, but why do you think it is so important to have grassroots organizations such as yours in the community?

Simon Richard:
Well, that's a really good question, Brock. For me, I think it really comes down to a few things, a few buckets that we call it. The first bucket is inclusion. We always think of Para sports or Para sport programming and we think the first thing that I think of is equipment. The equipment, the program needs to be accessible for everybody to come in and participate. So the equipment needs to be adapted not only for the sport particularly but also for the athletes individually as well. So everybody needs to have, for instance, if they want to play wheelchair basketball, they need to have a chair that fits them really well and chair that makes sure that they can have a safe and inclusive environment for making sure that that equipment is adapted for them. So for instance, if they need some type of equipment like a chair, it really needs to be adapted for that person so it fits well for them.
The next thing after that is making sure that we have safe environment so that everybody can come in and play for the first time or even years down the road. So those are kind of the two buckets that I always look at inclusion and safe environment to look in.
The next things for programs, I would say programs like you said a little bit earlier for nationals and things like that, but also at a local level you have at athletes that are just starting out, so it's maybe their first time on the court and then you have people that are playing for years and years and having all types of experience, whether it's on a recreational side all the way up to maybe a national team level. So sometimes you have to be really adaptive with the programming side of it. So making sure that the practices are making sure that you can include everybody in the sense that everybody feels comfortable coming out and it's at the level that they didn't actually follow for the competitive athletes as well as the recreational athletes.
And we all have our rec programs and competitive programs, but some local municipalities might have everybody all in one program. So that's another big step. The other cool thing about Para sports, and this is where I think the important side of it comes in is everybody feels like it's a community. It's a spot that you can go and play sports, be active, be healthy, meet new friends, and meet new people, that might be going through the same challenges as you are currently or maybe down the road you might be going through as a person with a disability.
Another cool thing about it too is normally you're having all those people that are around you that can support you, but you can also bring in your friends and family to play with you. It's an inclusive environment in that sense too. A lot of sports you can play up until the national level, even if you're able-bodied.
And that's a really cool factor of it too that you can play with your family and friends and really wrap a bow with that if you want. So there's a lot of really good benefits to it. As we all know, playing sports is a big part of being active, being healthy, and whether you have a disability or not, it's a big way of being active and being just healthy in the grand scheme of things. And then from there, if you want to just play for fun, play for fun. If you want to go and compete, there's always a pathway for that as well. So lots of great opportunities for that.

 Josh Watson:
Now if people want to get involved specifically with Parasport New Brunswick, how would they be able to do that?

Simon Richard:
So we have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter that we're active on. So follow us at NewparasportNB on those platforms.

 Josh Watson:
Now you've also had the opportunity to represent Canada at the Paralympic games. I wonder if you can talk to us a little bit about that on your own personal level.

Simon Richard:
Yeah, for sure. So as a kid that had a disability from a young age or from birth, actually for me, I always had a dream of competing in sports, whether it was in able-bodied sports or even in the Paralympic games when I started playing goalball. And that was, for me to reach that level was something that was super special for me and my family and friends. I had a lot of family and friends that were there, my parents and brother was there and I had quite a few friends in other sports that were there to come and check it out as well. So it was kind of cool to get to that environment. It's always an honour to wear the Maple Leaf on your chest and represent your country internationally. I feel fortunate and lucky to have been able to have all this experience for sure.
For us personally, I wish we would've had a little more success on the court. I feel like we had a really good team and we lost in the quarter-finals in double overtime versus Lithuania in 2016 at Paralympic games. I think if we would've won that game, who knows what happens from there. Lithuania went on to win gold medals. I think we would've been a force to be a reckon with if we went through that game. So I think it was a really good experience, just an incredible experience to be at that level. Even talking about it right now and still having chills thinking about what it felt like to get ready before game or played that level in front of 14, 15,000 fans in Brazil. So it was quite an experience and memories that I'm going to cherish for the rest of my life and hopefully, I can encourage and inspire other athletes to reach that level as well.

Brock Richardson:
Yeah, it's funny when nobody's better in the position of program manager of a Para sports organization and in this case we're talking about New Brunswick, but nobody's better than somebody who has been there, done that and pardon the expression, but got the t-shirt. I think it's something that's easily relatable, you can easily relate to, it's all good. So really, really appreciate the fact that you've taken on a role as this one, but that's not where your athletic career has stopped. You also now represent Canada on the Canadian blind hockey team. Can you talk a little bit about that if you would?

Simon Richard:
Yeah, so after going through the paralympic cycle of goalball in 2016 where I went in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. In 2018, I had an opportunity to switch sports completely. And as I mentioned before, I grew up playing sighted hockey and sighted soccer and all those sports just with able-bodied kids, and I always wanted to play hockey with a visually impaired group. I always had that in the back of my mind while I was growing up. And in the 2000's it was going on in the major cities in Canada, but I didn't even know it was going on. And when I had the chance to start playing in 2015 and then afterwards in 2018 when I had a chance to move to that sport and be a part of a national team, that was really a dream come true in that sense too.
And for me, again, wearing the Maple Leaf is always an honour. I feel like our national team group since 2018, the last five years has grown a lot. We grew not only as athletes but also off the ice being ambassadors in our own communities and growing the sport internationally. And I think a testament to that even in last year was Amanda Provan being the first woman to be a part of a national team with us. And I think we're just ambassadors in the game of capital H hockey in that sense, not only for blind, visually impaired athletes. But I think just to grow to the game of hockey in Canada and if we can keep going down that road with the last few events that we had with the national team and the ones that are coming up, that's what we're going to try to do.
So super excited about the opportunities that we've had so far in the last five years, and especially excited about the ones that are coming up here. So yeah, it's always an honour to play for Canada and looking forward to the next event that we can do.

Brock Richardson:
I really appreciate having you on and really delving into your vast Para sports career and we really, really appreciate it and we hope to have you on again down the line. Simon, we really appreciate your time today.

Simon Richard:
Perfect, thank you very much guys.

Brock Richardson:
That was Simon Richard, who is the program manager at New Brunswick Parasports. And if you like what you have heard, here's how you can get ahold of us by voicemail.

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Brock:
One of my favourite things to do, apart from the obvious of this podcast, but is to lean on some of our friends in other parts of AMI. I have been called upon, as I mentioned earlier, to do some Kelly and Ramya shows last week and so far one day this week. Possibly a second today as you listen to, but I figured since Jeff Ryman needed me a little bit, I figured well, let's return the favour. I need Jeff Ryman and so senior producer, as of right now for Kelly and Ramya, but regularly a visual producer for Kelly and Ramya is Jeff Ryman. Hello Jeff, how are you?

Jeff Ryman:
Hey Brock. Hey Josh. It's been a while but it's good to be back.

Brock:
Yes. Before we move on to the actual sports stuff, Kelly and Ramya has been on for a little bit now. How are things over there rolling along on AMI-tv?

Jeff Ryman:
It's going great. I mean this marks around the one-month mark since we first went to TV. All has been good. Things are looking great. It's a different beast to produce from a senior producer's standpoint. But we are liking the content because really what we wanted to do all along was take what we had on AMI audio and put it on TV and sort of jazz it up with a little bit of visual and graphic elements. And that's exactly what we've done. I'm sure we can improve on certain things down the line, but Brock and Josh one month in, I would give it two thumbs up.

Brock:
That's good. One of the things as I was laughing as we started this program, is there's directors over on Kelly and Ramya who direct you when you're on-screen and one of the words they use is reaction. Which tells you you're on camera and you need to look at the camera, which is not something I get doing this podcast. So I have to remind myself, "Oh yes, look at the camera. Look at the camera." You learn and you do things, but I'm glad things are off and running and I've had a few kicks of the cat and enjoyed that.
Kelly and Ramya 2:00 PM Eastern on AMI-tv, Monday to Friday the best of every weekend. Let's talk about something that came out of the Simone Rashard interview and that was the importance of grassroots sports. Josh, you were a part of the interview. Let's get your thoughts first.

Josh:
I really enjoyed speaking with Simone, who we've had him on in the past as well and he's always a very interesting person to talk to. And so I really appreciated the insights he brought. From my own perspective, I think grassroots sport is absolutely critical. It's how you develop athletes and it's how you feed into your national programs. If we don't have grassroots organizations like Parasport New Brunswick, where are we going to find athletes? It's going to be a lot harder and those athletes may or may not even become aware of what avenues are open to them. So I don't think we can underestimate the importance of it.

Brock:
Jeff.

Jeff Ryman:
Yeah, no, I completely agree with that. As somebody who started in sports from a very young age, I feel like I can appreciate it on multiple levels. Some of the sports I played, soccer, hockey was into swimming for a little bit. And I feel like sure, it's great to dive into, pun intended, to dive into the fun and the camaraderie you build with some teammates or coaches and stuff. And I feel like you can stem off of that and you can learn some really good life lessons. Like when you're on a team, you just learn certain things that are going to help you down the road later in life. And from the grassroots level, when I first started playing sports around four or five years old, you don't realize it at the time obviously. But looking back, there are certain lessons that just stick with you throughout life and it is something that is so key.
And from the sports side of things, for me personally, and this stems from the grassroots stuff, I'm still playing hockey to this day. And it's really good for my mental health. I mean that is my getaway is sports. If I'm having a bad day and the second you step on the ice or the court or in the pool or wherever it is, it's sort of like your safe haven and we wouldn't have that if we weren't able to experience certain things at the grassroots level. So yeah, I think it's super important to have that at the grassroots level.

Brock:
For me, I really believe that the grassroots level is the part where you can really have fun. You can really enjoy what you're doing, you can step on that ice and have it be, as Jeff pointed out, your getaway, your point of fun for the week and all of that. And for me, I think that's what I remember. I remember when I first started, it was nothing but fun. There was no care in the world, there was nothing, there was no pressure, it was just fun. I get to go play bachi at the time and do that.
And I'm not saying that as my career progressed, it wasn't fun, but it came with other stipulations, if you will. It came with other pressures. Whereas I think in the grassroots level it's you learn about yourself, you learn about the sport, you learn how much enjoyment this is. And you start to learn where it can take you, where it could take you. And those are the things that for me I really value and at the beginning of my career when it was grassroots, those are the times that I really cherish overall. And it's a great conversation and there's definitely some sound bites we got from Simone that are valuable and if you didn't check it out, you should go back and listen to the interview. It was really great. Something that is also really great at this time of year is the Super Bowl and this year's matchup is between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. What does one Josh Watson say about this matchup?

Josh:
I think it's going to be an amazing matchup. You've got Philadelphia that almost went undefeated this season. And then you've got Kansas City who just seems to be a perennial team in the game. Considering how long Patrick Mahomes has actually been in the league to have the kind of success he has had is really remarkable. And this year he pretty much did it on one leg based on the reports we've gotten about his high ankle sprain. So it's going to be very, very interesting. I'm kind of jokingly referring to it, excuse me, as the Kelsey Bowl because of course we have Travis Kelsey, the tight end for Kansas City on the one side and we have Jason Kelsey, his brother, who I believe is a defensive end or defensive lineman. I'm going to have to double-check that on the Philadelphia side. So one way or the other, that Super Bowl trophy is coming into the Kelsey House at some point, so it's going to be really, really interesting to see what happens.

Brock:
Jeff?

Jeff Ryman:
Yeah, I think there were a bunch of different storylines that one can follow. The one word that sticks out to me is historic. This is the first time guys in the history of the NFL that two black quarterbacks are starting in the Super Bowl, just monumental. And these guys are MVP-quality quarterbacks as well. Jalen Hertz had a superb season and like Josh already mentioned, Patrick Mahomes has pretty much already solidified himself in the Hall of Fame. At a very young age, 28 years old and he's won a Super Bowl before, won an MVP. His resume is endless. So I mean that from one standpoint it's going to be historic and also very intriguing. There are again, a ton of storylines that the Kelsey Bowl, that one's kind of fun to watch. First time again historic that two brothers are facing off against each other in the biggest game of the season.
Really cool. I don't know what their parents are going to do. Maybe the dad roots for one and mom roots for the other. Or maybe they have one of those split jerseys that are split right down the middle and there it is. So yeah, so I'm looking forward to that. And both of them are top players as well. I mean, Jason Kelsey is one of the best centers in the entire league and Travis Kelsey is arguably the best tight end ever suited up in the NFL. Pretty good bloodlines there. And so I'm super intrigued by that. And also, not to mention Jason Kelsey, his wife is 38 weeks pregnant and one of the guests that they're bringing along to come to the Super Bowl is their OBGYN. They're basically saying we are prepared to give birth to our next child potentially at the Super Bowl. I don't know, the storylines are endless. I'm really amped to see this and obviously, the teams are phenomenal. Both had the exact same records on the year. So Brock, again, I'm going to sound like they're a broken record. The storylines are endless.

Brock:
I want the storyline of baby born at a Super Bowl.

Jeff Ryman:
Me too.

Brock:
This is just as a marque just, Hey baby, born at a Super Bowl regardless of result, that's fine by me. This is to me the matchup that the NFL looking at the playoff matchups and how things broke down, this is the one that the NFL really wanted to get. You both just eloquently said, the storylines and what's going on there. I don't think Patrick Mahomes is a 100%, in fact, I'm going to double down and say he's not a 100%. I don't care that there's a week in between. To me, this is where Philadelphia needs to test him right away. He proved it in the AFC Championship game. Go ahead, test me, but do it again in the Super Bowl because that's where you're going to know what you're up against in the quarterback as far as Patrick Mahomes is concerned. Before we get into the crazy bets, what do you think the end result's going to be of this Super Bowl, Josh?

Josh:
Given the success that he's had and given the connection he does have with Travis Kelsey, I think it's got to be Kansas City. But I think it could be a close game and whether that's close low-scoring or close high scoring, I really see a close game when it's all said and done.

Jeff Ryman:
Yeah, I mean that's kind of what you hope for in a Super Bowl. You don't like to see a blowout because then you lose interest and you don't want to see a low-scoring game because again, you'll lose interest. I think it's going to be close. I really do as of right now, and I know Brock, you're getting into the betting side of things more sort along the prop bets. But right now it's pretty even they're... Kansas City is technically the betting underdog as of this moment, but I don't really see it that way. I think there it is sort of a Pick 'Em where it can go either way. Philly has a really good defence. Their defensive line was superb. I mean they have the most sacks by far in the NFL's regular season. Kansas City's up there too. I mean they got Chris Jones, whose one of the bigger beasts on the defensive line for Kansas City.
Both got good quarterbacks, both have a ton of weapons offensively. These teams stack up really well against each other. I think Philadelphia is maybe the bit more well-rounded team, but I think Kansas City still has a little bit more flair. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, those guys can get it done no matter who they are matched up against. So it's going to be fun to see these two teams go together. I think it's going to be close. I do think Kansas City is going to win. I think maybe only by a couple of points. It could be a one-score game, it could be a one-point game. I'm just hoping for a close matchup here.

Brock:
Yeah, this is where I'll be the outlier in this. I believe the final score is going to be 27 10. Philadelphia, to me, they have looked the part this year. They have looked the complete team. They could have easily been an undefeated team. They ran into some trouble. Couple of their games this year. I just think to me, they seem to be able to throw everything at you. And no matter whether Patrick Mahomes isn't healthy or not, I just don't know that he's going to be able to give it his all. He's going to try. There's no doubt about that. He's going to hobble on and off sidelines all night long. I just think that Jalen Hertz and that offence, and then you double that with the defence being as good as they are. They are going to come at Patrick Mahomes because again, as Jeff pointed out, they led the league in sacks.
They're going to blitz you all night long and they're just going to every time Patrick Mahomes goes to throw the ball, he's going to have to move out of the pocket. And in order to move out of the pocket, you're going to have to test that ankle. And again, I go back to can you test it because you got a high ankle sprain. Everything I've heard and read, and there's no way he should be able to play this game. But he is because he's a competitor and I respect that. I just think that Philadelphia's going to throw everything at them and it's going to be too much to handle in my opinion. And Josh Watson is coming to my house and I hope I'm wrong in that it's a 27-10 game, but I think that's what we're in for Josh. I really do.

Josh:
Well, the thing that I think we haven't really talked about so far is Nick Sirian versus the legend in Andy Reid. I mean, Andy, I think Andy's been coaching as long as Nick's been alive or pretty close to it. So you can say what you want about best defence and these things, but you've given Andy Reid two weeks to prepare for one team. So that's something I think we have to take into consideration too. I agree that it's going to be interesting to see what Mahomes can do on essentially one leg. They said in the AFC Championship game that it's a six-week injury that he's come back from in basically two. And so he's not 100%, as you pointed out, Brock. But he's kind of like a Brady in that I just can't bet against him. I really can't.

Brock:
Yeah.

Jeff Ryman:
That's like [inaudible 00:16:53] and going against Brady, I've lost my fair share betting against Brady. I just stopped doing it. Same thing with Patrick Mahomes. Great point there too as well with Andy Reid going against his former team. I'm sure he would like to have a couple cheeseburgers after the game in celebratory fashion if he can beat his former team. And Patrick Mahomes, I mean this guy has, I think every trick in the bag. He's on one foot, no feet. I'll take him as my quarterback. He's thrown the ball with his left hand.

Brock:
Even no feet, Jeff? Even no feet?

Jeff Ryman:
Even no feet. I mean, he was still proving that he was kindish mobile enough to make a couple of scramble plays here and there in that last game. He's apparently been doing rehab for five or six hours every day leading up to the Super Bowl. I'm sure his ankle's going to be heavily taped and might even be frozen. But again, he's the type of guy who just has every trick in the bag, left-handed, throws, underhand throws. He's just so creative with his mind and you guys have said it's really, really hard to bet against him. So yeah, I just can't do it. He's too good.

Brock:
I'm going to also say, and then we're going to get into the crazy bets that are... I'm going to also say, I think Philadelphia also is looking over at the other sideline and saying, "You went over there, we're over here and still a good organization." So I do think there's something to prove over there too. And then like you said, Philadelphia's coach is way younger than Andy Reid and it's not even a contest for experience. But hey, sometimes the young guy can really pull it out. But we'll see how it goes. And I'm looking forward to kickoff at 6:30.
One of my favourite things to look at every year, and I do this on various platforms the week before the Super Bowl, and we start talking about prop betting, and I want to do that here. One of the ones that I love the most, that I just think is ridiculous is the one about the anthem. And I'm not exactly sure who's singing the anthem. I haven't been able to find it. One of you guys might know, but I want to know. Do you think the Anthem will be sung in over two minutes or under two minutes? Josh, start with you.

Josh:
I'm going to go with over. The people that they tend to have for Anthem singers tend to love to show off and embellish, and I have a feeling it's going to be over this year.

Jeff Ryman:
I am also going to go with the over, usually whoever sings the anthem, like Josh says, likes to put their own little flare on certain things. And I just feel like a lot of them like to have that spotlight on them for maybe just a little bit longer. They might start to drag out their words just a little bit. I'll take the over on that.

Brock:
I'm going to need to go with the under. I did some crack research, aka Kelly McDonald telling me earlier on Kelly and Ramya that the last few anthems have been under in the last couple of Super Bowls. So I'm going to go on the side of under, I think we're going to continue with the under trend for the third year in a row. All right.

Josh:
Before you jump into that quick little search that I've found, it's one of my favorites and possibly yours as well, Brock. Chris Stapleton is supposed to be the Anthem singer this year.

Brock:
Oh, well-

Josh:
According to [inaudible 00:20:48].

Brock:
...then I definitely going with the under. I don't think Chris Stapleton is one to hold these long, high notes to which to hold it. Does anybody change their bets?

Jeff Ryman:
No.

Brock:
Knowing who it is now.

Jeff Ryman:
No. I mean, maybe he's a country star. Maybe he comes out and does a little riff on his guitar before or after. I'm still thinking the over there, Brock.

Brock:
Fair enough.

Josh:
Yeah.

Brock:
All right. Let's do the coin toss. Heads or tails on the coin toss, Jeff.

Jeff Ryman:
I'm going to go with heads. Don't really know. Don't really have a reason why. I guess it's technically 50 50 and usually, whenever I do a coin toss, I take heads. So I'm just going to go with heads.

Brock:
Josh.

Josh:
Yeah, I think I'll be the contrarian this time and say tails. I don't bet on props because most of the time it is a coin flip and in this case, I don't think there's any evidence to weigh one side more than the other. So I'll go tails.

Brock:
I'm going to go tails with this as well. Who wins the coin toss and thus do they win the game. Josh, start with you.

Josh:
Ooh. Well, based on what I said earlier, I think I have to go with Kansas City because I definitely think they're going to win. So why not win the coin toss as well? Just win everything you can.

Jeff Ryman:
The coin toss is a little bit more strategic than I think. Maybe the casual Finn thinks being a Buffalo Bills fan, whenever they won the coin toss, they defer to the second half. So there is definitely a bit of strategy behind that. So if Kansas City wins the coin toss, I think they defer. I think they win the game.

Brock:
Nah, I think Kansas City defers and they win the game as well. First play of the game will be what? After the, oh no, let's do this one first. Will the kickoff be run back for a touchdown, yes or no? Josh?

Josh:
I'm going to go with no, the odds of it actually happening are fairly slim in my opinion. It's really electric and exciting when it happens, as we saw in the Bills game a few weeks ago, but I just think it's too hard to actually pull off. So I'm going to say no.

Jeff Ryman:
I might sprinkle a little bit of money on this because the odds if it does happen, I would probably be pretty rich. I don't know how often it has happened. I think Devin Hester may have returned a touchdown on the opening kickoff about 15 ish years ago. I would love to see it. Do I think it's going to going to happen? No, but am I going to bet it? I might put a dollar or two on it just to see what happens.

Brock:
Fair enough. I'm going with, no, I don't think it happens. I think it is too challenging to do. So I want to get through a couple more here. We've only got a couple minutes. Does any of the field goal dry hit the bar? Yes or no? And I'm talking about the bottom bar on the-

Josh:
The crossbar.

Brock:
... The crossbar, thank you. I could not get that word out of my head.

Josh:
I'm a goalie. I have to know it.

Brock:
Fair enough. Josh, does it hit the crossbar, yes or no?

Josh:
I'm going to say no.

Jeff Ryman:
I'm also going to say no. I mean the kickers that are in this are pretty darn good. I don't think they're going to hit the crossbar at all. Either it's going to go straight in or it's going to be a miss. Does it hit the goalpost, crossbar, whatever you want to call it? I don't think so.

Brock:
And the Dallas Cowboys are not in the Super Bowl, so nothing to worry about [inaudible 00:24:45]. Okay. Yeah, I have to throw it in there. Okay, so another one of the ridiculous bets, but something we always do at this, at the end of the game, what colour of Gatorade does the winning coach get poured on them? The order I'm going to give you is the order it is favoured to be orange, yellow green, red, pink, clear water, purple, none. Josh, what's a you?

Josh:
I will go with the yellow. Yellow-green. I think lemon lime is probably pretty popular, so let's go with that one. I know it's my favourite flavour, so.

Jeff Ryman:
I don't know if it's on the board there, Brock, but blue is really good. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be blue. It's definitely the best flavour. Although I'm colourblind, so maybe I'm just not seeing these colours correctly and it's always one of those. I have a question for... I have to ask my wife or a buddy, "Was that yellow? Is that orange? What colour was the Gatorade?" I can't really tell, but if I was drinking the Gatorade, what I'd want it to be is blue.

Brock:
I missed blue. And blue is about the fourth in line on the... It's before the red and the pink. So yes, there is blue and that is the choice I would go with. Yeah, let's squeeze in one more before Marc tells me I have to rap. Does the first play of the game consist of a run, a pass, a fumble? What? Josh?

Josh:
I am going to go with a pass. Given the two quarterbacks that we're dealing with. I think it's one of those things you want to get the first pass out of the way, get the first completion and then everybody can take a deep breath. So I'm going to say pass.

Jeff Ryman:
I will play contrarian here. Brock, I will say run. It's just one of those easy things to do. You hand off the ball if you get a yard, good. If you get a touchdown, that's exceptional. I think it's one of the safer bets you want to get off on the right foot there. So I think it's going to be a run.

Brock:
I think it is also going to be a run. We'll see how it goes. But the Super Bowl is Sunday at 6:30 PM Eastern time and we'll come back next week with all of the highlights, low lights and everything in between. Thank you Jeff for joining us today. We really appreciate it.

Jeff Ryman:
Enjoy the Super Bowl guys, thanks for having me.

Brock:
That was senior producer Jeff Ryman from Kelly and Ramya. That is the end of our show. For this week, I would like to thank Josh Watson, Jeff Ryman. Our technical producer is Marc Aflalo. Podcast coordinator is Ryan Delehanty. Tune in next week, because you just never know what happens when you enter The Neutral Zone. Have a great weekend. We'll talk to you again soon.