The Sports Lunatics Show
Shawn Lavigne, a longtime Toronto radio producer, and Howie Mooney, Ottawa television sports personality and author, discuss sports and sports history and delve into why what happened in the past is relevant today. Fun sports talk, lively interviews and always a good time.
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Episodes
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Aug 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The 1976 Olympics, Bruce Jenner, Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Passing of Lloyd Robertson
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
At the beginning of this episode, Shawn nails it. It's a bit of a mish-mash. Shawn and Howie discuss the 1976 Olympics and how the Games changed after 1976 with the boycotts in 1980 and 1984 and the loss of amateurism in the games over that time. They also talk about the remarks of the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong about the actual existence of Babe Ruth. Also, Canadian news legend Lloyd Robertson passed away on August 4, 2026. The boys remember him.
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Aug 2026 - Sports Lunatics - This Date in History - August 4
Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Howie sat down and did a segment on four things that happened in Baseball History on August 4. You'll likely have a memory of each of them. The earliest one goes back to 1980. The most recent one took place in 1993.
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August 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Best of Sports Lunatics - Jed Roberts, Thurman Munson Anniversary, Bo Jackson
Monday, August 3, 2026
It's August, the meat of the summer. We've put together a 'best of' show for you. Three clips from past shows. First, I talked with former Edmonton Eskimos special teams great, Jed Roberts, about the passing of the great wide receiver Waddell Smith. Next, Shawn and I talked about the anniversary of the passing of Thurman Munson on August 2, 1979. Lastly, Shawn has talked often of the greatness of Bo Jackson. Here's one of those occasions.
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Promo Clip - Sports Lunatics Show - July 29 - Ottawa Football Legacy Night - Ottawa Bootleggers Deserve to be in the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Shawn asks Howie about Ottawa football history and Howie talks about the Ottawa Bootleggers and how they should be in the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame
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Promo Clip - Sports Lunatics Show - July 29 - Ottawa Football Legacy Night
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Howie talks about the players who will be in Ottawa for Legacy Night. Clements to Gabriel. One of the greatest moments of the last fifty years.
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July 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Lebron's a Sixer; Macklin Strikes it Rich; Baseball HOF; Ottawa Football Legacy Night
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
This episode goes in a bunch of directions, before finishing back in Ottawa. Shawn and Howie talk about Lebron James signing in Philadelphia and the possibilities for him there. They also talk about the Macklin Celebrini signing and the ramifications of the offer sheet for Leo Carlsson and what may be next in hockey. Then they move on to the Baseball Hall of Fame inductions and the lack of that 'it' factor. They also go back to that topic of who is still not in that deserves to be in. And they finish off with a discussion of Ottawa football history and the Football Legacy night on July 31. ...
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July 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The World Cup, Duane Ward, Ron Hunt and The 1976 Montreal Olympics
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
In this multi-pronged episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie take one last look at the World Cup, the sudden and tragic loss of Duane Ward and his career, the passing of Ron Hunt and his impact on the Expos in his time in Montreal and his career and the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
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July 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Sporting News Top 20 NHL Teams of All Time - #5 to #1 w/Mick Kern
Friday, July 17, 2026
In the final installment of this mini-series, Howie and SiriusXM's Mick Kern count the Top Five NHL teams, according to The Sporting News, down from Number 5 to Number 1. The discussion is fast and fun.
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July 2026 - Sports Lunatics - MLB All-Star Game, the World Cup and Remembering Jim Corrigall
Thursday, July 16, 2026
The summer is usually a quiet time on the sporting landscape, but with the Home Run Derby and the baseball All-Star Game going on and the World Cup heading for their grand finale, the summer of 2026 has been buzzing with excitement and activity. Shawn and Howie discuss all of that and also possible impending labor strife in Baseball in 2027. Also, the boys look back on the life and career of former CFL All-Star Jim Corrigall.
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July 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Sporting News Top 20 Teams of All Time Pt. 2 - #10 to #6 w/Mick Kern
Saturday, July 11, 2026
Howie and SiriusXM's Mick Kern continue their look at the Sporting News' list of the NHL's greatest teams. In this episode, they look at the teams from #10 to #6. Do they agree with the teams on the list? Not always. Do they agree with each other all the time? Again, not always. It's a fun look back on some great NHL teams and Howie and Mick inject some really interesting facts into the whole conversation.
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July 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Kyle Lowry, Daniel Alfredsson & The World Cup
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Wild couple of days in sports. Kyle Lowry signed a one-day contract to retire as a Toronto Raptor. Daniel Alfredsson leaves Ottawa, the city where he has been lionized, to become an associate coach with the (checks notes) Toronto Maple Leafs? And the World Cup just keeps on being the most compelling sporting event on the planet......Shawn and Howie discuss all this in a fast-paced and exciting episode.
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July 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Sporting News Top 20 NHL Teams of All Time Pt. 1 - #20 to #11 w/Mick Kern
Friday, July 3, 2026
The venerable Sporting News, which bears the nickname, 'The Bible of Baseball', unveiled their Top 20 NHL Teams of all Time recently. Were they right? Were they wrong? Howie sat down with SiriusXM's Mick Kern to look at the list and evaluate its contents and its accuracy and validity. Howie has at least a couple of issues with the list and the conversation is lively and fast-paced.
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Kawhi, Lebron, the Florida Panthers, Eustaquio & Canada Soccer
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
There's a lot in this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show. The day this was recorded, the Toronto Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard. Also, Lebron James announced that he was going to pursue free agency. The boys discuss these two events. Also, the Florida Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky announced that they would be parting ways and this was a point of discussion. They also go over Stephen Eustaquio's goal for Canada in the World Cup to advance to the round of sixteen in elimination play. Where does it go down in history? What happens if Canada Soccer fails to use this goal and victory as a jum...
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The NBA and NHL Final Series Wrapped Up
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
The verdict is in. The playoffs in both the NHL and the NBA were spectacular television. Shawn and Howie talked about some of their favorite moments in each, especially since each of the winning teams hadn't entered the winner's circle in a while - for the New York Knicks, it had been 53 years. The boys talk about the stars and the great moments.
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Tkachuk Transaction and the 2026 Hockey Hall of Fame Selections
Monday, June 22, 2026
As Shawn says in this episode, what a 24 hours if your last name is Tkachuk. Starting with the trade of Brady from the Ottawa Senators to the Florida Panthers and culminating with the Hall of Fame selection of his father, Keith, it was a whirlwind day for the Tkachuk family. Shawn and Howie discuss that and the 2026 selections for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. There's some serious conversation and some fun as well.
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Hockey Night in Canada No Longer on the CBC
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
On June 16, 2026, it was announced that the Saturday night broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada had come to an end. The agreement between Rogers and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had expired and there were no plans to renew it for the 2026-27 season. Shawn and Howie discuss the demise of Saturday night hockey on the national broadcaster, first from a business and contractual standpoint and then from the emotional point of view. There will be change for a lot of viewers and their personal trips down memory lane are worth the listen.
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Howie Sits Down with Author Craig Wallace to Talk Leo Cahill, the Argos and the CFL
Saturday, June 13, 2026
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Howie sat down with Craig Wallace, author of one of the seminal books about the Toronto Argonauts of the late 1960s and early 1970s, A Slip In The Rain, and their iconic coach, Leo Cahill. There are some great old stories in this conversation that illuminate the personalities of some of the great people of that era. Get A Slip In The Rain on lulu.com and get Howie's book, An Unlikely Story, on Amazon.
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Super Spring Finals, Bob Horner, Stacey King, Ned Jarrett and Gerry Meehan
Thursday, June 11, 2026
Sports fans have been blessed with a tremendous spring with the NHL and NBA playoffs giving everyone a boatload of spectacular moments. Game 4 of the NBA Finals saw the New York Knicks overcome a 29 point deficit and take the lead with 1.2 seconds left in a 107-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs to take a 3-1 series lead. Over in the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes are giving us all a great Final series where many were thinking of only paying sparse attention to it. Every night has been, as Shawn says, 'must-see TV'. Shawn and Howie also look back at the lives and care...
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Former Flames' Trainer, Brian Patafie, Talks About Cliff Fletcher
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Howie caught up with former Calgary Flames' Trainer and Athletic Therapist, Brian Patafie following the passing of Hockey Hall of Famer Cliff Fletcher. Patafie shares a number of stories of Fletcher's intelligence, generosity and his sense of humour. It's an enlightening and enjoyable conversation.
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Author Paul Woods Joins Howie to Talk CFL, His Books and The Canadian Football Time Machine
Saturday, June 6, 2026
Howie sat down with Paul Woods, a longtime Toronto newspaper man and writer. They talked extensively about the league and the Argonauts and the books that Woods has written about the team. He's probably best known for his book on the Argos' 1991 season, The Year Of The Rocket, dealing with the ownership group of Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy and the recruitment of the superstar, Raghib "Rocket" Ismail. His other book on the Boatmen, Bouncing Back, chronicles the team of the early 1980s that eventually won the 1983 Grey Cup. His pet project is his YouTube page called the Canadia...
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Shawn & Howie Talk 1993 Cup Final, the 2026 NBA Final, Raymond Berry & Rick Adelman
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
On the heels of Howie's conversation with SiriusXM's Mick Kern in the previous show, Shawn and Howie talk about the 1993 Stanley Cup Final series between the Los Angeles Kings and Montreal Canadiens and the pivotal role played by an illegal stick penalty to the Kings' Marty McSorley. They also discuss the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks and the meeting of a couple of the game's great personalities, Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson. The boys also remember the great receiver and coach, Raymond Berry and former NBA player and coach, Rick Adelman. In bet...
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June 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Remembering Dennis Hull and Looking Back at 1993 w/Mick Kern
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
In this episode, Mick Kern joins Howie to talk about the life and career of the late Dennis Hull, who passed away on May 30 at the age of 81. He played most of his career for the Chicago Black Hawks but spent his last season in the league with the Detroit Red Wings. He was a member of Team Canada in 1972 as well. Then, the two talk about the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup which was 1993. You always know that when Mick joins the show, it's going to be lively and this was no exception.
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May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Claude Lemieux Dies
Thursday, May 28, 2026
On May 28, 2026, the world learned that Claude Lemieux, who just three days earlier, had participated in the opening ceremony at the Bell Centre before a Montreal Canadiens' playoff game, had died at the age of 60. That afternoon, as they were still processing the news, Shawn and Howie recorded this episode with their thoughts and remembrances of Lemieux.
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May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Kyle Busch, Owen Hart and a Host of Other Sports Tragedies
Monday, May 25, 2026
On May 21, 2026, racing superstar Kyle Busch passed away from pneumonia that turned into sepsis. His death rocked not just the racing world. People from every walk of life were rocked by the fact that this man with a young family was taken far too soon. Shawn and Howie talk about the impact of his loss and they talk about the night that Owen Hart was lost in an accident at a pay-per-view wrestling event in Kansas City in 1999. They talk about the losses of other sporting stars like Kobe Bryant and Payne Stewart and how they got the deaths of stars on to the air as they were actually working...
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May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The 2026 Playoffs, The Golden Knights and Habs, Stevie Y's 1996 Goal and Reggie's 80th Birthday Memories w/Mick Kern
Thursday, May 21, 2026
In an episode that deals with the present and the past, SiriusXM's Mick Kern joins Howie to discuss the 2026 NHL Playoffs, the performances of the Vegas Golden Knights and the Montreal Canadiens. They also talk about the 30th anniversary of the goal that Steve Yzerman scored when he blasted a slapper over the shoulder of the St. Louis Blues' Jon Casey back in May of 1996. They also look back at a couple of memories of Reggie Jackson's Hall of Fame career in the week that he turned 80. It's a packed episode of The Sports Lunatics Show
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May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Maple Leafs and Craig Berube, Ted Turner and Bobby Cox
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
In this edition of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie discuss the ever increasing chaos of the Toronto Maple Leafs as we head into the summer of 2026. The situation in the front office, their coaching situation and the existence of some of their players with the team in the coming off-season are discussed. Some Toronto fans may not be happy. The guys look at the life and legacy of Ted Turner and then they discuss the career of Bobby Cox as well. Finally, they discuss the short life of basketball player Jason Collins, who came out as gay in 2013 and passed away in May of 2026.
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May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Baseball Magic That Was May 1, 1991
Sunday, May 10, 2026
May 1, 1991 was truly a phenomenal day in baseball history. It was the nexus of two history-shaking events that took place the same day - one in the afternoon and one that evening. And the central figures in each event were men who would be eternally famous. Love them or hate them, the day was an iconic one. Howie takes you along the tale in this preview of his upcoming book, Fallen Angels. Listen right to the end. The ending may cause some emotion though.
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May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - John Sterling, Alex Zanardi and How We Imagine the Plight of Toronto Maple Leaf Fans
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie remember the legacy of Yankees broadcaster John Sterling, Shawn delivers the incredible story of the late Alex Zanardi and the boys discuss how it must feel to be a Leaf fan given the management of the team over the last while. It's a lively and thoughtful show.
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Apr 2026 - Sports Lunatics - John Garrett, the CFL's Playoff Changes, the NHL Playoffs So Far w/Mick Kern
Thursday, April 30, 2026
SiriusXM's Mick Kern guests on this episode and he and Howie discuss the life and career of John Garrett, the changes coming in 2027 to the CFL postseason and Mick's impressions of the NHL playoffs to this point. We'll see how his predictions stand up to reality.
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Apr 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Remembering Phil Garner and Looking at Ovie, Anze, Quick and the NHL Playoffs
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Phil "Scrap Iron" Garner, the long time All-Star infielder, World Series winner on the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates and Major League manager, passed away this week and Shawn and Howie discussed his career and what he meant to so many others as well. They also talked about veterans Alex Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick. Playoff prospects of certain teams and the possible future in Detroit with the Red Wings also came up.