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.
Episodes
198 episodes
May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Maple Leafs and Craig Berube, Ted Turner and Bobby Cox
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 ...
May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Baseball Magic That Was May 1, 1991
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 ete...
May 2026 - Sports Lunatics - John Sterling, Alex Zanardi and How We Imagine the Plight of Toronto Maple Leaf Fans
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...
Apr 2026 - Sports Lunatics - John Garrett, the CFL's Playoff Changes, the NHL Playoffs So Far w/Mick Kern
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 s...
Apr 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Remembering Phil Garner and Looking at Ovie, Anze, Quick and the NHL Playoffs
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....
Apr 2026 - Baseball Movie Anniversaries for Major League and Bad News Bears
A little bit of a different Sports Lunatics Show for you here. Howie looks back at a couple of anniversaries marking the releases of a couple of classic baseball movies - Bad News Bears and Major League. Both endured because of their raw realis...
Apr 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Remembering Davey Lopes, Finding Tiger, So Long Joe Bowen
The Baseball world lost Davey Lopes this second week of April. Shawn and Howie talk about their recollections of Lopes, his infield mates and those great Dodgers teams of the 1970s and early 80s. They talk about the 2026 Masters golf tournament...
Apr 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Face of Blue Jays, Baseball v Basketball, John McSherry, Nicklaus Masters Anniversary
This was a lively and wide-ranging show. Shawn and Howie talked about who TSN in Canada chose as the Face of the Blue Jays; they discussed how Baseball is creeping back up in popularity ahead of a possible labour stoppage in 2026; they looked b...
April 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Best Part of the 1969 Montreal Expos Season
Howie takes information from a chapter of his third book, The Consequences of Chance, and talks about the best parts of the 1969 Montreal Expos Season. There wasn't much but they did win their first ever game, their first ever home game and the...
Mar 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Bird, Magic and How Bird's Collegiate Athletic Career Ended
This is a shorter Sports Lunatics Show episode. It's about Larry Bird and his collegiate rivalry with Magic Johnson and that incredible NCAA Final Game in 1979. It also covers how Bird's collegiate athletic career ended and it wasn't on that co...
Mar 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Rodger Brulotte, His Career and His Legacy
In this Sports Lunatics Show episode, Shawn and Howie talk about Rodger Brulotte, the Montreal Expos' broadcaster, his career and his legacy as the great person he was. The boys share some stories and talk about their memories of the Expos and ...
Mar 2026 - Sports Lunatics - A WBC Strike 3 And Other Calls That Changed Games w/Mick Kern
On March 15, 2026, a bad call on what turned out to be the third strike that ended an exciting World Baseball Classic semi-final game between the United States and the Dominican Republic was made. After the game, Alex Rodriguez said on the Fox ...
Mar 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Radko Gudas, the Hits, the Fallout and Other Hockey Villains Through History w/Mick Kern
On March 12, 2026, Radko Gudas went knee-on-knee with the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, injuring the Leafs' centre. Given the way he forced Sidney Crosby out of the Olympic tournament, Howie asked guest Mick Kern, of SiriusXM, about Gud...
Mar 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Life and Career of Lou Holtz
Howie drives the bus in this episode and he looks at the long life and career of Lou Holtz. The longtime college coach was best known for his national championship while at Notre Dame in 1988. Along the way there were highs and lows and controv...
Mar 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Late Bill Mazeroski and the Anniversaries of the Losses of Chris Schultz and Walter Gretzky
In this episode, Shawn and Howie discuss the passing of Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski. He's famous for his walk-off hone run in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series but there was more to Maz than just that. The boys also look ...
Feb 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Fallout and Hangover From the Gold Medal Mens' Hockey Game, 2026
On Sunday, February 22, 2026, the men from Canada and the United States met in Milan to play a hockey game to decide the gold medal winners. The game was incredible, with Connor Hellebuyck stealing the show and the victory for the Americans. Th...
Feb 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Miracle 1975 New York Islanders - From Doormat to the Pages of History
The 1974-75 New York Islanders were a team in their franchise's third year of existence. They had been a team that had been mediocre at best. But with Al Arbour as their coach and Bill Torrey as their general manager, the team shocked their riv...
Feb 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Red Barber's Birthday, Maple Leaf Gardens & Three Rivers Stadium Anniversaries and Passings
In this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Howie drives the bus and covers a lot of topics dealing with the third week of February, 2026. It was the legendary Red Barber's birthday on February 17. The last NHL game at Maple Leaf Gardens took ...
Feb 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Mike Ross & Howie Discuss the Losses of Jim Robson and Vince Malette
As Shawn has often said, our show has sometimes become a forum for remembering the sports figures that we've lost. This show is no exception. Toronto Maple Leafs public address announcer and long time radio man, Mike Ross, joins Howie to talk a...
Feb 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Mick Kern & Howie Talk About Darryl Sittler's 10-point Night 50 Years After
When SiriusXM's Mick Kern comes on the show, we can figure on a lively conversation and this one is no exception. Mick and Howie discuss that momentous night fifty years ago, February 7, 1976, when Darryl Sittler scored six goals and had four a...
Feb 2026 - A New Documentary on The 1980 Miracle on Ice & The Passing of Mickey Lolich
It's February and the Winter Olympics are in our collective consciousness and so our thoughts naturally float to a couple of weeks back in 1980 when the sporting world was focused on what was happening at the hockey venue in tiny Lake Placid, N...
Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Belichick Snubbed by PFHOF On First Attempt! - A Sports Lunatics Reaction Show
On Wednesday morning, January 28, 2026, it was reported that Bill Belichick would not be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Reaction was swift and intense. Tom Brady said, "I don't understand it!" Othe...
Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - What We Missed About The 1970s
In this freeform episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie look back at the things they loved about the 1970s (and some things they didn't). It's kind of a wild show and the boys go back and forth on a whole bunch of topics that were...
Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - Glenn Hall, Guy Chouinard and the 50th Anniversary of Philly-Red Army
Another legendary NHL goalie has passed away. On this episode of The Sports Lunatics Show, Shawn and Howie examine the career, life and legacy of Hall of Famer Glenn Hall. They also look at the career of the first ever 50 goal scorer for the At...
Jan 2026 - Sports Lunatics - The Twenty Worst Teams In CFL History with guest J.C. Abbott from 3downnation.com
Howie sat down with J.C. Abbott from 3downnation.com to discuss a piece he wrote for the website on the twenty worst teams to ever step on a Canadian Football League field. Abbott explains how he chose the teams and the two men talk about some ...