This week on Toronto Appreciation Nite, Dan uncovers the surprisingly weird and entrepreneurial origin story of BJ Birdie. A mascot born out of creativity, and a little bit of 70s/80s "sure why not?"

Then it’s a loaded edition of Over/Under Appreciated:

• Is Scottie Barnes getting enough love in the DPOY conversation, or are we watching a quiet robbery?
• Would you trust a media company to own your favorite team… or is that the fastest way to ruin sports journalism?

We also roll out a full Coaches Report Card:

• How much blame does Craig Berube deserve for the Leafs’ season?
• How soon does Troy Ryan need to get the Sceptres a championship?
• And is Darko Rajaković actually being judged fairly, or just stuck in a rebuild he can’t control?

Plus:

• The strange petition over this Blue Jays walk-up songs (yes, really.)
• Will thei ripple effects of giving superstars even more time in baseball... yes, Shohei Ohtani we are talking about you.
  
  And finally a debate: do we want journalists covering sports… or just fans with microphones?

Next, we break down the early momentum behind Toronto Tempo and how the expansion draft, worked out better than we thought.

And we check in on the playoff outlook for the Toronto Sceptres.

In our appreciation parade, Meg shouts out yelling at Umpires, Vince gives props to the OG's of the WNBA, and Dan talks the good vibes of organic draft moments, when it wasn't a televised spectacle.

All that and random CN Tower secrets from our past on this week's Toronto Appreciation Nite