32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Two Shockers: Jim Rutherford And Tim & Sid

Episode Date: January 29, 2021

After 20 years of entertaining listeners and viewers, Tim & Sid is changing — Sid is moving on. Jeff and Elliotte are joined by Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro (19:00) to talk about their long-time friendship and work together. Dating back to their days as interns at Headline Sports, then cutting their chops at TheScore with […]

Put my gain up. All right. How's that? 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 10, 20, 30, 40. How about that? How about that? How about that? There you are.

Sounds better. Whoa, geez. It's too much bass for this room. Elliot, I think ultimately the question is, who are the Pittsburgh Penguins? But the question today is, who's going to be the next full-time general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins?

Wednesday, Jim Rutherford suddenly and abruptly, we understand, resigned as GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Your wide brush thoughts when you first heard it. Shock. I think everybody was shocked. Someone told me that an email came from Rutherford, a company-wide email came from Rutherford to everyone about an hour it was announced and people were just slack-jawed. They couldn't believe it. And I think the other thing too is that the Penguins signed Yannick Weber on Wednesday morning

because their defense, it just so battered and Rutherford was involved in it. He did the signing and then an hour and a half later, it was announced that he was out. So I think it caught a lot of people by surprise. You know, there's a couple of things here. Initially, there was a concern that it was health related. If you've been familiar, Jim Rutherford's in his 70s

and he's been very careful during the time of coronavirus. He's mainly stayed out of the public, which is perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with being safe. It's the smart and responsible thing to do for yourself and your family. So there were concerns about health, but David Morehouse, the president and the CEO made sure to point out at the beginning of his call that, you know, it was not health related. You know, something happened Monday night where Rutherford or Tuesday night where Rutherford told the team and they checked with him again on Wednesday and he decided to do it. I do think there was some kind of philosophical difference about where the Penguins were going or how they were like i think everybody wants

the penguins in the organization to continue being in that win now mentality right i don't think anyone disagreed with that but i think there might have been a professional disagreement on how to get there the thing that is kind of interesting to me about it is that David Morehouse in his media availability said it wasn't anything, there wasn't anything that you wouldn't normally think was unusual or different. Like basically disagreements happen all the time and you don't necessarily think they're going to lead to that. And I just wonder if the organization saw it one way and Rutherford saw it another way. And he's been quoted as saying it was time. And I just think that happened. I think he got to a point where he said, we don't see this the same way and times are challenging. I don't need to tell anybody that. And it's just time.

And I think that's kind of what happened. Now, his contract was up. I don't think the Penguins had said to him, we're not bringing you back. I don't think there'd been any conversation really about the contract. There's a lot of teams right now, and we see it with Travis Green in Vancouver, who are kind of saying,, you know, during these financial times, we've got to be careful. So I don't think the Penguins had said, we're not bringing you

back. I just think they really, they kind of punted it towards the end of the year and said they'd talk about it then. So that's kind of where I think it was. I think that there was a philosophical disagreement and about just where they were going. The penguins didn't think it was necessarily a big deal because these kinds of conversations happen all the time. And Rutherford just said, okay, we just disagree on the vision. It's time for me. Now I'll tell you, one of the things that someone has suggested to me is that, you know,

Trip Tracy, the great Carolina broadcaster has a podcast. He does. Yep. And he had Rutherford on it last year and it was before Jason Carmanos was fired. And in it, Rutherford talked about Carmanos was kind of like his buffer. Well, unfortunately for Jason, he gets the brunt of

my frustrations when i get frustrated and because he's been with me so long he's figured out a way to just take the punch and go with it but aside from that uh jason's a good hockey person you know i think it was really good that he came to Pittsburgh with me because he got away from people thinking that he was only working because it was with the team that his father owned. But he did a lot of good things in Carolina with me. He's really good with contracts. He's good at evaluating players. He's what I need for a guy that uh that works as an assistant general manager and

like i said he he goes with the ups and downs with me and uh he's just used to it now so sometimes it gets a little tough with the frustrations and carmanos was also really good at saying to rutherford jim are you sure about this or jim i don't know if you should do this and i had a couple people tell me on wednesday that they wondered if this would have happened if carmanos was still there to sort of be that person for rutherford the person who was the buffer and the person who uh or would have said, Jim, are you sure? And that if it would have made it easier on Rutherford, if Carmanos had been there at this time. person he is trip tracy uh color analyst for the carolina hurricanes like many things in my life elliot i feel like i'm missing slash not understanding something here yeah the fact that this happened seven games into the season like you look at the off season and again there's

changes with the pittsburgh penguins the, you know, exited the bubble again, getting swept like they did last year against the Islanders, this year against the, or last season rather, against the Montreal Canadiens. So there were changes in the offseason. We're used to that with Jeb Rutherford. Assistant coaches swapped. Like, again, we saw a lot of different things with the Pittsburgh Penguins. A short training camp.

Everybody had a short training camp. That's not an excuse you can use over other squads. And a team that will be seen so far, you know, has looked a little bit disjointed, would play two bad periods and then have to turn on the Jets in the third to squeak out a point or maybe win an overtime or a shootout. But I look at when this happens, and it's seven games in, and it's not as if the Penguins are 0-7. They're 4-2-1. Hasn't been necessarily pretty getting there. But I have a hard time believing that it was headed this way and it was a philosophical difference

as opposed to it was one person thinks we should do X and one person thinks we should do Y and we should do it right now. Whether it's something with the coach, something with the star players, something with the payroll, I don't know. But I just feel like one big piece of of information is is really missing here oh i i think there's no question about that it's like the dubois trade last week right who are the pittsburgh penguins like many look at i know internally a lot of people want them to and you've mentioned this before on the podcast we've talked about this a lot as long as you have crosby or malkin you go for it and that's always been Jim Rutherford's MO. You do it. You try to surround them with a cast that can squeeze out one more Stanley Cup because

it's Crosby, it's Malkin, it's Letang. You have star players. Brian Burke on Wednesday was talking about on the Wednesday Night Hockey show about how wondering if the window has completely closed now for the Pittsburgh Penguins as we've seen their playoff performances the past couple of years. And that kind of is the feeling around the NHL,

that this team that you look at and you never want to bet against Sidney Crosby, but probably wouldn't surprise people if in a very, very competitive division, they find themselves out of the playoff picture when all is said and done. And that the window is closed and it's time for tough decisions around the Penguins. I am of the mind that this is a team that needs to, and they've already traded away a ton of picks for this year, look towards the future. I don't know who's in the future for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I don't know that this is a team that can compete

when you look around the NHL landscape for the Stanley Cup right now. Where is Elliott Friedman at with the Pens? I'm probably the same as everybody else. I have the same questions, but it's not what we think, Jeff. It's what the organization thinks. And if you listen to Morehouse yesterday on the call, he said they're in win-now mode. They're not giving up.

Look, Malkin, they can extend Malkin this summer. I believe they plan to do that. Sid's under contract for a couple more years. As long as those two guys are there, Rutherford always said it too. Are they giving up? No way. So it almost doesn't matter what we think.

It matters what they think. As long as those guys are there, they're in it to win it. And whoever takes over there is under that mandate. Who can you see going into that spot i think a ton of people are going to want that like guys were telling me that the penguins people were joking yesterday their phones were blowing up who do i talk to you know i think we should also mention uh patrick alvin the current general interim general manager. He's the first Swedish general manager in NHL history.

That's a big deal. I think it absolutely should mention it's history making. I always wonder what a guy does when he gets runway. He's going to have some runway here. Does he impress them to the point where he gets the job? I think that should be mentioned you know right now i'm looking at two guys who the penguins know really well one is jason botterill now botterill could have gone back this year he could have gone back to be the assistant

to rutherford and been in this position he decided to spread his wings elsewhere and go to Seattle. The other is Tom Fitzgerald, who's in New Jersey, who they know well. Explain that one. That's because he's. Well, Tom Fitzgerald has a multi-year deal in New Jersey,

but only one year to be the GM this year. And we'll see where that goes. But I'm going to tell you that there are going to be a ton of people who go after that job. A ton of people who go after that job. A ton of people. Will this next hire tell us anything about the future of the Pittsburgh Penguins? I think the true future of the Penguins will be known is what happens with Malkin and Letang. You know, my question with Malkin is, does he ever say, I want to try something else?

My question with Malkin is, does he ever say, I want to try something else? You remember that great piece our features team did on him where he admitted that once he thought about it, does he ever think about it again? Like the Penguins, I think, want to sign him this summer. They can sign him to an extension this summer. Everything I've heard is that they want to do that and they want him to retire as a Penguin. I guess the only question is, does he feel different in any way, shape, i don't know the answer i'm not saying he does i'm just you know i think that's the only thing i ask but it's very clear if you listen to the conference call yesterday or saw the clips they're in win now mode and that's the way the organization is jim rutherford has won three stan Cups as a general manager one with Carolina

two with the Pittsburgh Penguins he is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as well does Jim Rutherford still want to do this? he's going to take his time and think about it I think he'll be able to do whatever he wants you know when he takes some time and refreshes like does he want to be a GM? he'll have chances to be a GM does he want to be a GM? He'll have chances to be a GM.

Does he want to be a president? He'll have opportunities to be a president. Does he want to be an advisor? He'll have opportunities to be an advisor. Guy's got three Stanley Cups. I hope he's in it because he's good for interest. He's impulsive. He doesn't care.

I don't want to hear how hard it is to make trades. He wants to make trades. He's good for business. He's goodulsive. He doesn't care. I don't want to hear how hard it is to make trades. He wants to make trades. He's good for business. He's good for media business. He's good for interest. So I hope that he's back in. I really do. The game is always better when Jim Rutherford is part of it.

On that, we'll kick it off. Tim and Sid are coming up here in a couple of moments on 31 Thoughts, the podcast, the news breaking last week. Sid announcing it on Tim and Sid that he is leaving that duo and heading to breakfast television. More on that coming up as 31 Thoughts brought to you by the GMC Sierra AT4 kickoff. Let me tear the band-aid off here. I'm leaving the show. I will be leaving Tim and Sid. We're going to do five more weeks of this. And our last show

together, our last show will be Friday, February the 26th. That will be the last Tim and Sid. But we're going to do another five weeks. And I'm going to attempt to do with Tim what I've done for 17 years-ish, talk sports and try and make him giggle.

That will be the mandate for the next five weeks. Okay, welcome once again to the podcast. Appreciate all the comments from the previous podcast, that one with Yarmulke Kalanen, general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets. We did a lot on Dubois and Line A, and today we're going to spend, Elliot, a lot of time talking about, and specifically in a moment, talking to Tim McAuliffe and Sid Cicero. That duo is breaking up.

Sid is going to Breakfast Television, which is a TV morning show here in the city of Toronto, a wildly successful one, we should point out. I started watching this thing back when it started with Ann Romer and David Onley and Steve Anthony back in 1989. Elliot, before we hear from the guys,

what do you think of Sid's move going from Tim and Sid to Breakfast TV? It's the end of an era, right? I had a lot of emotions when I saw it. First of all, I think people should do what they want to do. And if this is what Sid wants to do, and clearly it is, then I'm happy for him. We should pick the routes we enjoy as much as we possibly can.

So I'm happy for him. And you know what? I'm happy for them. They had an almost 20 year run. They created something out of nothing, Jeff. And how many TV shows last 18 years? It really is a phenomenon. And you can think of like for the next however many years now, when you talk to new people in the industry, you know, one of the common threads is going to be, I got into this business because of McAuliffe and Sixero.

I was a big fan of Tim and Sid. I used to listen to the podcast. I watched them on television. Like, I don't even know that these guys have a sense of how influential they are. Maybe they do because they hear it a lot. But like the influence that these two have had on young broadcasters, we probably won't know for however many years now, but I'm pretty sure that it runs deep in Canadian media. You know, I think the show was a lot different than what we were used to. I agree with you on that.

You know, Amal, I hope it's okay to say Amal, but at the end of the interview when we recorded it, Amal got on and talked about how much he loved their show and how it inspired him to get into broadcasting. And I don't think Amal's the only one. in sports the power of digital because you couldn't judge it solely by tv numbers it was always this thing where i'd watch it on tv but then i'd see a lot of action around it on social and whenever they tweeted out a clip how much engagement it had and how much people would retweet and comment on it and that's what i think that shows great power was was it was one of the first places and actually strombo show at cbc was another one jeff where cbc realized it wasn't only about the television audience, that there's another audience out there. Like everyone talks about cord cutters now.

Strombo Show and Tim and Sid Show were shows that really made the TV executives realize there was another audience out there years ago that was digital and it wasn't watching on television, but really liked these shows. And I think that Tim and Sid, and I want to give credit, even though I joke, they work at the evil telecom. I think Jay and Dan are like that too.

It wasn't about the eyeballs on television. It was about the engagement and the reach on social and all those three properties that you mentioned tim and sid uh strombo show jay and dan the one common thread in all of them is there's one very specific spirit that you have through all of it and that is i don't know if this is going to work but let's try it and find out and that's always what i liked about tim and sid like they had more hits than misses but they weren't going to get the hits unless they had the misses as well like they put a lot out there they didn't try to oh well i don't know let's focus test this thing and oh i don't know if the audience is right they just tried things

and that's i think the way you achieve greatness in this industry. Because nobody really knows what's going to be a hit. They tried things and they discovered they were a hit. Tim McAuliffe, Sid Cicero, Tim and Sid on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. Time for Tim and Sid. Time for Tim and Sid. Time for Tim and Sid. Time for Tim and Sid.

Time for Tim and Sid. It's time for Real Sports Talk with Tim McAuliffe and Sid Sexero. Elliot, we're going to talk to Tim McAuliffe and Sid Sexero right now. And I want to preface this by saying whenever I talk to Tim specifically, I get embarrassed. You know why that is? Because he's better looking than you? Better looking and I've always wanted to have a voice like Tim, which sounds like he grew up on a steady diet of cigars and scotch. Tim McCallough for the uninitiated.

Have you always had this rich, deep, coffee-infused, basso profundo voice? I don't know what you're talking about, Jeff Merrick. Jerk. Whatever do you speak of, Mr. Merrick? What a jackass. Off script already. What a jackass. I think what Jeff just said, Sid, is that your voice sucks.

I think that's basically the message that we just got. I think what Jeff also said is he wants his voice. I don't think he wants his hairline. It's getting there. Oh, dude, it's creeping. Really? You got a full mane on Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey. What are you talking about?

It's thick, though, but listen, when you get to the underlying numbers when it comes to my follicles, I'm not widow's peak yet, but the underlyings don't look good for your boy Jeffy, Sid. The analytics suggest running at the top of the forehead.

That's true. First of all, I want this to decide. I think Elliot's on the same page. I want this to kind of feel like a victory lap for you guys. We're going to go in a lot of different directions here on all of this, but let me just get your thoughts on where you guys are at with your career together and the Tim and Sid

phenomenon today as we record this Thursday, January 28th at 9.36 a.m. That's the first time I've ever heard us referred to as a phenomenon. Yeah, Tim and Sid Phenomenon. Thank God. God bless you. So I'm on my heels already on that. Tim, you want to go ahead first?

No, go. I'd love to hear what you say, Mr. I'm running the breakfast television. It's more of a light jog, but whatever. Yeah, that's true. I'm running to breakfast television. It's more of a light jog, but whatever. Yeah, that's true. I got to be honest. After last Thursday, I think I have a bit of a different perspective on that question. Okay. And I mean, you guys know how it is.

When you're in the bubble, you're in the bubble. You do the show, you prep, you do the best job you can especially nowadays and it ends and we shut the computers and we eat dinner and last thursday kind of like i knew it i think tim knew it but it was just an odd and it was an oddly timed reinforcement of kind of the job we had been doing for people and that's what kind of took me back a little bit like i i did know it to a certain extent but that reaction uh for us thursday was not something i was expecting i was expecting a reaction i wasn't expecting that type of reaction i was expecting more of good riddance, six arrow, go to hell.

McCallough, finally, this is your break. Like things of that nature. But I wasn't expecting that. And it was a nice justification in a certain way of the job we had been doing and have been doing. Because this hasn't been easy for anybody. Sure. because this hasn't been easy for anybody, let alone two guys who based the show on chemistry on a second and a half delay for 11 months. And a WhatsApp.

And a WhatsApp. The WhatsApp's saving everybody. Thank God for the WhatsApp. That's our communication during the show for those who don't know. During the show. So that's kind of where I'm at. I don't know if I answered your question, Jeff.

I probably didn't, but that's where I'm at. I don't know if I answered your question, Jeff. I probably didn't, but that's where I'm at. I understand that completely. And I think Elliot does as well. When you're in the middle of doing something, like right now it's forest for the trees and you can't see what's around you. And people who've listened to this podcast going back to when we started

have probably heard me quote Marshall McLuhan way too many times. One of my favorite quotes by him is, I don't know who discovered water, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a fish. When you're in the middle of it, you don't know. Like when you don't know the effect that you're having. To your point, you do your show and then you turn the microphone off and you go about the rest of your life.

Tim, do you echo what Sid just said? No, not at all. I have, I've always said, I'm not going to quote marshall mccloughan i'll quote timothy mccallough perspective is expensive and at a young age i had i had this gift and curse of perspective and i enjoyed the ride the entire way and elliot gave us elliot was on the show yesterday i know people will be listening in podcast land but elliot was on the show yesterday and he gave us the Dr. Phil and I was,

he's like, how are you guys doing? And it was an honest and a lovely question from someone that we've known since we walked in the door. Hold on. It was also a question with four seconds left in the segment. I don't know what answer you wanted in that moment. It was a great question.

That was your fault. Not mine talking to me, but unimportant stuff. Late segments are never my fault on that show, Fridge. You know that. I always stay to time. I got this great smile over my face because doing 20 years of anything in this business is a success. And lasting 20 years with someone that you are near the complete opposite with and still having a good relationship is almost

unheard of. And I think that for me, it's like, let's count our blessings. I've always interacted with a lot of the viewers and listeners and all those, like I've always tried to for better and for worse. And six zero knows it's been a lot of worse, but I've also had some of the most touching emails and DMs on Twitter and Instagram, and I've taken pictures of them, and I've sent them to other people just so that they understand what we're doing. So the entire time, I've kind of had a good spot

on where Sid and I have been, and we've been completely honest with each other for about five of the 20 years that we've worked with each other, but they've been the last five. So it's... The important years that we've worked with each other, but they've been the last five. So it's the important five. We've been really honest. Yeah. It's like pandemic work, life balance hard. If this is the choice that the guy that I work with that has never cheated me on air, uh, never sewered me or very rarely put me in a tough position on air.

Uh, if this is what he wants, I'm more than happy to not only help him get the flowers, but walk the flowers to him. And by extension, get a few myself. So you guys have been together 18 years. Um, as I tweeted last week, you built something out of nothing. Uh, you created something out of nothing and you both should be really proud

of the run you had together and will continue to have a part. Thanks, man. I am curious, though. Take the listeners and us, Jeff and myself and Amal, through the last few months from both your perspectives.

Now, I will tell you, from outside, there have been rumblings that both of you have been looking for change. I think in any marriage, whether it's a co-worker or a wife husband or partner 18 years brings great moments and times where you're both sick of each other so take us you know take us through the last little while and how this came apart and how you guys broached it together when you knew the end was coming. Why do I feel like a head coach in the

National Hockey League that's just lost his job and Elliot Friedman is combing, is combing for how it happened. And I had to call a cab in Carolina, like some kind of story like that. We're deep diving here. Tim, you, you or me, you, me, you, me, you, what do you want to do?

The one thing that we've done over the last little while, Frege, which would probably shock you because you know both of us pretty well and Merrick too, but Frege was there at the start when everyone knew we hated each other. But what we've done is like literally just been honest and said whatever the other guy needs like whatever you need and it sounds so horse bleep but it's not like just for the last i don't know five years whatever you need let me know we'll figure it out yeah it's

basically been that i guess frege in the summer from a growth standpoint i mean let's take it back even further like tim and i for the last two three years you know the conversations were pretty honest and i don't know how many program directors we've had know how honest we've been with each other but we have been and you know when you do this 15 16 17 years you just kind of you're asking yourself are you still being challenged and nothing like within the last two years Tim and I have been challenged on like time period of the show's history from the pandemic to seven straight hours of tv at a raptor spree you name it so it's been one challenge after another, after another, after another. At some point you reach the stage where you say to yourself,

if I pass another two or three challenges here, like what am I really proving to myself? And what's Tim really proving to himself? If it's the same type of challenge that we're facing, like he and I know we can do this, we can do this in our sleep. We can retire doing this, but is that exhilarating enough?

Are there other challenges? And in the summer, it kind of really, it kind of hit me that that's where my mind frame was at. And when breakfast television kind of started to kind of become a talking point, it hit me that a, this is something no one would expect me to do.

And I've never even asked McAuliffe if he thought I was nuts for trying this, but I don't, I don't think anyone would see me in the spot. And that's the type of challenge that i wake up for to prove people wrong because tim and i you know we've been the odds have been against us the whole time a talk show in canada that's slightly aggressive for 20 years with two guys good luck good luck but we did it so when this became more of a possibility and tim um like around the inauguration, I think things started to start to move. And that's when Timmy, that's when I kind of let Timmy in on it.

The thought of it became exciting, but it also became, there were moments where it became really real for me because there's two sides to the story. Like there's guys I've worked with 10, 15, 20 years that when they hear this, I know they're going to be happy for me. I know that. But, you know, there's some uncertainty there. Now, I don't worry about talent persevering or doing anything new. Real talent perseveres and I'm surrounded by it. But just adding that uncertainty, and I've said this to Tim a couple times off air too, adding to that uncertainty during this pandemic in our business is not something that makes me feel good for people that I know. So that was the drawback.

And you're going back and forth on it. And I guess for each, what it, for on my end, what it came down to was just, I don't think anyone thinks I can do this or would put me in this spot. So that kind of really, really makes me want to try it. Cause I think I can be okay. I think I can be good at it. And that to me is motivation enough. I get it. You know, Sid, and there's a couple more questions I have for you. I want to put this, that thought aside for a couple more questions i have for you i want to put

this that thought aside for a second because i do want to come back to that because i think that's very important and excellent motivation i think you can do the other question i wanted to ask you first oh sorry what was that i missed that what was that he whispered i think you can do it oh i thought you said i don't think you could do it it would have been funnier guys damn it but there's times we all pick up the phone and everybody listening to this will be the same thing and you know you have to make a tough phone call and you're like i don't know if anxious is the right word or afraid or whatever but you're like i am not going to enjoy this phone call. So I'm going to ask you, when you picked up the phone to tell Tim you were leaving, what were you feeling? And Tim,

what was your reaction? The funny answer would be like, oh, I was cool as a cucumber. Best phone call in my life. Like that's the funny answer to that question, which isn't true at all. It was after a show, Tim knew this was, it was happening. And the only thing Tim kept saying to me was just keep me in the loop. Just let know I go no problem but and it came to the point where they offered me the job and after the show I just called him up man like it's typical McAuliffe he was like I'm happy for you man and then the wheel starts spinning as to what the next move should be and then we like without getting into it we talked about a lot of stuff. And Tim knows my opinions on the future, which are not relevant in any way,

shape or form, because it's not my life. But we talked about everything for him and me. It wasn't as tough a conversation as people would think because of the honesty, especially recently, like Tim was saying that we've had, because we've kind of always been like that.

And if we had a different type of working relationship, it would have been completely different. Completely different. But as always, Tim, like Tim was saying earlier about just telling me what you need. Like he was amazing. Amazing. And the whole process could have been way more complicated if I was working with less of a professional. And I wasn't. And I just,

I want to get that out there because I think it's really important. Like this was a big decision on my end that had a lot of dominoes falling on the other side and continue to fall. I don't know how many meetings McAuliffe has tonight. They continue to fall, but Tim's a pro and we've worked together so long and we've been in the, in some of the wars. I can't stress how messed up some of the spots we were put in.

But we just lean on what we do, and we get through it. And it was a tough phone call for each, but not as tough as you would think considering the type of support that Tim has given me, both on and off air. You can see it during the show. Like he cradles me at times and just lets me be an idiot and then at times off air it's the exact same thing and there's no difference so it wasn't as tough a call as you would think it wasn't as tough how did you feel tim when you heard i wanted to like i wanted to be way more juice in this and give you more on like inside, uh,

inside baseball on this. But to be honest with you, like when you work this long with each other, like there've been times where I've had like legit family emergencies and I'd have to call this guy with tears in my eyes and say, I can't do the show today. Can you cover me? Like that's happened a couple times.

And when you go through that with somebody and they say, I want something different, you don't go, man, but what about me? Like there was no, like, I kind of sort of wish there was, but there was no, hey, are you sure about this? It was simply whatever you want. And the one piece of juice that I'll give you is when we went to radio, I did it because Sid was going without me to radio. And they offered me a spot besides Sid. And I said, I was just having my first child. And I was thinking about how often you guys and we in sports, and this is boring for the audience a little bit, but it gives you an understanding of everyone works nights and

weekends. That's just what you do. And I thought, man, one to four in sports and I'm having a kid and I might have another kid soon. Maybe I'll take this gig. And I did it. And part of what I wanted to do was prove how good we were as broadcasters. And the one piece of juice that I'll give you is I feel like I failed a little bit

when Sid called me and said, I'm going for another challenge because I figured we could get the next challenge in sports. And not that Sid would want that or doesn't want that, but the one thing that when he called me besides, hey man, I'm happy for you was, ah, crap, man. I wish I had given you your next challenge here. Or I wish I could have provided a little bit more of the variation that you're looking for here. But we're working in sports, so this is what it is. First of all, I understand, Tim, you guys didn't fail anything. Just understand that.

I understand what you're saying. I get it. But it's not a feeling I think you should have. And you can tell me to screw off. Like that's fine. But I don't think that that's a feeling you guys should have. Like from where you guys started to where you guys are now, it's a success by every.

Yeah. And don't get it twisted. That's not. Yeah. Like I, I'm very proud of what we have accomplished. Good. Hell.

I mean, we read stories about, you know, Hebsey and Taddy hating each other. We read stories about you know hebsey and tatty hating each other we read stories about keith oberman and dan patrick uh hating each other and not wanting to talk after it was done and we knew that right away like when we first started on score tonight together um we kind of were like we got to be careful of this and to be there 20 years later and go from podcast to local radio show to national tv show like there's not a lot of people in the industry that

can say they have moved the needle on at least three different platforms and if you add social media to it four different platforms like i am don't get into a meeting with me and a boss because my chest is way out there. Well, let me, let me, let me see if I can push that one, one step further and. And you guys have done that too. So you understand what it means to do it. So whenever people ask me, what do you think

of Tim and Sid? I always have the same answer and that is they're one of my favorite bands because I look at you guys like a band and you guys have been together for a long time. And just like, you know, you can't have a peak without a Valley, you know, all these things sort of exist at the same time with bands as with a relationship on air or off the air. Like I've always looked at you guys and I've said, you know, I would expect along the way there to be as much hate as love, as much support as a band and like just like a band goes through, just like relationships go through ups and downs.

And I've looked at it as being completely natural. The old, what's the old saying? That which is explicitly two is implicitly one. That just goes along with it so this is a long-winded and pretentious way and sid will start with you of asking this question how many times or how close have you ever come to breaking up before great question um i mean i can't speak for tim but like there was never any situation where it was like i'm walking off the show now like especially contractually like rogers was always very supportive of the show and wanted the show to continue the only

way it would have previously is if contractually something had come up like that's it like are you are you suggesting like i really hated his popeye jones take the one day and i wanted to walk off the show like what do you like what do you suggest no but like when you're when you're doing when you're working with someone overall uh over a course of a number of years right there are moments where i mean everybody needs a break when you say to yourself and bands take breaks and and and couples take breaks like well you just say you know what i just need to not do this right now and i don't know if i'm gonna come back to it but i just know that i can't do this right now did that ever happen to you guys no no and if and if it came close and i can't speak for tim it was like vacations were were good

like especially for a show as labor-intensive as ours. I disagree. Really? Yeah, after Score Tonight was turned off, we re-evaluated. Oh, that moment. Okay, yeah. I totally forgot when we got canceled.

Yeah, that moment. We got canceled, yeah. Sorry. Tim, you tell the story. Other than these five times, I don't remember ever thinking about it. I've somehow forgotten the time we got canceled. I'm so egotistical now.

I just leave that dark memory out of my mind. Go ahead, Tim. Let's go down that road. That's completely unnecessary, but whatever. We're going to just go down. The time we got canceled is one. When we did the podcast and Sid had no idea that anyone was listening to the podcast. And then all of a

sudden, it was the number one podcast in all of Canada. It was the number one sports podcast. It was competing with Joe Rogan's podcast at the time. And he turns to me and goes, holy crap, what the hell is this thing doing? And then he got a job offer out of it. And that was another time where we could have split up and we decided that this might work together. And we had conversations about moving from radio that were really tough to go TV only.

And the whole Bob McCowan reaction and going up against McCowan and how we thought of it differently and never really had the conversation about whether or not this should be the right move. Like we kind of, we just talked our way through most of it. And I think that's why the respect at the end became what it was, was because we took these steps, had conversations and they were okay at the end. I would say three, four times where we almost

broke up. Yeah. I forgot those times. I, and I got to say, yeah, three or four times, you're right. But the one time where I knew, to go to Tim's point about the podcast, because I didn't know what the hell we were doing. I thought we were just filling time. But when the podcast took off, we were taken into a room,

and I'm not going to say by who, but we were taken into a room at the SCORE television network, and the idea was pitched to go back on television. at the Score Television Network, and the idea was pitched to go back on television. And I had felt so emboldened by what happened with that podcast, I immediately said, there's no way I'm doing that. At least not there.

There's no way I'm doing that. So the way it went at the Score, actually, it was really disappointing when we got canceled. I take zero responsibility, but it was really disappointing when we got canceled. But to have that, but it was really disappointing when we got canceled. But to have that moment at the end, and Tim just reminded me of it, and I completely forgot about it,

where we had built the podcast back up to a point where no one really still understood it, but they just knew it was a thing, and asked us to go down that road again, I just wasn't, that's probably the moment where I felt the best, because I knew it wasn't like, we didn't need the propping up of whatever national kind of show and elements they'd put around us, which was nice, but the show was different. I was looking at

the show differently. I don't know if Tim was, but I was, and I wasn't going to take a second swing on people that didn't understand us. No way was that happening. That's when I probably felt the best about us. Obviously, Rodgers and all that stuff, it's been fun. That moment, and Tim just reminded me of it. Damn, that felt good. We busted our ass getting a podcast up

and running. There was a lot of word of mouth to it. Tim, what was the promo on that, honestly? What was the promo on that? Zero. There the promo on that zero there was none it was your twitter account my twitter account and cabral richards twitter account yeah because he was just kind with the help of bad for us and he did put us over i bet he regrets it to this day that he put us over but he put us over but alongside aaron bronstetter who's now doing amazing work at tsn alongside john noon together helped us put it together.

When we talk about them on this podcast, it's the good telecom and the evil telecom. So you have to call it the evil telecom. Well done. Team blue, team red. Let's do that. We call them the three letter. I've got a few topics I want to talk about here.

First of all, I want to talk about the beginnings. Obviously, I remember you guys coming and just starting your way and working your way up and doing it the way that, um, you know, it's supposed to be done really in a lot of ways. You, you start at the bottom and you work your way up and you guys really earned it. All the success you've had, you've earned it. But I don't remember your first days or anything like that specifically. So let's go back. Let's go back 23 or so years, 24 years. What do you guys remember about your starts? When you look back and think about your first days in the business, I mean, was it still called Headline Sports then or was it the score already? What do you guys remember about it? It called Headline Sports then, or was it the score already? Like, what do you guys remember about it?

It was Headline Sports, yeah. I remember my first day. I walked in, and they sent me to where the interns stand, and there was this rather hair suit Portuguese guy standing where the interns stand, and it was just me and him. And I said, wait a sec, wait a sec,

wait a sec, wait a sec. We had a place where the interns stand at the score. Like, like it sounds awful. I believe it violated a lot of Geneva convention rules. It was right outside the control room. I'm pretty sure by the server room that the painter urinated in and put the station off the air.

Do you remember that, Arias? Yes. I do remember that story. What? Also known as the make-out room. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Everyone listening to this is going, what's that story? You don't have enough hours in the day, Merrick, for these stories. You don't have enough hours on the spot. Give us the 10-cent tour. Go.

A painter was painting and he decided that he wasn't going to go to the washroom. So he urinated in a paint can, knocked over the paint can, shorted out all of our servers and the station went off the air. That's a powerful stream, sir, to knock over a paint can. It was one of our proudest moments as a score television network. The painter urinated and shorted us out uh so we stood by where the painter urinated and shorted the station out and uh there was six arrow and

me waiting for a guy named by the name of glenn mcdonald to assign us to our duties for the day and i walked up and i was like is this where the is this where the interns are supposed to stand and he's like what day is it for you I go it's my first uh my first day how many how many how many days you've been here how long you've been here and the guy's like ah that's about my eighth or ninth I just stand just stand beside me I'll take care of you and that was my introduction to Sin Six Arrow. I love how tim's version of that has me being the aggressor there's no there's no way that's how that played out oh yeah i know i whispered in a very soft voice yeah with flowing hair it was just a different tim mccalliff very different to mccalliff but yeah it was it was headline sports when we got there and then it

was the score and it was working till 3 a.m. trying to put the best Mariners pack together we could. Yeah, it was just, it was amazing times, man. Like what was the whole crew? Like let's remember the crew. It was Elliott Friedman. It was Greg Sansoni. It was Tim McAuliffe. It was James Cebulski.

It was me. It was, who am I missing? Martine. Cabby Martine. Martine Geyer. Cabby. Adnan Virk. I remember Lisa Bowes was there for a while.

And I believe Martin and Lisa were the first all-female combination to host a sports news show before. James Sharman, Christian Jack. Christian came a bit later, but he was there. Yeah. Yeah. Correct. You know, it's a good alumni to be a part of. Brian Spear.

Brian Spear, producer, Hockey Night in Canada. alumni to be a part of Brian Spear, Brian Spear, producer hockey night in Canada. I hear all these executives now talk about like talent diversity and cultural experimentation and things like that. And that was the score before YouTube and Google and all these other places gave,

you know, kids a chance. The score gave people chances and both Sid and I started as interns and just kind of, as you're saying, for each, for kids who are listening, like every step of the way, like I went from an intern. I remember I quit my job at Bell Mobility for two $50 paid shifts a week and moved back into my dad's house. I was making $100 a week and probably working like 60 to 70 hours a week. And most of it was intern and two of them were paid shifts.

And then you got a chance to write something and then you got a chance to script write. We did that for Mark Habsher, who was like a god at that time. We did that for Sansoni. We did that for you, Frej. I remember one of my first real big gigs was you and I working on the NCAA tournament together where I would cut the packs for you to go on air with.

And you would sit in the suite with us. So it was like every little step along the way before we actually got on air and got our voices on air and got our reps, even though we probably didn't deserve them yet as broadcasters. Well, that's what I liked about that place, Tim, is that they threw you in the water and you either drowned or you swam.

It was a great place to learn. It really was. They had to. Now, what do you want to do? You have a blank canvas here. Sorry, me? Yeah. Is that me?

I think he's talking to you. Hang on, Amel. If he says hosted Hockey Central, take that out of the podcast, please. It's like that whole that thing from the Simpsons with Homer Simpson, where he's in the witness protection program. I think he's talking to you. I have no idea. This is the second time someone's given me a blank whiteboard. This is the second time someone's given me a blank whiteboard.

And for the first time, I just think that the industry is changing so much that the previous constraints of you're going to do this show for this time no longer exists. We're not going to get the five to six or six to seven or three hours of local radio the way it used to be there's going to be asked to do other things everywhere as you guys well know so i think what i'd like to do is and i'm in the process of doing it is hearing what people think they'd like to see me in and then for the first time ever having a choice on, like for those who are just listening and they don't, they're like, who the hell is this dude? Like I have created almost every step that I've taken in this business and some of it from scratch, like the podcast. And, you know, someone came up to me and said, we need you guys on TV. What do you want to do? And we created this TV show, um with a three-hour ad lib show

that I don't know how many places could pull off. And Freed was in the corner for most of it, looking at us like, what the hell are these guys doing? So for me, it's like, I mean, I wish I could give you the, I want to do this. And that's the answer, but I don't know. I'm literally looking at a blank whiteboard and listening to other people's ideas right now. If you could pick your co-host, who would it be? I don't think that's a great spot to put anyone in. No, I was joking.

I wasn't expecting a serious answer. No, I think, guys, I think it's really difficult. I think Tim's right. I think the bar's been set high. I think it's tough. I think it's a tough thing to answer. Tim, there's no way I was going to make you, even if you started to answer that question,

I was going to stop you. I was going to get to the point where I say, Sid is so good that no one can replace him. Hell yes. And then, of course, the follow-up to make you nice and uncomfortable is, and how much do you feel that we should compensate you for this correct yeah what's my pay do you think that your co-host should make 25 of your salary 50 or 75 let's figure out how much sid's making to move over to bt and then we'll answer that question all right six zero you talked about it earlier i know you like for people who don't know

you guys you guys are exactly almost exactly the way you are on the air tim is calmer you've got the the chip on your shoulder i when you talked earlier about wanting to do this because people didn't think you could do it i saw that a mile away and I know that's one of the motivations for you. I have no doubt you can do this. I understand where you're coming from here. I think about that a lot. Like in this business, we don't call our shots, right? You know, that's the way it goes. You have an opportunity here to call your shot. You know, that's the way it goes. You have an opportunity here to call your shot.

I just wanted you to know that I respect it. I understand it. And I know you're going to be great at it. Thanks, man. Thanks, man. And Timmy's been just as kind off air. But like to your point about calling your shot, like we see the business here. Like we're in a pandemic.

I get it. This is a rare opportunity, especially now. I don't take it for granted. I understand this is not how it's supposed to be. It should be going at this time. So, and I consider myself extremely lucky and fortunate to even have something like this on the table. And a huge thank you to everyone at Breakfast Television who are putting an insane amount of trust in me. So I just feel very lucky in this spot for a lot of reasons. Like the way Tim has supported me for the opportunity I have, for the love we got Thursday, for just you guys kind of just chopping it up with us here. Like I feel fortunate.

That's the prevalent emotion I have right now. There was a little anxiety going into last Thursday. Cause like, I didn't think we're going to get to air with this before it leaked. And then it was like 15 minutes to show time and it was 10 minutes to show time. And I'm thinking to myself, this is insane. Like we're actually going to net. Like I just thought it would be out.

It's how I envisioned it. But like my anxiety level started going through the roof as that show started saying, okay, this, we carried it to this point. Now I'm going to drop it. And now it's on me, obviously.

I got to drop it. And it was a weird feeling in the moment faced with it that I wasn't anticipating. But I just feel very, I feel lucky. I feel really lucky for the show I've done, for the support, for this opportunity. But I think I'm ready. I think I'm ready. And i'm ready and i'm looking forward to it can you give these guys a little more juice here like stop with them magna is magnanimous the word that i'm looking for merrick please help me out yeah yeah no that's not being magnanimous

rip somebody crush somebody go on a rant here here's what it is i was gonna ask you tim what is sid's all-time worst or dumbest rant? Like the one where you looked at him and said, I can't believe I'm sitting next to this idiot. How do I love thee that may count the ways? My biggest pet peeve, and a lot of people do this in sports, is you aren't until you do. So, like, you weren't.

David Price is a choker in the post season until he does like he was he might be the greatest pitcher of the last four years and he will crap his pants in the post season the ones that i made him bet on like when he said david price would be crap because his previous history in the postseason said that he wasn't a great pitcher and I was saying well but eventually the guy that you see the other 40 starts will show up everyone does this in sports the that guy isn't that until he does it Ovechkin name the person there's there's so many of them where you see extended brilliance and then someone says, well, he's not this. And you know eventually what Clayton Kershaw is another one.

The ones that I made him bet on are the ones like that. And David Price was one of my favorites because in the end, for the listener, Sixero had to sing Despacito in Spanish when David Price went six innings of one run or less foul. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present to you Sid Cicero, paying up his bet. Despacito

in Spanish. I gotta look down, it's in Spanish. Oh dear God. You're in trouble. Hi. Fonzie. Oh yeah! Ay, Fonzie. Oh, no. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Si, sabe que la labor era tomirante. Tengo que bailar contigo. I hate you so much. What? Yes. Yes. Get it right. I sang it well on air. It wasn't pitchy at all.

It was great. It was great. You may have just named Spanish soccer teams by the end of it, but yes, you did it. I want to go on the way back machine here real quick. This is before a score. Now, Sid, correct me if i'm wrong on this one i think i'm the only person in the world that still calls you deuce is that true i think i think you're right i think you're right and the reason you want to tell everyone why yeah i'll tell the story i had

i went to humber college and i was part of a hockey show on Virtually Canadian Radio way back in the day. So hang on, Virtually Canadian was, the only reason I know this is because I was a program director of this online radio station, the first in Canada, John Walters, the late John Walters owned it. And Molson, I think was the, was some of the

startup cash behind it. And the idea was, it was going to be a radio station, but online. First time ever in Canada. Take it from there, Sid. So the idea was, it was going to be a radio station, but online. First time ever in Canada. Take it from there, Sid. So cheap labor was needed. So they went to Humber College and looked for any students that wanted a shot.

And Donnie Abreu at the time I went to school with at Humber knew Jeff. Big daddy. Got three of us to. Yes. Big daddy. So we, shout out Donnie. So we did a hockey show at Virtually Canadian.

Was it Adelaide? Where was it? It was a great spot, actually. Queen and Adelaide, right, right. It's gone now. It turned into a furniture shop. I'm not sure what's there now. Right across from the old Toronto Sun Building.

We're all like 20 years old, 19, 20 years old. Sorry, Queen and Parliament. Queen and Parliament. Let me get it. Queen and Parliament, forgive me. Pacific, as we say in the Atlantic. Queen and Parliament. So it was myself and a college buddy of mine, Mike Stevenson.

Who, by the way, is radio royalty in Toronto. His grandfather was the great Bill Stevenson from CFRB. Legend. Absolute legend, Bill Stevenson. Yep. So Mike obviously felt entitled the entire time I went to school with him, but whatever. Topic for another day. And Timothy Melton was a buddy of ours,

one of the biggest real static fans I've ever met in my life. Best band in the world. And we just did a show. And that's how I met Jeff for the first time. It's funny to look back. Well, listen, I have one single. I think I only have one. I've got to go back and look.

But Elliot, Sid and mike did this show called offside and it was a hockey show but it was it was the first time because you know you grew up and everything about hockey is so serious and every broadcast is serious and this was the first show i ever heard where these two guys came on and just completely took the piss out of hockey regularly. And it was hilarious. I have one tape of this in my basement somewhere. When we moved up here to Stouffville, I was going through all my stuff and I found one, but it's on a DA 88 and I have no way of playing it. I got to figure out how I can play it and then transfer it to get it over to you because I'm sure you don't have any tapes

from those old shows. But they were brilliant, Sid. I remember listening to it and saying, no one has ever done a hockey show like this. It was amazing. Appreciate that. And unfortunately, that was the last groundbreaking thing I ever did.

So that's the end of my story. Those were the days though. Those were the days though. Those were the days, Jeff. I mean, appreciation is, we referenced earlier, like when you're right in the middle of it, you don't understand sort of what you're doing and the effect that you're having on people.

And I'm glad you guys have had some time and there's some runway here where you can sort of land the plane and understand like when you open the hatch, like how many people are there to applaud and welcome you back home. You guys really did a really unique and wonderful thing and made sports a greater experience for a lot of people. Like there's the event.

Like I've always said that what people like me and Elliot do or what you and you and you guys do is like, we're not the painting. The games are the painting. We're the frame all around it. Like we sort of set the editorial around it, but the frame is that important part where it lets you know where art stops and life begins. And I think the way that you guys have framed sports for near 20 years has

been, has been brilliant, has been intelligent, has been brilliant, has been intelligent, has been funny, and I think has lengthened a sports fan's career and made sports more interesting. And that's really something that can't be understated as far as being something that's challenging to do over the course of as long as you guys have done it. People have like little streaks where you can do it for a couple of weeks

or a couple of months or a couple of years. You know, we talk about longevity in sports and how much that means to other athletes. But from one broadcaster to two guys here, like having that run of 20 years, like I look at that and we talk about Ironman streaks or how long Gordie Howe played. Like that's remarkable. That's impressive to bring it

every single day for that long from one broadcaster to another yeah well done gentlemen thanks brother thanks maddie it's funny you think back to uh the score was a place where a lot of people's careers took off a lot of a lot of good people their careers took off i'm you know i'm really happy for you guys i am i uh i think you just did an unbelievable job and you built something out of nothing i think it's to be admired and you know tim i'm curious to see what you decide to do i'd love to see the tim mccallough show i really would i think there is a you know for lack of a pick one there's a jimmy kimmel uh jimmy fallon uh trevor noah a samantha b for sports like i i really think that there's hold on a second buddy that's that's way too high bring it down a notch no pressure i'm not paul McCartney. He's not John Lennon, all right? No pressure at all, Timmy. No, no, no, no. But you got enough with this garbage.

Like, you got the ability to do this. And I think there's a sports talk show instead of a, that can be really well done. Like, the one thing I really like, I like your guy's set. When we're allowed to go back into the studio, I hope that set doesn't disappear, because I think it's a beautiful set and i think tim you could do a lot with it and uh i would love to see and you know hey tim i'm not

telling you what to do i don't like anyone telling me what to do because i so i don't like to tell anyone else what to do but i think the tim mccalliffe show with a good set of guests and I think you'd be great at it. I really do. I got it. I got it. Write it down. I got it. This is the beauty of it though.

Like, honestly, like I love hearing from guys that I respect in the business guys that I, and it's been, I've heard a lot in the last little while and it's kind of been fun for me to, to sit and listen to people's ideas. So honestly, if you ever want to call me off the air and tell me what I need to do, uh, let me know. I won't because you got to make that call. Not me. And I will. And the one thing I realized that like,

there's a lot of inside the business stuff about why we broke up and I don't listen to any of that. I don't read any of that because I don't think the listeners give a shit about that stuff, but any of the rumblings, like I know there were some rumblings out there because people sent it to me.

None of that is true about how or why we broke up. Sid just wanted a different challenge. And that's, that's a part of this that I feel like I should have put in way earlier in this conversation, but I wrote it down on a piece of paper. So now I doing it.

Can I, can I follow up on that just to reiterate the point? That stuff bothers me. No one scared me off air. No one fired me. This show ended on our terms, and I'm very proud of that. I'm not scared of anything

or anybody. I respect a lot of people, but I'm not scared of anything or anybody. I respect a lot of people, but I'm not scared of anyone or anything. This show ended on our terms. I appreciate the point Tim just made, and we should have made it earlier. There's been a lot of stupid garbage out there that kind of annoyed me for a half

a second, and then I moved on with my day. But I know full well the job we've done i know full well we didn't shortchange anyone on any day and uh we're ending this on our terms so i just want to reiterate that man i'm gonna miss that yeah you sound like you've really moved on like you're not really bothered by it at all no listen you know me free i don't pay attention to the blogger with 10 000 followers but i'm just kidding with you, Sid. I'm just joking.

Come on. But that did, I want to say, that's important to say. Thank you for saying that, Tim. That's important to say. There's your juice. To hell with everything. This was on a, this was, we weeded this. To hell with everything else.

We did this. I think Sid went on a diatribe halfway through about how much, I don't know, real Canadian radio or something along the lines of that or the score urination scandals. And I wrote it down on my sheet of paper and I said, maybe I'll circle back on this. And so I wanted to circle back. Get back on that. Well, guys, like I've heard enough from you guys.

It's time to move on. Yeah. Agreed. I said what I had to say. I'm really happy for you guys. Great job, guys. Like, you know, there's going to be a lot of people who are listening to this who are starting out. And I think there's a lot of lessons in there.

You guys were determined and you found a way. Good on you. Thanks, brother. Thank you, brother. One more name that wrestler, Merrick. One more. All right. One more.

Yeah. I don't know how, Merrick. One more. All right. One more. Yeah. I don't know how, but we'll do it. The Ric Flair intro one more time. Yeah. That was some of the most fun I've ever had on radio. Yeah, that was a great time. That was a great time. What? Elliot, we all wish Sid the best at Breakfast Television.

We all do. We all wish Tim McAuliffe the best. I'm excited for both for different reasons. One's stepping into a heritage show, one that goes back to 1989, and the other, and this is both inspiring and frightening if you're in that position.

To your point, Tim McAuliffe can start something new again. That's got to be pretty exciting if you're Tim McAuliffe right now. I would look at it that way. I think sometimes it's just great to take a breath and some people get scared of the unknown. I think we all do.

But if you sit down and really think about it and look at it and say, okay, this is an opportunity, not something to be afraid of. Oh, yeah. You can tackle it very differently. I think Tim's going to be great, whatever he chooses to do, both those guys.

Speaking of longevity, how about Brian Red Hamilton, assistant equipment manager for the Vancouver Canucks. Congratulations, 1,000 games. We talk about players hitting that mark. How about the assistant equipment manager in Vancouver? Just a really friendly person. Whenever I do in vancouver he'll see you he's always got a big smile over a long season especially ones like this where there's so much isolation um you need people who are just in good moods a lot of the time and you know i'm not around there as much obviously as people from vancouver are or media players from vancouver's are but whenever i see him he's in just a great mood and you need people

like that you know pat o'neill who's the equipment manager there he's a pretty legendary figure too so if you're a canuck and you look at that staff with pat and brian and you're thinking to yourself boy we're in really good hands you know what those guys are loved next time you talk to someone who's played in the nhl get them to talk about their equipment managers their trainers all the support staff because these are really good people and they help these players more than we know or acknowledge on, on podcasts like this. Congratulations to Brian for a thousand games. Before we wrap up for each want to mention,

check out sportsnet.ca Christine Simpson, who on Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey launched a new weekly feature. It is the big picture. This week's edition features her one-on-one with John Tortorella. It was excellent. We hope that you get a chance to visit the long form piece that Simmer did with John Tortorella at sportsnet.ca. There is a link for that piece in the bio as well.

Closing thoughts, Frege, anything to leave us with? I miss you, Jeff. I love you, Elliot. You're a nice bunch of guys. Taking us out. Sam Coffey and the Iron Lung are getting set to release their sophomore album, Real One, next month. From that album, and it's quite fitting,

here's Sam Coffey and the Iron Lung with Back With The Game. 31 Thoughts Department. Fall, take me older, I'll be holding on to the grave Fall, you're a soldier, watch your mighty forever in pain Fall, you're the boulder, that you're reaping and turning to pay Fall, you're a boulder, you found it around in the woods Tell your mother, tell your brother, tell your best friend too Looks like daddy's back in town and daddy's back to school

You're running me wild, tie it back with the gang With the gang You're running me wild, tie it back with the gang