Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Jermain Franklin (FULL INTERVIEW)

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

FULL EPISODE | FN Barn Burner: Boomer, Pinder & WarrenerYoutube Link 🎥 https://youtu.be/4TgNWMxO4dAOn today’s episode of Barn Burner, we sit down with longtime friend and TSN star Jermain Franklin. From his early days chasing his hockey dreams, to cutting his teeth at The Fan 590, to spending 17 years covering the Flames and Stampeders in Calgary, Jermain shares incredible stories from his career in sports media.We get into:How Jermain broke into broadcasting and landed at TSNMemories of covering the Flames’ 2004 Cup Final runBehind-the-scenes media stories with Darryl Sutter, Mike Keenan, and Jarome IginlaWhat it was like moving back to Toronto to join SportsCentreThe personal side of sports media, building relationships, and why everyone loves JermainOne of the nicest guys in the business, Jermain Franklin brings a ton of laughs, insight, and nostalgia in this wide-ranging chat.Subscribe to @Flames_Nation on Youtube🚨➡️ / @flames_nation🔥 After Burner➡️ • FlamesNation Afterburner📲 Follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fnbarnburner/X (Twitter): https://x.com/barnburnerfn?lang=en🎧 Listen on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/barn-burner-boomer-pinder-with-rhett-warrener/id1648562889Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Mc6Qd5U22R2zbMlQ7RxIiBARN BURNER BLONDEhttps://originbrewing.myshopify.comFLAMESNATION MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/flamesnationBARN BURNER SHORTShttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cW2DHEDZ6dEO5ePDmlhZc9SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Powered by @bet365. Whatever the moment, it’s Never Ordinary at bet365. Download the App today and use promo code:NATION. http://www.bet365.ca/👍🏼 McLEOD LAW https://www.mcleod-law.com/👍🏼 VILLAGE HONDA https://www.villagehonda.com/👍🏼 OUTDOOR DENTAL https://www.outdoor.dental/👍🏼 ORIGIN BREWING https://originbrewing.ca👍🏼 Crystal Waters Plumbing Company https://crystalclearcalgary.com/👍🏼 BON TON MEATS: https://www.bontonmeatmarket.com/index.html👍🏼 GRETA YYC: https://www.gretabar.com/locations/calgary#games👍🏼 Invest-Med: https://invest-med.ca/👍🏼 Alberta Teachers’ Association: https://www.stoptheexcuses.ca/👍🏼 The Hearing Loss Clinic: https://hearingloss.ca/👍🏼 Vena Nova https://venanova.com/Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!Producer: Jack Haverstock#NHLPlayoffs #Hockey #HockeyTalk #Playoffs #StanleyCup #EdmontonOilers #StanleyCupFinal #NHL #CalgaryFlames Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, buddies. Welcome to the Friday edition of Barn Burner. Almost the weekend. We made it. Almost back to doing full five-day weeks of live shows as well. I think we appreciate that you appreciate it. It does mean doing shows every day for us. And being that we're lazy, it does, you know, it's tough. But anyway, long story short, five day a weeks. They start next week. Today, a little sit-down had a chance to catch up with good friend. Germain Franklin you know germain he's on ts n he's on sports center the big star he's a he's a star he was here in calgary for a long time and we'll get into the just how that came to be getting hired by tsn he's in toronto lives in toronto he's the ontario guy and then has to move to calgary uh spent a long time here in the end as it turned out but i just wanted to he's one of the nicest guys going and if it does seem like i think that guy's a really nice guy it's not always the case then you meet people as they don't don't meet you heroes. Turns out that guy was a real jerk. It's like Pinder. Um, but he is,

Jermaine, truly one of the nicest guys going. Principay is kind of one of those guys. There's some real good people and Jermaine is one of them. Um, and I just wanted to tell this story before we get to it because it kind of shows what kind of a guy he is. Back, I guess it would have been the fall of 2007. I just moved to Calgary to start doing afternoons on 960. The year prior, I was in Edmonton working with Oilers, with Oilers radio there. Anyway, it's a day, Craig McTavish is the coach of the Oilers.

We're doing the coaches scrum. And there's one of the camera guys with one of the TV stations in Edmonton. He's got his camera, and usually you've got your camera guy, or girl or person, and a reporter. The reporter does,

you know what I'm talking about. Well, this day, the reporter is either late or not there. So camera guy's got the camera. It's on a tripod thing. And he's holding the microphone. It's a struggle. I'm just I'll hold your microphone this now it's already started but I just give me

give me your mic and I'll hold it because I'm sold the microphone so oh thanks so I hold the thing and another reporter from another media outlet it's not important looks at me and they're like they give me the stink guy and a half what did I say something I didn't ask a question I made did I make a slight noise I'm sorry anyway holding the two microphones Metabish scrums and scrum ends hand the microphone back to the camera guy's like yeah thank thanks yeah yeah so then I asked this the person what what was like what did I what happened there and they're like I don't know why you would do that I'm literally I'm I'm I have no idea what they're talking about I

don't know what what what do you mean did I what what if the reporter isn't here they don't get the scrum they don't get it like that's why would you help them because I just don't understand why you do that I said well he was holding The camera, I was just trying to help him. I was helping the guy. I wasn't even thinking of that. I was just, he was struggling to hold it. Ah, and they storm off.

And it was just another one of those. I never would have thought of, well, good for the TV outlet that they don't get this McTavish scrum on some random Tuesday or Wednesday. Anyway, fast forward to that fall. I'm doing afternoons, and I don't need to run through the whole thing. But anyway, getting ready to do the afternoon show. and Germain walks in. And now I've met Germain. This is maybe two, three, whatever, a few months in.

Germain comes in and he's like, hey, let's just say it was whatever, Bob Hartley. Hey, Bob Hartley came back out and did a quick little thing talking about the goaltending for tonight. I know you guys were getting ready for the show. I've got the audio if you guys want to take it off the camera. Comes in. We didn't ask. We didn't know. But he knew that we were in getting ready for the one of a call.

It was close to one o'clock. Hey, I've got this audio for you because you guys missed it. But if you want it, that is Jermaine Franklin. That is what he is like and what he is all about. Great dad. He's a great husband. He's a great guy. And we're in for a tree today. He is a, great catch up with one of my favorite people in all of the sports media, Jermaine Franklin. I wouldn't expect. Now, I like this for people that are just, I don't have Jack. our producer so i'm doing all this i hope this is running and you had little help when we got going it okay now turn this way okay now this yeah exactly see we all need some help in our in our old age oh big time i the white piece she was like i'm like oh it says i need uh

google chrome i got a it's like uh now i need a password for my yahoo oh what is that again it's ridiculous age boom Old man problems. Old man problems. I couldn't believe it. I should, I should know because we're all kind of in the same boat when you were talking about your kids. You got Sam and Micah and they're both in university. Or graduated from high. Oh yeah, long ago. Somehow between and we'll walk through it, but between you leaving Calgary going to try. I guess there was a pandemic in there. We're now really well removed from the. Like, holy crap, right? What's happening? Yeah, a lot is. A lot has happened. And it was in the middle of the pandemic where I ended up leaving Calgary

coming to Toronto for the opportunity to be on the desk with TSN. For those who may not know, but I hope all your viewers and listeners know that I'm on sports center with TSA. Who's this guy? Who is this guy? Yeah, spent 17 good, amazing years in Calgary covering the flame. and stampeters and everything else that was there that they would let me cover like the Olympic Park and everything. But yeah, in 2020, I got the call to audition to be on the desk. And that actually

happened in February. And that was before we knew what was coming up. Right. So did the audition. I said, everything looks great. I think we're going to we're going to bring you down in the spring probably in March or April and I'm like awesome let's keep this hush hush until it happens guess what happened in March early March late February all of a sudden Germain's on the back burner you know what Jermaine we got bigger fish to fry you and your little ts N gig we'll talk later perfect yeah exactly we'll see I mean this might blow over this might blow over I'm like yeah why it'll be a couple of weeks yeah I don't know what a pandemic is what this this is nothing trust me this is not this is not a big thing let's

just get me moved down there so we could start this do you remember those do you remember that time though like like the flames i remember it was like so are we going to practice yeah morning skate islander game right they were playing the islanders yeah is this game going to happen is it's crazy to look back at it all because i think it was the night before it was that NBA game right where they uh if ever could just please please leave the arena please uh please uh just calmly leave the arena yeah it was the utah jas kind of weird strange times tom hanks has got covid tom's oh no tom's dying and then the world shut down crazy yeah it was it was unbelievable and nobody really knew what

was next including us including myself um when as the weeks went by it was like okay maybe this thing isn't going to happen. And as the months went by, by the way, by the way, I know I'm just jumping all over the place, boom. It's good. But we probably never worked as hard as we possibly could, except during the pandemic. And I would say the comparable would be the 05 lockout for the NHL. But the way that we had to hustle to get a hold of athletes and whoever would talked to us on Zoom, which was brand new, but huge. It was, it was incredible. I remember talking to guys from their cottages, from their workouts, just trying to get content from my home and just putting it on the website and everything. It was, it was wild for those few months. And then the summer

came and then finally, I actually did get a call and they said, you know what, no matter what, we're going to, you're coming in. You're going to start in September. Let's do this. So it was wild. And of course, George Floyd happened in that summer as well. It was just a wild 2020. Wild 2020.

But glad to be back in Toronto, back in Ontario, where I grew up, where I was born. But my years in Calgary, man, I wouldn't train them for the world. It was awesome. Well, we will relive some of that. We'll do the Germain, the Germain Franklin story. Now, you can't trust everything you read on the internet, but I was like, well, you germane's my buddy.

I don't really need to do a lot of digging or homework for this interview. We'll just shoot the ship. New Brunswick before moving to Ontario. I went to a flyers game while living in pet. There's a lot about Germain Franklin. I don't know. It's okay. I knew you from southern Ontario, somewhere down by Toronto,

because going back to Toronto was going home. Give me the young Jermaine Franklin story. Oh, man. Yeah, all that is true. My dad is an engineer. And he's originally from Jamaica, immigrated to Canada, went to Montreal for schooling, met my mom, who was also from Jamaica, who was also in Montreal for schooling, and the rest is history.

They get married. They move to Markham. my brother and I are born. And my dad's like, I have an opportunity in New Brunswick. Let's see the world when we're still young, still have a chance. Went to New Brunswick. This is before my memory because I was super little. But my first memories happen in New Brunswick.

That's where I learned to ride a bike. That's where I split my forehead open, learning to ride a bike. That's where I became like a little kid. So then he had an opportunity in Edmonton. Alberta. We moved to Edmonton, lived there for three and a half years. And that's, that was from like kindergarten up to grade two. We lived in Edmonton. I was a big Oilers fan, obviously. And we're talking about the 80s. So 80 to 83, 84. Easy to be an oiler fan. That's the heyday. That is the heyday. My sister was born out there too. So we, we have permanent

roots in Edmonton. And then from Edmonton, my dad had another opportunity. And he worked in the power plant, I guess the nuclear industry. We had another opportunity out near Philadelphia, a small town called Royers Ford. There was a power plant in Limerick, Pennsylvania. That's where my pops worked, and that's where we moved for another three and a half, four years. I played for the Pots Town penguins as a in minor hockey so what happens when the oilers are playing the flyers in exactly seven or 88 whatever i was an oilers fan i was i was i did not switch allegiances and uh that's how i knew mike keenan from time like sure what what other like eight-year-old canadian wouldn't really know who mike keenan was from the time they were seven eight and nine

because he had those flyers hopping, right? Well, I remember the tragedy of Pellie Lindberg. Everybody remembers that. But when you talk about those teams, it was incredible. Peter Sezzle, just an incredible rookie. Hextel, unbelievable. Right? Rick Tocket.

That was what he became Rick Tocket. So, I mean, and of course, being in the Philadelphia area, I'll say, because it's about 45 minutes to an hour outside of Philadelphia. That's where you realize what sport is all about. That's when you realize it matters where you're situated. I remember the high school in Philadelphia was called Springford because it was two small towns put together. Royersford and Spring City.

The high school was Springford. You talk about Friday night lights in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania football. And you thought you got Penn State right on Saturdays. But Friday was high school football. And it was like, how do I explain it? Well, it was like, you know, the soccer cities, especially you see it in Vancouver where they start walking to the stadium before the game and they take over the streets. That was what it was like for Friday night football. The whole town. everybody knew exactly where they were going we're going to the small stadium that sat about it sat about 2,000 people and everybody was just rocking trying to get there we're of course playing under the bleachers

we're dodging the what do you call it the chew yeah and we're just like oh watch it oh it's just it's it's i mean it's it's a culture and an environment that all never forget and it's it was awesome it was awesome so were you sad to leave because then obviously it's back to canada that's that's those are formative years right you're because i would guess you're now it's eagles it's it's go birds and you're not all that sort of stuff and then because i'm with there's something about philadelphia that just those teams that fan base and like you said they frothed the mouth it's same in boston and in a lot of cities but philadelphia's a tough area that's tough town so you would be you'd have been indoctrida

by them for sure absolutely and um it was when i left it was 11 12 years old so i knew we were leaving i knew it would be tough saying bye to my best friends richie pooh peck and adrian stead like oh poops yeah what i mean and um but it was really tough on my brother who's four years older so that means he was in high school he was in high school and he had to make the change and he's like are you kidding me we're going back to Ontario but it was my mom who's like he's like like like life was great for us but it was she was like you know what you think it's great but it's a little different out here in terms of opportunity in terms of the way that um what you got what you boys are are uh you don't even realize some of the things we're facing yeah and canada is where we have free health care

Canada is where we have just, we're just safer and we have more family. That's the, that's the message my mom would give us later on in life saying, yeah, it was great. But it wasn't, it wasn't Canada. It wasn't Ontario. So we moved back to Ontario in 87. And that's where, that's where we actually planted roots. never left the small town of stowville since 87 and uh very grateful to be in stoval where you know i eventually kind of became a lease fan you know blue and white if i mean gretsky got traded to the kings

it's like what is happening people may not have heard that gretsky did it you know what is happening to the oilers and then all of a sudden half my friends became kings fans and it's like you can't be a Kings fan. I'll stick with the Oilers. And they, they came through. They won in 90. Thank you, Bill Ranford. And then I was like, all right, everybody's loving this Nick Borshefske and all Nick Antropop and these guys that aren't that thing. You're losing me now. You had me. Why is there a love for these, these, I mean, these are not stars. These are not stars, but there is a love for these plugs. But of course, can't forget about. Dougie Gilmore the trade oh that must hurt Calgary fans still to this day probably it does

yeah and Matt Sundeed and yeah yeah it was uh yeah it's yeah you think back and you're like all right yeah it's coming around but man sports it takes you everywhere so getting into sports media or just media was that kind of a thing or when did that start to take hold because i know for me um it wasn't even like i was i love sports a big hockey fan and hockey cards and I could tell you what I could run the rosters of the league and I knew what helmets they wore what gloves they wore and all that sort of thing um but I was going to get into I want going to be a radio DJ I was going to spin tunes and be this kind of a guy and then the sports thing kind of happened what was it for you as you were growing up and then high school

and getting ready for college or university I knew I was going to be a hockey player I knew I was going to go to the NHL that was my goal for sure and uh um I was a decent, decent little defenseman. But as soon as I got to the junior A level, I wasn't getting playing time. I'm like, oh, okay, what's going on here? And it was, it's such a, it's such a grind, actually, which I, which is why I have so much admiration and respect for the kids that come up and are good enough, not just to be outstanding players. but to actually have their grades and their school in order, that's a whole another level.

It was for me. I was like, oh, perfect. Junior A, I was playing for the Aurora Eagles. They are the Aurora Tigers. They were the Aurora Tigers before they were the Eagles. But I don't know why I was part of that window. Playing to fame is I played with Mike Johnson for a little bit. He was on that team for the Aurora Eagles.

but the thing was just because I wasn't playing much doesn't mean you're not as committed you are committed you're going to practice literally three days a week you're got two games a week so how much time did that leave for school well it probably leaves enough for people who are quick and boom boom boom yeah not this guy boom not this guy I was falling behind big time in grade well it was grade 10 and grade 11 and I was like I had to make a decision. I'm like, I'm clearly not going to the show. I have always loved broadcasting. I'm not going to university with these grades.

I don't even know if college is going to take me with these grades. And it's like, okay. So I scaled back to hockey. I did play Junior C with the Uxbridge Bruins. Shout out to Uxbridge. That was only two to three days. That was three days a week, which was a lot easier to handle. Got my grades up.

In Ontario, there was OAC. So that was an extra year that was given to me that gave me an opportunity to get my grades up. And then I ended up going to the University of Windsor for communications, all with the plan of getting involved in broadcasting and sports broadcasting more in particular. Nice. So do you, because I know I went to college in Thunder Bay. And then I got my, whatever they call, practicum placement in. in Manitoba at a small in Brandon at a little country music station where did you go after uh i went to the fan 590 sports radio in ron different than different than 1150 kx in brandon

little different yeah but like i'm in that sense i'm jealous of guys like you boom because when you guys go to those those stations you basically got to do it all right you work your You work your balls on air. Every mistake you make, it's yours. You own it. You don't do it again. Me. I did apply to a lot of small stations across the country. Never really heard back. But of course, I did go to the fan 594 an internship. And I was, first, I was handing out beef jerky at all these different events throughout southern Ontario. And with the odd time, after a year, the odd time I'd get to do cut-ins, you know, cut-ins. Oh, yeah. Remain, you're up, hey, I'm here at Bowmanville at the racetrack. Come get your beef jerky and maybe win some leaf tickets, you know, all that stuff. That's what I was doing.

But I never had my own show. I never had those opportunities in that sense to make a mistake early, I should say. You know what? You know what mine was? I'm sorry, I was good. You know what mine was? We had a sponsorship deal with Beatrice. which is like the dairy.

So like it was chocolate milk. So that's what it was, is you would get crates full of the little chocolate milks. And they sponsored the van. So we had a white Dodge van. And they slapped like black cow spots on it. So it was the, it was the moo van.

So I would drive the moo van to Nipawa and Minidosa to trade fairs and park the moo van inside the curling rink and do cut-ins. Hey, I were here in, Minidosa at the Memorial Hall. Come on down, lots of crafts. And it's just a great time. And stop, get some chocolate, some delicious Beatrice chocolate milk while you're here.

It'd be great to see you. Come on down. Driving the move van. Proud days. It's so true. I was in a Honda CRV. We called it the sports cruiser. Yeah.

And looking back, and I thought I was this. the shit driving a white van with cow spots on it. Oh, big. I think people are recognizing me. I'm driving the move in today. Yeah, you got over here. We got, we, I can't come unless there's a parking spot.

You know that I got to bring the scene. I got, uh, oh yeah, we got, we got a spot. We got a space for you. You'll be right front and center. All right. You can probably see I've got the move in. I was just wondering where I could just park up front there. Just, no, I don't have a parking pass.

Well, I'll just put the hazards on because I'm a big deal. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. So fan 590, that's pretty, was it the fan then? Yeah, it would have been, right? Yeah, it was the fan then. It was definitely, it was just the fan 590.

Yeah. Yeah, that was good times. I was there for a few years actually. And that was a part-time job. So I had three part-time jobs in the industry making, well, we won't even talk about that. half of this volunteer. I remember, I was well into my radio career and I remember telling my buddies, I'm going to throw a party when I make 30 grand a year. When my T4 is like north of 30,000,

it is going to be a big bash. Get ready. Oh, so true. And I'm not sure I ever got there in brand and I had to leave the province to finally get north of 30 grand. And now I'm sitting in my basement and I'm Jermaine, if I get north of 30 grand again, I'll bring you out. It'll be great time. But that's, that's what it is, is cutting your teeth and doing those gigs that's how you kind of, it's how you form your craft and you pay your dues and then you appreciate those, those breaks when you get them. So that's, I mean, it's a big jump going from the sports cruiser.

And again, not just that, but you, so after a few years. So I mean, obviously your role would have expanded, but then. the TSN thing comes along kind of i guess you can take us through that yeah absolutely so the one thing i'll say before i take you to the tsn thing is the fact that and this is the biggest thing advantage i had of being in the big city boom it's the fact that the blue jays the argos the leaves and the raptors were there working for the fan 590 i had i had the opportunity to go to the things that people didn't want to go to back in the day like even training camp and yeah and stuff like that so i'd get passes for those things and on my off days because i was never a full reporter for

fan top 90 i i worked at a small spot called toronto star television which had camera equipment so they would let me take out the camera equipment and on my off days i i'd go do leaf practices and argos practices on my own because i had a pass and just build the demo tape. That's how I got found by TSN, my third, fourth, or fifth demo tape I finally sent in. And Mark Millier is his name. He gave me a call one morning.

And he said, we'd like to bring you in for an interview. And if you're free tonight, we want you to do a test story at the Blue Jays game. I was like, absolutely. So I did those things, did the test story at the Blue Jays game. It was not foreign to me at all because of the opportunities that I was given through the fan, as well as the opportunities that I took advantage of on my own. So it was like, it was awesome. It was awesome.

And they're like, yeah, you're like, we're going to send you out to Calgary. I'm like, okay, that's perfect. When? They're like in two weeks. What? They needed a reporter out in Calgary. in two weeks and what they told me was yes i'm green yes um i have a lot of work to do but calgary's a good quiet market you'll have lots of opportunity to grow your craft i'm like yeah that sounds

great perfect we all know what happened in oh three oh four yeah well but at that time you're probably i'm going to be there for like six months yeah totally so good they're going to be seeing what i'm doing out there they're going to be what is this guy doing out in cal we we need him here Exactly, boom, exactly. I was like, oh, I got, I'll give it three years max. Tom's. Don't sign a lease, babe. Don't sign a lease.

We're not sticking around. Let's rent furniture. We're not buying anything. Exactly. 17 years. 17 years later. Yeah. Just ridiculous.

But it was the best, it was the best baptism by fire that I could ever ask for because in 0304, the flames went to the Stanley Cup final and we got to cover them all. the way through. Yeah. My daughter was born during round two. That's one game that I missed. It was game five in Detroit. I said, can't go because my, well, I didn't know if it was going to be a girl or a boy, but baby's coming. Michael was born. Kist her went to flames practice the next day. Yeah. And I barely saw her for the next month and a half because they went all the way to this game seven of the state. Stanley Cup final. I was thinking about that. That was such a because I think for a lot of us and we're the old guys now and we've been, they've been, you know, past us by. But I was thinking of

just all of us. And there were some guys. You know, you had George Johnson and Glenn Campbell. We had the veterans, right? Yeah. For a lot of us, this is the, this is the biggest thing we've ever covered by a hundred miles. Like it's you go to the odd practice and this. The team hadn't made the playoffs. There was nothing to see the. NHL come to town and take over a building with press conference setups and, you know, the tape, you know, taped off areas and dressing rooms. You can't, you know, you can't go in them. It's, it was such a great learning experience for so many of us because then, okay,

Edmonton then goes a couple years later. And then if you end up going to some of that, you go to the draft, these sorts of things. Yeah, okay, I've, I've done this before. O304 was massive for so many of us, dumb media people. It's so true. It was unbelievable. And just like you said, like the NHL comes in,

you're seeing all the pomp and circumstance. You're like, oh, okay, this is like a big deal. And that was for the conference finals. And the Stanley Cup was just another step bigger. And what I'm trying to say is the amount of work and energy that you put in to trying to relay, these stories to the masses who are all paying attention for real, right? Like, it's the playoffs when people actually realize who you are.

I couldn't mention enough, boom, and that I'm jumping back to today. I can't mention enough how many people say, oh, you look familiar or, oh, I recognize that voice. I hear your voice in the morning. I'm like, yeah, I'm on TV, but most people aren't watching. like they're listening. Oh, yeah, yeah. Really? Yeah.

When you're in the playoffs, when we were covering the flames in 0304 or every playoff series, we were it. We were it. We were it and the flames were it. And it's such responsibility and adrenaline rush to know, like, let's go. Deadlines are real. Stories are real. Let's, it's like, I'm getting excited just thinking about it because I do miss it being on the desk because you got to be kind of like a butterfly jack of all trades. And you're never in the mix.

But when you're in the mix, there is nothing better. Nothing better. And the experience, I hate it, but the experience of being in that losing dressing room of 04, I will never forget it. It prepares you for everything coming forward, good and bad, and you're just a better broadcaster for it. There's nothing better, nothing better. You never need a lawyer until you need a lawyer, and then you need McLeod Law. They are the Calgary law firm. Calgarians, people that understand how our city works.

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cooling services. We're talking 23 years of experience and over 30,000 projects completed. It's your clear choice for sure. Here's how you get a hold of them. 403-219-40100. Head to their website, crystal clearcalgary.com. Crystal Waters, Plumbing and Heating is your crystal clear choice for home comfort. Let's get back to another summer edition of Barnburner. So who did you replace here? Was it Lisa Bowes or who did you take over for? It was Lisa Hillary. Lisa Hillary. And she was, and see, Lisa Hillary was only in Calgary for, I think it was a year, maybe two years. And Lisa Bowes, she was in Calgary for longer. But I am definitely the longest standing TSN reporter to ever grace the halls of the Saddle Dome. Yeah. We'll talk about that. We will talk about that coming up. You talk about being in the mix. You were in the mix.

Yeah. Hey, we may as well stay there. It's, I, because I remember when I came, and I talked about it on, on the intro, but you were, you were, I did not have a good stay in Edmonton. That's, I was there for 11 months before I came to Calgary. And I mean, you were instantly recognized with TSA guy. Hey, you were one of the nicest guys. I went from, it was not very nice to like, so welcoming. Peter Hanlon and the guys with the flames were, hey, good, come on in.

you were great it was just such a for me it was such a a departure from cold dark negative grer to just kind of hi it's sun's out the red colors was it was bright just everything and you were one of the first guys that uh that really kind of welcoming coming in you are always there's there's no one that has a bad word to say about you you're one of those guys people hate me but everybody loves germane and i i i'm sure that has that has something to do with your parents and all of that but you uh do you have bad days you were never a guy that seemed to have a bad day was smiling and you're always things were good with jermine oh yeah i have plenty of bad days yeah for sure ask ryan barney he knows he sees he sees the other side of me

once in a while um but honestly like uh i i there's rare there's never a day where i'm not smiling not like i can't think of a day where i will not be smiling at some point in that day and that's and that's the honest truth i what you said boom is uh is awesome i really appreciate that um but the players sometimes the players have bad days i've been treated bad by a player before um but you just move on and and and get over what's that circumstance so i'm just going to let people in because germane you were one of the longer-standing guys right you're a a veteran of the media group and you that's germane's spot where was germane spot if the scrum was happening and the coach and you saw a lot of them during your 17 years when the coach comes out

where it that's your main that's a good question my spot um you were just to the right of the guest you were right you were always i was always to i was actually always to the right yeah on the right side of the guest so just on the guest's left side Yeah. I was always on the guest left side. And this is the little secret for any broadcasting guys. But one thing TSN told me was always have your camera guy over your shoulder. So when or close to your shoulder.

So when you're in the scrum and you ask a question, the eye line is with the camera. And a lot of times they're looking up at you or whatever, but their face is right in the camera. Nothing annoyed us more than seeing the profile. of a player and um one of the one of the you know one of the other writers or whatever they're behind the player and then they ask a question and the player goes like this that's right you're like really like really so there was germane's spot and everybody would just kind of well no germane's going to go right there that's right beside the guest who asks who asks the first question in the scrum uh it was either me or roger millions it was germain franklin and jermaine just pretty much

Or, yeah, fair to Raj. Fair to Raj. Fair to Raj. Raj, he was like me and Raj. Oh, that's another thing. Like, we talk about the smile and this or nice guy. Me and Raj, we've had a couple of run it. It was great.

Sure. Like, I'll never forget. Because to be completely honest, Roger Millions took his crap so seriously. Yes. And you have to give him all the respect in the world for that. And sometimes, Raj, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but sometimes Raj would like to flex a little, flexes muscle in terms of taking over the scrum. And he would ask two, three questions in a row, but sometimes he'd try and stretch it to four or five if he was looking for something. This is where I'm getting at.

God rest his soul, Johnny Goodroes, first, what do you call the camps? It wasn't training camp. Prospect camp probably out. Camp first prospect camp at Don Hartman Arena, Northeast Calgary. Shout out to my Northeast brethren. You know what I mean? Sure. So Johnny didn't look more than 12, 13 years old.

I know. Yeah. Where is this very first scrum with the media? And Raj just starts going. And it's like, okay, two questions in, no problem. Three questions. And then, you know, you're like, and, uh, uh, uh, And then Raj, like after Roger Smith's question, he's like, oh, sorry, Jermaine, I didn't hear you.

And I just said, Raj, everybody hears this voice, right? Yeah. And then it was like, oh. And then you see Johnny's eyes like, what? What's going to go? Yeah. They're going to go right? Yeah.

And Rodgson's a little chat after that. But that's the good thing about the, the Calgary media as well. Like you said, coming from Edmonton to Calgary. It is completely different. It's night and day. But at the same time, we do compete, but in a open way. And that's, yeah, that was one of the small redons, Raj and I had. Yeah, we've had a couple, actually.

Well, and you know what? That's what it is. And you talk about being with tight timelines. Like, I got to get in. I got to get this. And then I got to go to the visitor's room because that's happening. It wouldn't have happened at Prospect Camp. But a lot of times, I got to get this.

And then there's so much going through your head when I got to get this on further. They're waiting for it. And the other thing, and I'll ask you about, you guys with TSN or SportsNet, maybe it's an email or a phone call. If something happens in the sports world, could you ask Jerome Aginla about this? And it's so embarrassing.

I don't want to ask him about this, but you have to because then when the national network puts together it's collage and montage of sports athlete clips. And you were always very delicate. Jerome, I just have to ask. They're putting together a thing about Mel Gibson. Do you think lethal weapon one or two was better? It'd be something totally, everybody else is standing there.

Dude, they're playing a game tonight. What are we doing here? You have to do those stupid things. And boom, you're the worst. You're the worst because you knew like, why is Germain hanging around this from? Like, I'm just going to hang out. Because Germain is clearly, he hasn't moved on for 10 minutes. I'm trying to do it quietly on my own.

But no, boom's like, ah, Jermaine's got to ask about the Leaf who scored two goals last night. Yeah. Nicola. Austin Matthews. Yeah. Austin Matthews had four goals in his first game. Did you see that last night?

you give a stink eye nice question germany yeah exactly and there's boom just like uh sorry i was just wondering uh were you more of a betty or veronica guy from argy comics just just before you go uh if you were but you always had that you were root off because everybody loves you everybody loves you and everybody all that they would not many people would put up with that but they they would with you and i'll tell you there was more than you were in one occasion. It would happen a fair bit. Post game specifically, because again, you're in the home room, you're in the visiting room or whatever. If you weren't there, and if say Daryl or whoever came out, either Peter Hanlon sometimes or even Daryl would be, is Jermaine need this? Is Jermaine?

They would wait for you to get there. Just because you were there every day, every morning skate, every practice, every game, every post game, there was that respect that is earned over time. And you had that maybe more than anyone that I've seen in my years in this city covering sports teams. Oh, thanks, boom. That's, yeah, I appreciate you saying that. Like, I did, I loved it. Yeah, I loved it. Because as you know, it's the same thing.

Like, we didn't always have a camera every day. But like you mentioned, I was, I tried to be there every day. And I was there every day. Yeah. And you do build those relationships. relationships with with the coaches and more more like you mentioned Peter Hanlon like that guy's my dude that's my dog right like like he he he tell us he tell us how it is and you know can we get Jerome again you know what Jerome's done it for 14 straight days we're giving Jerome a day off and you're like all right yeah fair Peter fair you know but and sometimes it's like well Peter's stuff going he's like fine we'll get him one more but you're You can't ask for it tomorrow. And he's like, yeah, Peter's, and congrats to Peter for, for the,

for becoming a vice general manager. EGM, general manager. So that's, that's huge and well deserved as a guy that's, you want to talk about being in the fabric of an organization. Peter Handel is the definition of it. But yeah, like you said, being there and the one thing, I'll, one, Rob Kerr said some to me. This is a couple of years ago or a few years ago.

And when he said it, I was like, oh, I never thought about it that way. But it was true. What he said to me was, Jermaine, like, you would, sometimes you would stick your chin out, knowing that you're gonna get hit. This is in metaphorical sense. Yeah.

But it was important because we needed that answer. So what basically, sometimes I'd ask the obvious obvious question, but the obvious question wasn't always easy to ask. And sometimes people would dance around it. And then I'd be like, okay, you know, what happened on that play at the blue line? And it's like, you've never played. It's not of your business. Okay, that's the shot I just took.

But then it's this is what happened. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know what I'm getting at? I know 100%. At taking shots. But he always give you an answer after. Well, 90% of it. Sorry, who was it?

Daryl Sutter. Yeah. He was the best, like Randy Sportak took a lot of abuse from Daryl. So did we all. But afterwards, if you stuck around and hung out, you get what you need it. Yeah. Because he would respect that he has to ask this question. And I may not want to answer it.

And you know who else is? And I agree with you. And I, that's a great point. And I don't know that fans. would necessarily know that and it's easier than maybe at the morning skate the next day or whatever after things have cooled down but post game after there's been something i'm trying to rack my brain thinking of what it would be whether it's a bad goal like you say a mistake you want to be delicate about it but it was a blunder or whatever happened that cost this team the game you have to ask

that and there's there's a delicate nature to to doing it and there's it's a you know so no one asked that question there's some bravery involved there's some professional bravery involved in doing that you know who else is awesome at it and you were one of the best and i think um watching jean principay do it he's tremendous and there again everyone loves him he's there every day so he gets that level of respect but he can craft a question where it's you've put that you've put that nicely you've worded that very well because i know how you would how anybody else would want to ask it what the F happened but that's very well done and you were you obviously were very good at that any any Daryl moments because i mean he was there again he's there every day there was just to the point almost nothing really specific stands out but the thing

always with him is if they had a big victory you think oh sutz is going to be it'll be it'll be cake today he'd be the worst and if they played like shit or they've lost a bunch in a row and you thought oh get ready darrell's going to be steaming hey how we doing slapping the other guys catch the chucks uh the other night he'd be in the best mood it was you had to speak sutter ease it was the whole temperature of the thing so if things are going too well you knew he was going to be sour so true here's a here's a perfect example and i i don't have a status edition so They'll have to look it up on their own. They'll have to look it up on their own.

But what was his name? Shoot. Anyways, his first name is Sean. Sean scored six straight goals in six straight games. What's his name? It'll come to me. Donovan? Yeah, Sean Donovan.

Sean Donovan scored six goals in like six straight games or six goals and four games. We'll have to look it up. And I remember we were like it was practice and we were like, Daryl, we're trying to get the best like Sean Donovan is on a roll. He's got a couple of game winners. He's great. Daryl just shuts me down. He's like, Sean Donovan is a minus two. Yeah. Like I was like, I just sold this story like to teach. TSN where it's going to be on Sports Center, like, Sean Donovan, like the glue of the team coming up. He's a minus two. What is that?

That's right. End of discussion. I was like, what? There's so many of those. I remember when Johnny, whatever it was, he had scored his 400. Well, I hope his 500 is better than his 499 or whatever. You know, he just couldn't do it. Couldn't do it.

it. Yeah, that was, but yeah, Darrell was real good at that. Another, another moment with Darrell, which is the other side, because we do see the tough, the gruff, the crusty side of Darrell most of the time. But off camera, I'll never forget. Like, it wasn't the lockout year, so it was the year, it was 0506, I guess. And Darrell comes out to me after another rough scrum. He was just like, how's your daughter, how's your daughter Micah doing?

I'm like, you know my daughter's name? Like, we, you know what I mean? Like, we're always, we're not budding heads, but we're always trying to. And then all of a sudden, he just gives you a tap on the shins. He's like, how's the family? How's your daughter, Micah doing? She's got to be close to two years old now or something. I'm like 18 months.

Holy cow. Yeah, like boom, boom. And like he could compartmentalize with the best of them, obviously. But overall, he's a tough dude. But there is that other side where he will reveal to you, like you said, if he respects you, if you're there, if you show respect to him and the team and the game, he'll be he'll be there and it was those are there's a there's a there's a couple other moments but that's those are things that you never forget especially when it's a juxtaposition where you

think it's just work and it's professional and it is but that personal side that goes a long way as well yeah we've talked about this on the show and over the years I wish that people had a chance to see it and probably they do because if you're not at the rink then you're probably seeing Daryl in his truest form. But hockey Daryl sometimes can be not a lot of fun. But he's, you know, he's to see him with Chris, right? It's, I mean, he left his hockey career behind when Chris was born. And I mean, there's a real tenderness there that he probably doesn't want anyone to see.

And you know what? In a similar way, you know, Ken King, I, I always kind of felt bad that if people saw Ken, if well ken king was the guys that were in prominent roles that had to be the heavy sometimes that maybe had to maybe felt like and i'm not sure if you have anything there there's a number of times where i've gotten a call from kett as 12 o'clock last show me here be there i don't know no bullshit you can't make it show up at this restaurant to have lunch with ken and you know you shoot shit for a while how's you found this sort of thing that's hey you know what uh the one day the one time was I was pissed off in you today.

I was like, okay, here we go. You were talking about Bowmeister and you were ripping them. And then as soon as you started, I knew it was coming. I was furious. And then you went on and you kept talking about it. And then I got more furious because I couldn't be mad with you because you actually made some compelling points. And you didn't just say, oh, he sucks or he's no good. You kind of talk, well, he made a mistake here.

And this needs to probably improve. prove and you're probably right so i'm pissed off but i'm more pissed off that i can't be pissed it's like okay well it's it was kind of a human moment and then it'd be hey come come in a mile when you're done wins the show over whatever uh you'd sit and have green tea or whatever in ken's office and just talk hey have you read this book it's like ken i can't read i'm an idiot i don't read books here read this book there there's the the other side of people that you kind of get to see when you're close to it that you wish other people get to see but maybe that it's kind of special because it's rare that way yeah exactly I couldn't agree with you more I didn't I

didn't know I didn't get to see that much of that side of Ken King but I know that you know yeah yeah like the interactions that we had at the as in the press box and the slap on the back yeah yeah chat and everything absolutely yeah well respected and there was something and you know what it kind of it's just a I just think about it now because there again Ken's been gone for a while yeah it was one of the first times that it actually kind of dawned on me why and darrell's wired that way and it's why darrell and ken were you know close and that he was who who's the best play by play guy in the league or who what do you think the best rink is or that sort of thing probably this guy or be that rink or whatever

do you think we could have that here why wouldn't why should we not expect to have that here why shouldn't we shoot to have that to get the best player to get the best people the best broadcasters the best if we're not trying to hire them find them sign them build it then what are we doing this for and that is why that's where that anger and that that drive comes from because i think a lot of the times like well he'll never sign in calgary and yeah that's probably the reality you know it's probably closer but that's not how he wanted to run things that's not how he wanted to run things that's not Darrell ran things. He expected the best. And if you can't do your best, then I don't want you here. The best, like, he hated backup goalies. I remember so many times the backup would go in and

lose and Darrell would be furious. Wow, we, if we just expect to lose games because Kipper can't play, then we go with six skaters, I guess. He's on the, is he getting paid? He's on the pay. He expected everybody to be at their best. And if they weren't, he was very disappointed yeah so true so true one goal he liked though was noodles yeah he did one backup tender i should say that he like but yeah i mean and there again because noodles he played with a broken sternum or whatever so it's like okay he's okay he's okay with me i like him exactly yeah and noodles uh noodles let us behind the curtain once uh one of his stories he he got a rare start instead of Kippard.

And he got lit up in the first period. I think he let three, but it could have been six. And so in between intermissions, Darrell rarely went into the room, from what I understand. But he went into the room in that first intermission. And he's like, that's the way you treat your effing backup goaltender with an effort like that. And then he walks out.

But it was a, yeah. Like his way of communicating, like you can't deny it. Yeah. Like he coached them. He coached some outstanding teams and he coached some not great teams to outstanding results. And that attitude, like you mentioned from from Ken King and Daryl Sutter and the trickle-down effect, it can never be, it can never be denied or argued. We had some fun with Mike Keenan in that short amount of time too. And there again, Jermaine, in his usual spot beside Mike, asking the first question.

And I remember he had come up with the, I think you asked that maybe it was Kipper, whoever was playing. And I remember he turned to, well, the goalie is an important player. It's an important position because they play all 60 minutes. It just kind of stunned the whole. Okay, yeah, I guess. That's accurate if you don't pull him or if there's not an empty net at the end is. All right. And then there was the Willie Mitchell.

Remember Willie Mitchell? Well, Willie Mitchell plays with an illegal stick. Oh, that's right. And then Mitchell came out and warm up with two sticks taped together. It was like 30 feet long and he's skating around with that long stick. The Canaan times were great and awful, but great. Unbelievable. The one Kenan story that I'll never forget.

and you mentioned it is um is meika kipersov had a tough game the the night before but it was mandatory practice and he wasn't you know he was just letting pucks go by he was stopping him keenan stops practice stops practice and remember he brought music into practice so there music stops keenan goes up starts whispering in in kippers ear like oh what's going on there and then the Practice goes on as if nothing happened. Of course, I asked Keenan after it after practice. And I'm like, notice that you stop practice, talk to me, Kiprasoff.

What did you talk to him about? You know, just talk to him about, you know, dinner or angles or whatever. And no, he said something like about practice. And like I stopped and I pushed back i'm like you were asking beka kiprasov about shot angles and he was not happy and peter cuts that up and okay out of time thanks guys next question he always came out in his skates yes i was just going to say how many times would we go to a morning skate or practice where keenan isn't on the ice and then comes out to do the media and he's got his full track suit, gloves, stick, and skates on.

Crazy. And holding the wrong-handed stick. Shooting, whatever, shooting left with a righty wooden, Sherwood stick. We're all quirky, I suppose, in our own way. But it is true. I mean, this guy, everybody loves this guy. Everyone loves Germain. Even the players.

Like, the players, oh, if it's Jermaine, oh, okay, I'll ask and I'll answer another question for Jermaine. Oh, Jermaine's such a guy. a nice guy such a nice guy i was going to say how many hours you would have spent and specifically on green garbage bag day locker clean out day sitting and waiting or on i guess trade deadline free agency july first at least we could come look like bums you're in your in your suit you're dressed nice you're there at about 7 a m you leave at about 11 p m and you've put together probably about 45 seconds of footage. Yeah. A great day for you.

Oh, and what was tough too is, like you said, the mountain time. So, oh, we're starting at 8. That means I got to be there at 6th. That means I got to be, like, what is going on here? And then I'll come to you when something happens. Yeah, we're doing, we're going to go around the horn. Dothi will come to you at about 820. Okay. Is that Eastern? Well, yeah.

Great. Yeah, wonderful. Wonderful. But yeah, those hours you never really get back. But at the same time, it's kind of cool, especially when the flames were on the road during trade deadlines. So you got to see some other cities. That was cool. Philadelphia, New York, Washington, all that stuff.

But that was part of the job, right? It's part of the gig. And the one thing I was jealous of is the fact that at least you, and I know, and I know, No, it's not easy. Let me say that. It's not easy. But at least the radio guys got to talk things out, got to have conversations, got to a TV's different that way.

You know what I mean? And there's always a tight timeline. And it's like, okay, God, just like, oh, let's have a little more conversation. Let's go. But, but yeah, the hours in the in the, in the suites of different, of different stadiums and in hockey arenas is, yeah, it's, you can't get those. back. Outdoor. Dental is dentistry with no drills, no needles, and no stress. Yeah, it's one of the most cutting edge dentistry places around, but on top of that, they have this Salelea laser, which

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of these hours in during the hockey season. At least you'll get summer off. Nope, there's Germain on the sideline at Commonwealth Stadium for Edmonton versus Ottawa or something. Now you're doing the CFL stuff. And there again, sometimes, even more so sometimes, because it's football players and you're talking to them at the half or whatever. So you guys are down 90 to nothing. What do you need to do here the second half to get things turned around? Did you like doing the CFL on the field? It was good. It was good. Like the worst day of the year for me was always July 1st. Like Canada Day was the worst because that was free agent frenzy day and the stamps always had a home game that night. It was.

It was crazy. But the CFL, I mean, that's where I really got to, I thought, like, I really had most opportunity to do live broadcasts and live, live cut-ins on air with the football games. Because Sports Center was always at 4 o'clock. So they rarely had us wait around until 4 o'clock or 3 or 3 local. football games having a chance to talk to players having a chance to go live on air a little bit more um i always loved that opportunity and there's a lot of stories there too i mean i i just heard that solomon elimmyon is yes number his jersey retired and just the other day somebody somebody talked to me about that interview it's like what you say hey who you what you say

Keep running hedges on your side. Just tackle. We don't know who you are. Keep walking. We don't know who you are. What's up? Who are you? Who are you?

And it's like, oh, man. But that was, that was good stuff. Good stuff. That was Bennett, by the way. Fred Bennett, he was screaming at on the other side of the mic. What a moment that was for sure. And there's a few like that. So it's it was good. It was good.

What was because we were with SportsNet and your TSN, so they didn't want us, you know, mixing as far as being on. But I remember we called you one day and it's like, don't have, they're TSN's not listing sports net. They're not going to care. Why were you at the, it was the, it was the Angels, Roy Halliday. What was the circumstance that you were at that game? Yeah. If it was that, it was the Philadelphia. Phillies first yeah yeah yeah Roy Halliday's first playoff start with the Phillies that's what it was yeah yeah oh we'll send Germain down I just you know like out of the blue it was not a huge story it's very fringe I saw send them to

send them down to cover that awesome right City Bank field Roy Halliday just dealing and that wasn't that was an amazing experience and then what happened didn't you have a no hitter or whatever that day? Yeah, he had a no hitter. Yeah. Like only Germain gets the, you know, again, it sounds great. It's like, oh, we got, should we send somebody to send someone to Philly to cover? Anybody from Toronto short flight?

No, get the Calgary guy to fly out to Philly to cover first playoff game for a former J. And he throws a no hitter. I'm like, only Jermain would be there for this. This is unbelievable. It was unbelievable. It was amazing. Yeah.

And Doc doesn't know me from what Adam, but he was very generous with his time. Yeah, that was an awesome experience. Another one where you guys called me and we just said whatever about the, you know, the battles was, was LeBron James. That's right. I think I asked LeBron James about being unfairly questioned and he, He gave the best answer that everybody in the world, not just ESPN, but the world used.

And you're like, I know Jermaine asked that question. So you called me up that morning. And I was like, yeah, let's talk. That's your question, dude. That's you. Yeah. And again, it was all those years of asking tough, being in that scrum and kind of having to delicately. and appropriately ask a tough question.

And you nailed it. That's right. I was kind of going through. So you, I mean, you're there for the, for a no hitter. You're through the 04 run. You've been to the 2010 Olympics. You've covered Stanley Cup playoffs. You've gone and LeBron winning with Cleveland and Steph and the golden.

So how many NBA final finals are in? And I'm mad. Like, that's one of the bird in my saddle is I did 10 NBA finals. I did at LeBron's eight straight. And you mentioned me having the opportunity to do Doc Halliday on a no-hitter, you know, just send the Calgary guy. Raptors get to the final and they just stick with the Toronto reporters. And I'm like, you could have squeezed me in somehow, right?

Like somehow, 10 straight NBA finals. But that's the other part of the business that you just got to grin and bear it sometimes. But overall, I mean. Can't complain. Can't complain about the career so far, boom. That's for sure. Well, and I have to admit just because I so respect your work as a reporter and doing the live stuff. And again, I guess when when people see your story, so it's a postgame thing, it's you've edited it and put it together. I see you working live, right? So people don't see that. So I'm always watching you in a live sense. So I knew you could that going in a live

live setting was not going to be an issue for you. I guess I was just surprised to learn that being on the desk and doing that was kind of maybe that was where you wanted to be all along. Is that fair? Because I mean, again, not not shocked at all that you're good at it because you've spent years doing it. But I didn't know that that was kind of where you wanted to be. That was the ultimate goal. I wanted to be a sports center guy. I said it in my I said it in my, I said it in my yearbook like it was sports desk then but hosting sports the sports desk and and I'm so I'm so happy and pleased to be be where I want to be where I wanted to be the only but is yeah you miss the juice a little bit of covering covering a team you miss the juice of

traveling a little bit you miss the juice of being the guy to tell the to being the expert on on specifics of a team or teams or a city love being in Calgary in that sense and you don't really realize it while you're there all the time but now that I'm not I'm like yeah that covering that team covering cover because I I always loved it I always knew but there's other aspects that you do take for granted that you never know and that's what I took for granted the fact that I was the guy that let the rest of the world know or let the rest of the sports world know where the flames were at, what the flames were up to, where the stance were at, what's going on in Calgary. And then, of course, unfortunately, because the flames didn't go too far in the playoffs or didn't

make the playoffs, I got the opportunity to cover the NCAA Final Fours. I did at least six of those. Those were unbelievable. And I got the opportunity to cover the NBA Finals, 10 of them. minimum it might be 11 but but it's been it's been an awesome ride so that's what i miss but yeah sports center is where i've always wanted to be that's true i think to a certain extent that's where we all wanted to be i did a little bit of tv it just didn't it didn't turn that way for me but as i was kind of realizing media was where i was that was where the juice was watching michael lansberg

on sports desk i he was a guy that i when i was doing tv it was he he did highlights like he was doing play by play like he would call it so it's you know matt sundeen down the wing passes across the whoever scores but he's not going to say scores until the puck's going in like he doesn't do it anti-climate he comes in and scores and makes it three and then the puck yeah he gave the juice to the highlights i'm like okay that's awesome i love that dutchy i mean there's only one and god rest of them. That's just so hard and all. But the Titian and, you know, Darren Dregor and Millard and there was Perry Solkowski did sports night out in Edmonton with Dutchie before he went there. Those are guys

and now you're one of those guys that has that you have that man, that mantle. That's, it's a very cool spot. And the whole, your whole story is an amazing one. Jamaican parents and I know that your family didn't come out to Calgary a lot, but we all knew when they were in town because it was a big deal and everybody loved your family. Your family loves everybody. And when your wife would sing the anthem, everybody felt that pride and knew about your kids, there's something, there's always been a special kind of aura around you so that you met your ultimate goal, not surprised and so happy for you. It's very cool. Thanks, boom. Yeah, that's, yeah, thanks for saying that. It hits you right in the right in the heart for sure. And it's all those things are true. So grateful for my family, so grateful for my opportunity, so grateful for the job that I dreamed of doing. And the good Lord allowed me to let my dreams come true. And what's amazing is it about it is, yeah, you want more.

Let's go. Let's keep going. And I love where I'm at right now. And who knows what the future holds in terms of maybe play-by-play one of these days. But yeah, I love the desk. And I got to keep doing the, you know, the deep call for the home runs and saucy dishes. Yeah, I love doing the highlights, that's for sure. That's right. Do you kind of feel that being that that was where you wanted to be,

that that was kind of the good do you ever think about because now it's a job and you go to work but you know it's building and there's lots of people and you walk out and you sit at that desk and you think it's the nation's watching do you think of guys like duchy and landsberg and those that were there that do you feel that from time to time when you allow yourself to get romantic about it i i do like i think about like i think about duchy i think about lands because you're right like when i said I want to Lansberg was right there you know Jim Van Horn Jim Wells but honestly the other another guy that I that I think about a lot and and it's it's funny because he's he's he's American as well I do think about

Scott as well and and yeah those guys like they're just they were just so so charismatic so good at what they did did and the the love of of the game and the of calling highlights really shone through and i and i really try and i really try and do that as well and that's something that i find isn't oh isn't necessarily as easy as as you think because it is a job it is late at night it is all of a sudden you're like oh do i got the juice do i got the energy And it's like, I think in my first couple of years, like, I come on, I'd finish a show and I'd be like, I just didn't have the, like, what happened? You know what I mean? Like, I want to be here. I'm like, like, I'm giving it everything, but what is it? And I think now, now that I'm, believe it or not, but it's been five years. It'll be five years in September since I've been in Calgary. It feels like yesterday. But really starting to. I mean, like I'd say after a couple years, really starting to find your groove.

And now even more. And you're just just the growth within the craft. You're like, okay. Okay. You're like you've seen things. It's about the veteran presence. And yeah, I've been in the game for over 20 years. But on the desk, just five.

And it's like it was like a brand new start, a fresh start. And really, really loving it. Summers are a little tough. Summers are tough. A major league baseball love it and CFL okay yeah WNBA all right yeah yeah we got to bring the juice but that's hard of being a professional as wali buano would say that's right that's why i like i like this and it is tough with radio it's like oh it must be easy for you guys you know just no there's nothing going on we still have three four hours to fill of talk radio

And for you, it's like, it's not, sports center doesn't go to 25 minutes because there's nothing going on. Exactly. Fill in that, sucker, every night. It's the same amount, whether there's lots or there's nothing. Yeah. It's tough sometimes. But I know, again, so, so happy for you. I just, I guess a couple things.

I asked you how many hours you would have spent at the dome. How many times, was it Tuesdays, broken toys? How many broken toys nights when you were in. Calgary, do you think you saw over those years? Leslie and the crew. Yeah? Tuesdays? Wednesday?

Which night was it? I think you're right. I think it was Tuesdays. I think I'm right, yeah. Yeah. You knew the set list, my heart. Exactly. I'm Melrose.

There's a few nights at Malrose, too. The Red Mall, it did see me a few times. It's broken toys. I'll tell you what, right? You're so right. There's, you're, how tall are you? 6.3.

You are on TV, you're on TV, TSN in a hockey market in Canada. You're 6.3. You're a black man in Calgary. You're not hiding anywhere. So you go out to a bar dressed in a suit, 63, Jermaine Franklin, TSN. I mean, you talk hiding in plain sight. You're a big deal. You're a big deal when Jermaine shows up.

Loved every minute of it. No. There again, everybody loves you. No one said, oh, there's a, there's that, that dick that jerk. Everybody was so, hey, it's Jermaine Freight, Jermaine Franklin. That's the response you get, right? I'll tell you one quick story that Ryan Leslie loves to tell. We were at Melrose.

And, yeah, you know, enjoy. some post-game bevies and just a just a good night and this beautiful like beautiful you can see I'm picturing her she was like six feet beautiful six-foot blonde woman shapely lovely lovely and she she comes and everybody I was with Ryan and a couple others and everyone saw her stand up from the chair and she's walking towards us And I was like, oh, okay. And then Leslie's giving me the elbow. He's like, she's coming here.

She's coming here. I'm like, oh, like, all right. Yeah, nice. And then all of a sudden, she does come straight to me, like right to me. And she's like, are you Jermaine Franklin? I'm like, well, yes, I am. Right? And the boys are just like, of course.

Now I'm married. Let's be honest. Of course. Yeah, yeah. Whatever. And then. And then she's like, my boyfriend loves you. Yeah.

Sign an autograph for him. And they just start howling. And I'm just like, eh. Ugh. That's the life of a sports broadcaster, boo. It's tough. Yeah.

Oh, it was a movie. The music would be like, play the, oh, yeah. It's like, oh, yeah. Look at this, boys. That's right. I am the man. And that's like work hard play hard exactly that's the Jermaine franklin story. You're the best.

Could you say hi to them? Oh yeah, sure. That's what we always say. Oh yeah, we're huge with a bunch of middle-aged white dudes. They love us. It's a great thing, I suppose. Beats the alternative, I guess. They love us and hate us.

Yeah, they can. I was trying to remember. Now, you also did some good impressions. Was it a Mika impression that you could do? No, no, 10. Who was it? Because I know, I know you have, you could do the Oliyokin impression. Do you still have it? Did you take that with you to Toronto? Yeah, yeah. And that's another story. Oli's like, it was trade deadline. And one of the rare trade deadlines that was in Calgary.

So we were, so the flames actually skated. And Oli was a good dude. He was a good dude. So we're like, oh, Olli, you know, it's trade deadline day. How do you treat it as a player? You know, the stock questions before they go take their nap. And Oli goes, oh, he goes, Jermaine. I heard you got traded.

I'm like, really? He's like, yes, to TSN2. And he, like, the interview was done because he was so smitten with himself laughing at his own joke. I'm like, thanks, Holly. Yeah, crazy. See? Everybody loves you. Everybody loves you.

Remember when Gully threw a stick in the stands? Mm-hmm. That was ridiculous, too. Yeah, he helicoptered that thing. I had to do a lot more from the row. It was row 13. Like the little things. Yeah, it's the little things.

That's the nice touch, nice touch. Yeah. So does Vardy shoot like top down or does he shoot? What's your good angle from? Oh, yeah. Like, definitely with the brink of the background. Yeah. Yeah.

No doubt. No doubt. if you drop i look too much like a giant that's right yeah well you're a big dude you're big dude thanks for taking the time man awesome to catch up and yeah it's it's 20 25 and it's been we're going into our fourth year of not doing radio and you've been there since 12 oh like yeah time keeps spinning man and how's how's it going boom how's pinder we're all out of time Love Pinder. Make seriously and Retsky too.

We should have ended with the Yoke and an impression. Yeah. Handed a high note. But you guys, yeah, you guys are, you guys are good at what you do. You're really good at what you do. And I remember Pinder when he first came on, it was like, it was almost like he was a walking, talking coffee table with sharp edges. He hit everybody in the shins. Like, ah.

But. Like, oh, Pinder, ah, and like, what is he doing there? What is he doing there? Like, everywhere you walk, you just hit him. But, like, even after a few months, like, he, like, he fit right in. And, yeah, you guys are, yeah, keep doing what you're doing. You guys are awesome. When that changes, I'll send you a text.

I thought it already did. No, the sanded edges? No, the twins didn't. It's more of a dining room table now. It takes up a lot of space. A lot of sharp edge. It's like an octagon. I don't know how to explain it. It's tough. There's very little room with him in the in the room. Tough to navigate. You're a beauty, pal. Love you. Take care of those kids. Proud of you. Yeah. Appreciate it, boom. Anytime.