The Steve Dangle Podcast - Caroline Cameron | August 29, 2017

Episode Date: August 29, 2017

On this episode, we're back, with Caroline Cameron! (00:00), sports scrum stories (9:00), Caroline's during through school & London (13:00), working on Sportsnet from Vancouver (21:00), being on Breakfast at Wimbledon in 2016 (33:00), what's the deal with Genie Bouchard (38:00), Adam's terrible story from Collingwood (45:00), Twitter trolls (52:00), coming back to Toronto & industry changes (60:00), interviewing Wayne Gretzky and Snoop Dogg, at the same time (1:14:00), covering the Randy Carlyle Leafs (1:20:00), interesting, tough interviews, & Messier again (1:28:00), Adam meeting his hero & Caroline meeting Federer(1:40:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Panago Pizza presents S.D.P. The Steve Dangle Podcast with your hosts, Steve Dangle and Adam Wilde. Well, it is great to be back. Let me tell you how I know we're back. Before we introduce our guest. Oh, I thought we were just filming an intro for a best of. No, no, no. No, we're actually back.

This is real. That would be so funny if we did that to only us. No, no. And to no one else. So we're back. It's nice to hear, have everybody in the same room again. Before we introduce our guest, I just want to say we are back, and I know we're back because Steve was 15 to 20 minutes late again today, and this is, we are mid-season form

already, Steve. Yes, everybody. Absolutely. And also, I think bigger applause we need for our actual guest, our guest of honor today, Carolyn Cameron. Hello. Carolyn Cameron. Oh, thank you.

Not Caroline. No, it's spelled, Jane and Don spelled it wrong, so it's, yeah, it's Carolyn. That rhymes, actually. Did you know that? Jane and Don spelled it wrong. Yeah, it does. Yeah, it's got a nice ring to it. A little bit.

So you are fresh off the Rogers Cup You obviously do all the anchoring on Sportsnet We see you every morning And I mean like I don't even know where to start with you Because I looked you up on Wikipedia And I'm not sure how accurate your Wikipedia is But you have a page which is a big deal

Here's how irrelevant I am People have put up a Wikipedia for me Multiple times and it's been deleted Because it wasn't important enough That doesn't sound right Yes, you've got your wallet says Oh, what does it say? It says you were born in 90.

Yeah, that's correct. March 23rd? Yeah. Happy belated. Thank you. It's a lot belated, but yeah, thank you. You went to Ryerson? Or not Ryerson, Western Fanshop.

I was going to say, Wikipedia is wrong. Yes, Western Fanshop. You worked at Rogers TV. You were a City News reporter. You were an off-the-record intern, Sportsnet 590 intern. Is that true? Wow, yeah. All true?

Yeah. Amazing. Yeah, we weren't fan interns at the same time. Must have been just after. No, I was... I was in the summers. 2008 And 2009

Because I was here And 2009 for sure And then I think I was Summer of 2009 And summer of 2010 So we might have crossed paths You know what

There was a little bit of overlap Yeah There was I guess I just You know what I think I was with Junior Hockey Magazine Oh okay

So I was Sort of an intern I was one of those Floaty interns Right I was in the bullpen Just down the hallway So I was at Kiss

At that point Oh okay So we might have crossed paths At some point But I left in, I want to say, July of that year, so maybe, maybe not. Like Jeff Asparty was around, Rob Wong,

Kayla Harris. Yes, I remember them all. I actually trained Jeff Asparty to be the producer for Junior Hockey Meg. Wow. He was the guy who did it after me. I just want to throw this out there. The bullpen was this legendary room

that existed for anybody that's unaware of what happened here at... No, I can totally relate to this conversation. Yeah, sorry. Basically, they throw all the interns in one room, and you guys would be cutting highlights and that sort of thing all night long, right, for the station. And getting Bob McKeown's tea.

And getting Bob McKeown's tea. And then there was, like, old Sports Illustrated pictures posted all over the wall. And hockey cards that I introduced. And food on the floor, food on the tables. Yeah, it was pretty gross. Highly, yeah, unhygienic. Yeah, no. It had a funny smell.

But those were the years. It had a funny smell. I loved it. Oh, it was fun. I missed it. When they tore all that down because they're kind of gutting this floor, it made me sad. Me too. Well, it got a lot quieter here when the fan moved to the big, beautiful new studios down the way.

I don't think anyone who shares any of the studios around us agrees that we're still here. Yeah, we're still loud and obnoxious. So, Caroline, let's talk about you. Let's talk about where this all started. When did you decide, I want to be in sports? I think it was probably early in high school. I can't remember a specific time or moment, but I'm the youngest in the family. I have two older brothers and I came just from a very, I guess, political family.

We'd like to talk about current events. So while we ate dinner every night, the news was on. So I was always kind of interested in journalism. And then I was the jock of the family and love sports and played a ton of sports and love watching sports more than my brother's dad, mom. So the two I just quickly figured out kind of went hand in hand. So it was early in high school. And I remember I sent like a blind email, I guess you could say, to Catherine Humphries at the time, who was to me like the Mecca.

She was the best on City TV. She did the sports for many years. She's now, I guess, retired, we can say. She has twins. And I'd never even told her this when I started reporting for Sportsnet, when I'd see her that, oh, hi, I sent you an email in high school. And she got back to me and gave me advice. And I just freaked out.

It was the best. It's so cool. Yeah. She was one of my big ones, too. Really? Yeah. Yeah, she was so good. Took us to the Raptors.

She took us to, like, the Air Canada Center. Yeah. What about your mother? Your mom has a pretty cool job, Adam. I've done that a million times. She did an award-winning Alanis Morissette. My mom's like, here, I'm going to hook you up with someone who's actually cool. And we got to shoot hoops at the Air Canada Center.

Or your mom just wanted a break, too. Probably that. Probably. Bit of pain in the ass. No, Catherine Humphries was very influential in Toronto and I think in Canada Because, like, it wasn't just that she did sports She, like, injected fun into it Like, she was one of the first kind of anchors I saw that, like, actually made jokes along with this

Oh, yeah, and she's so smart and quick, too And I think to be quick is one of the greatest skill sets you can have And especially in this industry Because she never forced a laugh It was just all so naturally, organically funny She said everything with, like, a wink. Like, you know. This is just between us.

She had a way of making, there's certain people that have a talent for making the entire room comfortable. Yes. Like, everybody's shoulders just come down. Absolutely. And especially with athletes, and you guys know better than I would, but they're always, they're walking around tense. Like, when Wendell Clark or Mark Massey or any of those guys come into breakfast television, they're tense. And then they kind of relax because Dina is able to put everybody to eat. She's one of those people that has that gift.

And I thought Catherine always was like that, too. Well, and I think, too, in sports is sometimes we forget when we're so wrapped up in it that it's sports. You know what I mean? It's supposed to be fun. And she was good, too, because I covered the Leafs because I was doing reporting for Sportsnet before I moved to Vancouver for anchoring in 2014. So I guess the season before that, and I would see her at a bunch of Leafs practices, and you could just tell the players trusted her. Because she wasn't out to get them. And by that, I don't mean that she wouldn't ask the tough questions, but she didn't do it in a very confrontational way.

She knew how to talk to them in a kind of landscape where sometimes the athletes would have trouble trusting the media and a lot of times for good reason. Right. She also didn't. I find this is like the thing that bugs me the most about today is everybody wants that one soundbite that goes viral. Right. So you've got that gotcha sort of question like, oh, I got like when when Dave Fetchuk asked Phil Kessel if he was hard to coach. Yes. Right.

that was one of those clips that there are some people that chase that all season and that has to be exhausting as a player where she was never she was never like that no and it's I don't think long term it pays off to be like that well no and I think reporters and journalists as a whole need to think do I just want to get those answers or do I want to have a relationship where I can get some good stories down the road and it's each to their own because I mean for some people it works for others it doesn't and it just kind of depends on what you're willing to do and I guess what your personality is i've always prided myself when i do interviews or when i am in the field is to talk to people like i would want to be talked to that doesn't mean you avoid the tough

questions but you don't have to do it in a rude way yeah i was saying to jesse before we started the podcast like imagine if after 20 minutes of this podcast someone came in and was hounding us being like what what were you thinking with that opener like were you trying that was awful what happened there i kind of be like okay well thanks show is i don't have a boss yeah yeah exactly I'm certainly not going to say anything. There's more Adam and Jesse going, you don't see if you're really kind of bad. And I'm like, you know what, you're right. You're right, that's actually true.

Not true at all. Well, I just found it interesting, too, when I started, is even scrum sometimes, there's no, and this isn't all the time, it's a generalization, but sometimes there's no, hey, how's it going, good, can I ask you a few questions? It's microphone in the face, and you start asking questions, which is a very bizarre way to talk to anyone. Yeah, it's not human. Now it's just. You ever get someone who walks into the middle of the scrum and they're looking up the entire time? Thinking. Like that.

No, like not even thinking. Like as you're asking the question. Like surely. Like, OK, I'm surrounded by people. They're asking me questions. If the person on my left asked me something, I'm going to look to my left. Right. But like they just kind of look up and that's how they continue their answer.

I don't know if that's like social anxiety or what. I think it's just, I don't know, contempt for the scrum. Yeah, I think it's like anything. There's all kinds, right? Who was the first person you, do you remember, who did you scrum with first? Oh, that's a good question. Oh, actually, you know what? It was in university and the, I don't know if it's still the case, because in London,

the owner or part owner of what's now Budweiser, is it now Budweiser Gardens? Yeah, because it used to be Labatt. um they might or still have ownership or a relationship with the 76ers so the 76ers came to town and did a did a pre-season game in london i can't remember if it was the raptors or who it was so that was my first time ever in a locker room and granted i was probably 19 years old so i was completely ill-equipped for the situation right in as many ways as yeah so it was more i walk in i have no idea how to even do you go up to do you ask someone if you can interview them do you not let alone the like partial nudity right when you walk into a locker room so i was just i

had no idea what was happening i don't remember who i scrummed but i remember another london reporter i kind of went to him and just said do we excuse my ignorance but do we just how does this work and then i and then you figure it out quickly how do you report report in general how How do you normally go about it? Well, because it's such an abnormal way to start it. I mean, I just didn't know because I'd never been in a locker room. It's funny, though, going to that school that they wouldn't have said, hey, before you go into this room, here are the things you would expect to find and here's what you should do. Right.

But to be fair, too, it's not like I was in a sports broadcasting course. So it's not like in other areas of journalism you'd be in that situation. What did you take? So it was kind of just, it was broadcast journalism. It was broadcast. So you get Media Studies at Western, and then you get Broadcast Journalism Radio from Fanshawe. Right. I almost went to Fanshawe, too.

That's why, like, other schools I almost dropped out of. Oh, yeah? Oh, that's right. I always forget, man. You treat schools like just, I don't know, chocolate bar wrappers. You just throw them over your shoulder. Students at the College of Sports Media and the new sports media program at Ryerson, I really hope you understand how unbelievably lucky you are.

That's a brand spanking new thing. Yeah. Yep. It's pretty cool. It used to just be broadcast. Yeah, the equipment's nice. I love the, yeah, when you go into a school, like, I think I was at Humber, and I looked at their board, and I was like, oh, my God, this board is brand new.

And they're like, yeah, we get a new one, like, every five years. The board I'm sitting at currently is lower than I am. Right now. Yeah. Yeah, students, the equipment you're using in school is better than the equipment you're going to end up using. Millennials, eh? Damn millennials.

I think we're actually all millennials, technically. Yeah, we are. I don't know exactly what a millennial is. Yeah, we were researching it the other night at work. After we'd completed all our work, of course. Of course, yes. Absolutely. Ben Ennis was not pleased to hear that he counts as a millennial.

Yeah, well, how old is Ben? I forget how old he is, but I think a millennial starts in 81 or 82. Right. What? Now they've changed that? That's according to Wikipedia, which could be wrong. They've just changed it. Now there's, what is it, Xenials?

Xenials? Oh, is that what it is now? Yeah, from 81 to, like, 85. It's the generation between Generation Z and... Oh, please, that's just that age group creating that. Once the avocado toast story came out, they're like, no, that's not it. I don't think a 14-year-old is walking up to a 36-year-old and going, hello, fellow peer. What the hell?

Hello, person who's more than twice my age. We are the same, you and I. And Xenials is spelled with an X. Oh, it's an X, not a Z. It's the micro-generation between Gen X and Millennials. So there you go. You lost me. Micro-generation.

Again, we've... Micro-generation. I'm so upset. I bet a millennial came up with that term. So, Carolyn, so you're in high school. You're a jock. What sports did you play? What were your sports?

Basketball was my main sport. And I played softball and soccer. And I played tennis in the summers. Holy smokes, you were one of those, eh? So if there was a sport to sign up for, you played it. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I loved it. Everything.

Yeah, so basketball. uh so even growing up we had a basketball net on our driveway and my eldest brother's seven years older and my room overlooked the driveway and i remember as a kid standing up because even when i was probably about five or six standing up on my bed and i could look out the window and he was playing with my dad but it was past my bedtime so i was never allowed to go out and i was just like this is not this is not cool and then i would always try and get better and better and better and then when my parents wanted to repave the drive

or they were instead of having a paved driveway they wanted to just have gravel oh no and I said I was probably 10 or 11 and I said this is not this is not going to do yeah so they had to put like kind of brick at the top of the

driveway so it was a quarter brick and the rest gravel not the best look but it worked for me it was enough I mean you look on a brick court which still the basketball ball can go anywhere oh yeah yeah as our neighbors found out the hard way yeah but they did they hate you guys or were they cool with it no i just ruined some shrubs but it's still everything's fine shrubs regrow yeah right yeah um okay and then you're so you get to the end of high school

you start applying why western fan show i just kind of liked the mix where i kind of got a university background and and the college so it was kind of theory and hands-on because i found it western it was just nice even for like i know it sounds silly but critical thinking and analysis and writing so yeah I applied to a bunch though I think I got waitlisted at Ryerson same no I got waitlisted for journalism at Ryerson never ended up getting in

really? yeah never ended up getting in but you got into the better program you did kind of get into the more fun program well I don't know radio and TV and journalism based on what you want to do for sure it's the better program oh oh like in terms of I thought you meant like in terms of prestige no no in terms of both

in terms of career goals like holy shit yeah Like, oh, my God, did I luck out. Now, it's funny. If you ask a Ryerson journalism student, or no, you ask a U of T journalism student what they think of a Ryerson journalism student. Like, you look at it like Ryerson journalism and then RTA, which is now, what is it called? I forget what it's called. It's like media.

School of Media. A bunch of different breakdowns of it. U of T students are like, you guys are a joke. You're a bunch of jokes. You didn't go to U of T. Well, so CBC, I've heard, prefers to hire RTA students or Ryerson students. but around a lot of the industry there's a lot of

thumb in your nose at Ryerson I got it when I was an intern I got it from Wilner I introduced myself to him and he's like ah you're a Ryerson student huh? How's that working out for you? And that's my first and only impression of Mike Wilner

Wilner is actually pretty good Sounds a little bit like him I always tell students too when they say where should I go? I said honestly I don't think it matters that much. I loved where I went to school, but it depends on who you are as a person and your work ethic, right?

And I tell students, you're all finishing with the same degree or diploma at different schools, so do something extra. Because it's not going to, just because you go to a certain school doesn't mean you're going to get a job. Or the job.

You're all graduating into the same catastrophe of an industry. Don't worry about it. So you get your first job, because you obviously reported on things in London. How big, just so we know, just so nobody who's like, if you've never lived in London, just how big are the Knights there? Oh, they're massive.

Yeah. It's like live or die by the Knights. And they've been so good for so long too, so that it's always just been really easy. But that's a hockey town. I mean, it's split between Red Wings fans and Leafs fans, and then everyone's a Knights fan. Because it's like weirdly in the middle there. Because geographically, yeah.

Right. And also the Leafs sucked for a very long time. Yes. I would imagine that changes in the next little bit. But I imagine it would be more Leach fans. Well, especially with Marner and Kadri, right? As former Knights. Former Knights.

Mark Hunter? Yep. Who did you interview there that went on into the NHL? Do you remember? Oh, that's a good question. I don't really remember. It was during the... I mean, Kadri was there right when I started.

I think I interviewed him. Isn't it bad that I don't remember? I think I interviewed him in school. Well, after a while, you do so many that they kind of blur. Yeah. So it's kind of a tough question. I know. Would you have gotten the tail end of Tavares or Delzotto?

No. They were already going on to the NHL. They were drafted in that. Yeah. Yeah. I think that might have been one of their off years because they basically sold the farm to get Tavares. Of course. Yeah.

Did you feel like, okay, so having that perspective, they always talk about those kids. There's a reputation with some of those guys that come out of London. They know that they're superstars or feel like they're superstars. Right. Do you feel like that's the case? Is that reputation deserved? And I guess secondly, is it a healthy environment for a 16-year-old to step into? Yeah, I'm trying to think back because when I was in London and you're kind of going out to the bars and you're a student, there was no – I don't remember anyone ever saying like, oh, I saw so-and-so out or I see them out and about in the city.

I mean, it wasn't – I mean, I know they're also underage. But there was no kind of hierarchy in the city for a young generation. Of course, this was when social media was just beginning. So maybe that has something to say to it. But I think they're kind of brought up the right way within the Knights organization. They know how to do things. They know how to win. And they know how to kind of create champions.

I think, though, it is tough. And we kind of saw it with Cadre. I think it's tough when you're going from there and you're from London and then you're moving on to the Leafs. You know what I mean? Because then it's just like you go from big to bigger pretty quickly. But he had to stop at the, you know, what is it, 3,000 a night Marlies in between. Yeah, back when no one cared about them. It's still a miracle to me that Nazem Kadri is still a Leaf.

Like just given the path that he had to take. How many times he could have been traded and it just fell through for the wrong reasons. Yeah, it's not safe. Luongo was this close to being a Leaf. And it was Kadri and... Oh, thousands of rumors. Remember Cody Hodgson? Yes.

He was supposed to be a Leaf every five minutes? Yeah. Four Kadri? Can you imagine they made that deal now? Oh my God. Scary.

Rebuild would have been longer for sure. So then, okay, so you deal in that and then what's your first job out of school? So in my final year of university,

so I interned at the fan for two summers and I started writing a tennis blog. I think it was the first or second summer because it was well before Jeannie and Milos

and I remember asking Doug Faraway who used to be in charge of the fan I said can I just write this And he's like yeah do whatever you want Because they didn't care it's free content And no one was probably reading it anyway right Because no offense but tennis in Canada at the time Was not not what it is now

No and so I was doing that And I was continuing that in university And then they started having me when kind of Meal Ocean 2011 was doing well They had me Like do hits on the fan so late at night Where I'd go on and hits as in go on on the radio and just talk about tennis so then i found out it was someone at someone at the fan

told me that they were having these auditions but no one knew exactly what it was for at sportsnet but they knew it was for sportsnet they were actually kind of using a casting agency so i went out for those in my final year in university and it was i think the first one was in november and i thought okay i think that i did okay and then i heard nothing back and then they came back and said, okay, we'd like to bring you back. And I actually remember it was during exams and I said to my mom, I was in London, I called her, I said, I don't know if it's,

like, realistically, I'm not going to get whatever job this is because I'm in school. And I kind of, I mean, I'm so busy. Maybe I just should, I don't even know if it's worth it. And she said, no, you should go. It's, if nothing else, it's a great experience. Oh my gosh, thank goodness. Can you imagine?

What an idiot. So what did that job turn into? Yeah, by the third audition, it turned into Sports Updates for City News Channel, which was brand new yeah i remember that which was the perfect and i started around the same time as sean mckenzie he and i were both doing it and it was just the perfect entry i mean getting a job in toronto out of school is very rare but it was part time but it was i would at the start i didn't produce them but then just a couple months and i did so it's two three minute

updates twice an hour for nine hours so the reps that you're getting that's a lot and there's no teleprompter anything because the camera was in the newsroom so you're just doing it you're distracted it's just it was so good so I did that for I guess two years but by my by the end of the first year they started having me do some reporting in the field and that's when I would do some Leafs and Raptors and then when Martine Geyer went on mat leave they had me kind of fill in at the desk and my boss at the time told me this was probably in September he said we're not going to have you as an anchor you're just filling in I said yeah that's fine we want you as a reporter sure and then and then two months later yeah we want you to move to Vancouver to be the full-time

Sportsnet Central morning host with James Cebulski. I was like, I thought I wasn't going to be an anchor. No, we think it would be good. Wow, that happened really quick. That wasn't that long ago at all. No, so I started doing the City Hits in April 2012, and then I

moved to Vancouver in March 2014. So that was basically the month that I moved here from Calgary. I remember that announcement going out because it was one of the first things that i got in my rogers email when i joined the company you're like who is this chick no it wasn't that it was just like wow good for good for them that's amazing i knew james yes oh

yeah and i and i i hadn't seen you because i wasn't here right yeah um so i was like this is amazing good for her like that's that's sick and you get to move to vancouver which is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world oh my gosh it was amazing but at the time i was terrified Really? Yes. And I needed, when I was offered, I honestly thought to myself, I can't, I can't do this. Did your mother step in again and say, uh. Yeah.

Yeah. But I thought, cause I thought I can't do this. Cause to be fair, I was, cause I was young when I got in at Sportsnet. So at this time I was 20, almost 24, 23. And I'm thinking I've been anchoring for three months, fill in. I can't. And I was worried and I'm moving across the country and I know no one there. I'm thinking this is an awful idea

And this could go horribly wrong Which I guess it could have But luckily it didn't But I was just nervous Because you're doing a lot of I mean the reason people say don't And why you can't usually start in Toronto Is you want to make your mistakes

When not a ton of people are watching And I was just thinking I'm going to be learning And growing on air While everybody's watching But luckily so far it's worked out You went to the tiny little market of Vancouver Yeah

Well and it was a national show too right so like it was just i mean only 25 to 30 million people had cable and could have watched at that time right so but it went like and and it was kind of just we called ourselves the island of misfit toys because there were only four of us out there doing the show and and a couple people who worked on the teleprompter so we were and the whole show was produced out of toronto so we had a two second delay too so when you're reading highlights everything's delayed but then you learn to just speak um like speak two seconds ahead of yourself okay so this is for it was it was kind of like doing a remote so every night okay so i've done it is it is really hard by the

way to do sports highlights if like unless there's any delay yeah absolutely i've had to do them on bt and they're really hard yeah um so tell me how that works so you're you're seeing the monitor obviously right yes so tell me how are you ahead of the monitor or are you behind it so it looks fine but you can hear in your ear how it's actually playing so you're hearing yourself back in your ear no you can hear the music that they'll play but you'll also hear the sound of the highlights because you know when you're watching it on sportsnet central you may not notice but you can still hear the call but there's music over top so you would just you just train yourself where okay i can hear in my ear where it is and how the shot's going off so even if it's i

know it sounds really hard but you get used to it you just start doing it in advance man but then when i i was i just turned 24 when we started but see that's having to do that but see but it's but it's what you do on on remotes like rogers cup there's always there's a delay sure but yeah in the comfy confines of our studio here it's all you're watching it and that's how it is and but that's where seaball was great and and our little island of misfit toys we just you became a family like we would do we did a ton of stuff together because and it's just like like no other working experience I've ever had because you're just you're all each other has and you're all in it together and you're just and we knew too because our show they shut down

production out of that studio in March of 2016 last year and we just found out the the night before that a boss was coming out the next day so we knew that would probably be our last show And just in the landscape of how this industry is, we knew the whole time I was out there it was going to happen. So for the two years I was there, we just kind of banded together. And enjoyed the experience. Yeah. And that's where Seaball, as a veteran broadcaster, was so good to me. He was like a big brother because he helped me out.

He seems like a great guy. He is a really good guy. I hope he knows he's really appreciated because there's a lot of little stories that float around the industry of how good of a guy he is. He's a very good guy. I mean, I like to make fun of him because it's really easy. But he's still a good guy And he's doing the morning show at Sportsnet 650 Yeah, it launches on Labor Day

Yeah, crazy Well, and that's what happens when you're a good person Yes And also are good at what you do Now, I will never forget with James The amazing tweet that Bob McKenzie sent out When James, because James was doing afternoons At the TSN station here in town

He was up against Bob McCowan Right, which is You could put anybody up against him it's going to be tough and I remember him going to making the move to Sportsnet and they hadn't really announced it but that you know he was leaving and Bob sent out this really nice tweet about

and you know I've so enjoyed working with this guy and like you know when Bob McKenzie sends something like that. Yeah it sounds pretty legit It's a big deal. He doesn't have to He doesn't have to. Yeah always take note when someone goes out of their way to be nice. Yeah. Or to say something Well and even talking to Seaball too you learn

a lot about people in the industry and how good people are too when something like our show was shut down and i was fortunate enough to move back and have a spot but i mean people just get caught in the crossfire you know but the amount of people that'll reach out is pretty spectacular yeah i think uh i think there was a point when that wasn't the case yeah i feel like that was the heady days in the 80s when everybody was making money hand over fist right and it was more a competition rather than what it is now which is like we are all in this together as it shrinks and

you can be competitive with yourself and always want to get better but that doesn't mean you need to you know that means you can still help you're only as good like I always say to at the desk your own and it's the same with you guys in the podcast like you need to set each other up and it's for the viewer so you're going to look better if you set them

up and vice versa yeah support each other guys are always sitting Kumbaya I just think it's funny how it's for the listeners Steve Yes, listener benefit trumps everything. Jesse and I are just doing what's right for the show. You are.

Should I not have said anything? I'm glad you did. Let's just say that we're starting to add clips to our YouTube channel, and Jesse reopened a fairly fresh wound. What wound was that? That was the I Just Think It's Funny How episode. No, it was a good one. Is it my fault you don't want to support your good friend?

That's another good point, Jesse. That's another great point. See, you know how James, you said James is easy to make fun of. Yeah. Steve walks into it. Oh, yeah. I sprint. Yeah.

I get made fun of, though, so much in the newsroom. Really? Yeah. But I just, again, like as a younger sister of two older brothers, it's just you grow up where you can't say anything without getting them. But I think it's good. I think for me, teasing, if I make fun of you, it means I'm good friends with you and like you.

Yeah. I would hope so. Yeah. Yeah. You've got it. I want to rewind just a little bit. So do you remember your first hit on City News Channel when the lights went up? There's no prompter to hold you up, right?

Yes. Because that is a big deal. I don't care what anyone says. It doesn't matter how much practice you get. When you are alone and you are carrying a segment and there's no prompter to back you up, it's terrifying. Yes. I remember my first City hit because I honestly thought I was going to black out. And again, you're standing on this stool in the middle of coworkers.

So first of all, these are coworkers I do not know. and I'm thinking oh my gosh they're going to be listening and I just need I don't know what I'm going to say and I just you know and so my heart I remember was just pounding and I was freaking out and then once you get through it and you realize oh my gosh look I'm still alive everything's fine

then you just keep going I remember the first 15 minutes yeah exactly I remember the first time too I did Sportsnet Central I was just I get nervous and anytime I do something new I get really nervous and I was just my heart was just Pounding a mile a minute

And I remember my first post J show Which was still only It was on a weekend and I was just doing it by myself And that's when and you can't do this That's when you think of the viewers And you think of numbers And I just thought oh my do not screw this up And I remember about 10 minutes before air

I thought I can't I'm not going to be able I can't I'm not going to be able to do this And then it was fine But you just have to get through that right And then every the next thing won't seem so scary Yeah absolutely Yeah, you just gotta breathe and everything's fine Until they pull you out of your comfort zone again

What's that? I just try to think of anything Yeah, I just say it's just talking That's what I'll just remind myself Even though it's not really But I'll just say, Carolyn, it's just All you have to do is talk Everything's fine

You say it's just talking And then all those little voices go in front of millions of people You go, get out, get out I almost blacked out talking to Wendell Clark At the playoff tailgate Oh yeah I remember just being like, this is a really silly moment right now. And like, I almost honestly got fainted.

Yeah. I, I think it's really, what you do is incredible. And I don't think I could ever do it because when I do my videos, it's in a room and it's closed off from everybody. And I think it's genuinely making me worse at like doing live stuff. Cause like, I'm alone. It's just, no, but it's just, but you would, it's just what I said. But once you do it and get used to it, like I get nervous public speaking and people always say, you're going to be fine.

This is what you do. I say, no, it's not what I do. I'm in a now I don't get nervous to the point I can't do it. But you just kind of have those butterflies beforehand. But that's that's healthy, though, isn't it? I think. Yeah, let's go with that. Yeah. Yeah.

If I wasn't nervous, I would be very like even before the first day at Rogers Cup, you kind of have those butterflies and because you want to start strong. I don't know if you find too in your shows But if in any show Even Sportsnet Central If I kind of make a mistake Everyone makes mistakes all the time and it's fine But if I make a mistake that's kind of stupid Or bugs me early on in the show

Then in the back of my head for the rest of the show I'm like don't screw this up So it's like I need a good start And then we're good Or at least that's what I do I used to get when I was on the air in Barrie Barrie, Ontario If I screwed up a break

which was often and early it would bug me for the rest of the show my my shows were six hours long on the weekends they were nine to three so this sucked and so if if at 9 45 i had a bad break at 11 45 12 45 it would still affect me and at a certain point i had to realize like man nobody's listening like nobody like first off nobody's listening but nobody's listening that long no and it's always any mistake is always worse in your own head than it is on air for the most part yeah and i find you have to i've trained myself too to have a short memory where i'll let something bug me for maybe a couple minutes and then it's just okay completely move on and even if you do something really well it's kind of like oh that was great and then move

on what have your like this is silly moments been like where you're just you're in the moment and you're present but you're just like this is this is ridiculous what's going on right now um like ridiculous in terms of how am i here doing this yeah yeah i got to so last year i got to go to wimbledon to cover um milo shranich's run to the wimbledon final and so i so long story short hopefully this won't be long i was a ball kid growing up at rogers cup and that's when i really fell in love with tennis because you're on the court with them and it's just awesome and some of my best friends like i'm going to the u.s open this weekend and one of them was a ball kid and the other one's my best friend who i made friends with at tennis camp as a counselor in the summer

so I have a lot of good friends who love tennis so I went to Wimbledon with some of those friends this two summers ago and that was great to just be there it's like it's the mecca I was we got teary-eyed I mean it was just ridiculous right and then so last year going to Wimbledon to cover it was just insane in its in and of itself and then I got to see Federer to me is the greatest athlete of all time I could go on for hours so I got to see him at Wimbledon and I saw Milos beat him and then milo she's in the final and if that's not enough the night before the final i get a text saying um espn wants to have a canadian on breakfast at wimbledon with hannah storm to discuss milo and i sent just and i sent a text back being like this like

is what are you what espn it's not yeah no but i'm thinking like is this another is this no this can't be right and they said yeah so you're going to be on tomorrow with Hannah and again I grew up watching Breakfast at Wimbledon to me that's the be all and end all so I was so so that's again a nervous like I was talking to some friends my parents and I just remembered it's you're just talking you need to simplify things you don't have to show what you know just try and share this they just said we want you to share the story of how Canadians are feeling so I didn't tweet it out or anything beforehand and I was feeling nervous and you're in the like you're in the green room and it's like McEnroe and Darren Cahill and Chris McKendry

and Chris McKendry to me is just one of the best at her job so I'm just thinking what is so this is hours of me the night before I'm thinking what is happening this is not going to actually happen then the day of yeah I actually slept really well I don't I must have just been exhausted. And I was feeling nervous. But then right when I sat down at the desk, it's like some comfort. You know what I mean? Because you're used to sitting at a desk and talking. And I sat down and I kind of looked around. I thought I didn't feel nervous anymore. I thought I can do this. I know what I'm going to say. And Hannah was really nice and relaxed. And then I did it. And I honestly didn't think that many people would be watching because it was at 830 a.m. Eastern time

and the final started at nine. And I'd never received that many tweets or texts or it was incredible and I'm just really happy I didn't royally screw up but that moment I was just it was nuts and I almost like coach's corner like yeah in Canada I couldn't yeah I couldn't believe it that was just really fun that is so cool yeah and still now I get goosebumps from that yeah and still still now I kind of think back when I was watching Wimbledon this summer I was kind of thinking did that happen how did that happen yeah so that was fun that was really cool what is what's the did you notice like a huge difference between the crowd at the Rogers Cup and a crowd at Wimbledon this year I mean Wimbledon's massive just because it's a grand

slam so you have the men and the women and it's just physically bigger but I was in Montreal at the Rogers Cup this year where they set the attendance record for most people at a one-week tournament at a Masters 1000 it was insane in Montreal and and I think it's in part because fetter was there a big part but also excuse me but also just because dennis had such a run but the stadium there it's almost like you're on top of each other it's just a really good setup it's not really rectangular it's not a circle it's just kind of fetter said and i don't know if he says this other places he said it's his favorite center court other than wimbledon wow and people are dancing at changeovers and it was packed i was and and great right yeah they're

there to have a good time yes so that crowd honest because i've been to indian wells and miami and i was really really impressed with the canadian tennis fans because they're hardcore fans too i mean they're on other courts watching like the crowd for gas gay zverev was massive and i mean gas gay is a frenchman and a lot of people were behind him and zverev but even the outside courts it was packed yeah i wanted to ask you because you know i i know the you you cover the sport a lot more in depth than I even could even hope to pay attention to it. But there's a couple questions. First

off, is it Shapovalov or is it Shapovalov? No, Shapovalov. It is Shapovalov. Well done. I was saying it right because we were trying to figure it out on BT and then Arash said it one way one day and then another way the next day. It's Shapovalov. Shapovalov, okay. And the other thing is

when Jeannie Bouchard was in and I know that you interviewed her on Sportsnet 590. I wanted to talk to you about her career Because she is, of all the tennis stars, and no disrespect to Milos and Dennis, but she's the one that's really kind of gained the worldwide stage. She's like an A-lister, right? Yeah. She's had really great moments, and she's had really tough moments, and it seems like she's in a really tough spell right now.

What's your thoughts on her career? Are the rumors about her spending too much time doing promo true? Is it that she's streaky? What's Jeannie Bouchard's background and what's her deal? Yeah, it's a good question. So 2014 was her massive breakthrough, and everyone thought this girl's going to be the best in the world pretty soon. Seems like a trajectory.

Yeah, and the reason she was doing so well was because she hits the ball early, so that's why her stroke's so fast. She's really, really aggressive, and all that's based on her confidence. So she was just going on this roll. No one was used to playing her, and it was working up until the Wimbledon final. That's kind of when the decline started against Kvitova, who's a really hard hitter and Jeannie didn't really change or adapt her game. And then I think I would guess and I don't know because I'm not in Jeannie's head. But I think after that, when you have that level of attention and fame at a young age, it can kind of get to you and the pressure will get to you. But now, years removed, I disagree with the notion that she's not working hard. And a lot of people, too.

I was talking about this with Jesse before we came on. People read into how her social media is and all that, which I don't think is entirely fair. She's got a manager for that, right? She's not posting them. Well, and the thing, too, is, I mean, sure, if you're struggling, it's best to keep other people's focus on tennis. But from people who've played with her for the Canadian Fed Cup team and other people in tennis, they say she's a really hard worker and trainer. But that being said, what they say is that she hasn't really changed how she's working, which is sometimes even Miloš has said is his fault, where it's the idea if I train really hard, then I'm going to be better and beat people. But everyone's training really hard and you need to work smarter, not harder.

so she hasn't adjusted things in her game she's still going for the early ball and trying to be aggressive but if you're playing against people who can counter that you're not going to get far so that to me has kind of been her issue she hasn't adapted and people i've spoken to to in tennis that's what they see so now the issue is and she hasn't been able to she hasn't stayed healthy this year which doesn't help either because you can't go on streaks but the the issue now with her ranking is she's getting to a point where i mean rogers cup she was a wild card she wouldn't have gotten in because of her ranking so she's getting to the point where she won't get direct entry into these top tournaments so is she gonna go and play challenger events

which are the lesser known tournaments that aren't as glamorous that's where i wonder where it's gonna go now i know there was a coaching issue as well like oh she's gone through a bunch of coaches and is that that's a problem yeah yeah because then you have no clear direction and if and maybe Maybe she doesn't agree with what they think she should change or what she can do. I mean, she needs consistency. Yeah. What do you think it is with people in Jeannie? Because I'm going through the list of athletes in my head who I've heard, oh, they do too much promo.

Or they do, you know, too many, I don't know, I guess, sponsor things. There's PK, for sure, in hockey. He gets ostracized, right? PK. He gets ostracized. Ronda Rousey got that in the UFC. You know, no credit to Holly Holm Just, oh, she was doing

She was off doing way too much promo, not the women's division Sorry that Holly Holm trained her ass off for that fight She's been braining people in the head With her legs for her entire life And weirdly she did that again And Jeannie What is it with her? Because I can't put my finger on it

But when I look at how people talk about her on Twitter It's weird Like not every athlete gets that And people in the industry too Like it's vicious It's super weird, really. Journalists, it's, yeah. Is it because she's, and I'm just going to throw it out there, is it because she's beautiful looking?

Yeah, I honestly think there's some sexism with it. Now, she, again, she likes attention and has always sought attention and also been very confident in what she says. She's not afraid to speak her mind, which can, of course, get people to disagree with her and judge her a little bit more. With Sharapova. With Sharapova and all that. But what bugs me, like at the Rogers Cup, she mentioned how playing for Canada can be a burden. Now, that's not smart to say, whether you think it or not, you should. She know she should know better.

I mean, don't point the finger on the on the media. But I also get where she doesn't feel she's been treated well by the media. But what bothered me after that was there were articles saying that she's just another pretty face on the women's tour. And I'm thinking if Milos or anyone else kind of fell back. I mean, she's still a top 100 player. Would you say so-and-so is just a pretty face? Are you saying that about other female tennis? You know, stuff like that bugs me because then that's where we're not.

It's not about the tennis anymore. The best athletes in all sports do the most promo. Like, this isn't strange. Yeah, that's why she's marketable. I mean, when people say she's marketable, that's what they're talking about. John Tavares endorses Vita Cocoa, coconut water. Coconut water. What is it, Sidney Crosby and Dempsters?

Yeah, Americans don't believe me. Sidney Crosby is sponsored by bread in Canada. Do you understand? That's so Canadian. Bread. You can get Sidney Crosby, well, you used to be able to get Sidney Crosby hockey cards in bread. He's huge.

But no one says Sidney Crosby's doing too much promo. No, but he's also doing really well. Right, but when Ovechkin was struggling, it was never about how Ovechkin looked. It was always about Ovechkin. Thank you, that's what I mean. Well, maybe his career is going down the toilet and he's like laughing at them like, I'm going to score 50 goals on you right now. Right. But.

Because people compare Jeannie to Kournikova and people say Kournikova didn't do anything. She was just a pretty face. That's what people say. She's 10th rank in the world. Thank you. It's, you know what I mean? You're not saying this about other players. You're saying this about the ones that get the most attention and a lot of that attention is based on their looks, which just is messed up.

But that's just how it is in professional sports in a large part for women. That's just unfortunately how it is in our business. It bothers me because I think I mean, television is. It is vain in a way where it does matter how we look and how we're dressed and how we present ourselves. So for me, it's always been I don't want that to be the focus. I want to be a good broadcaster, and I don't want to bring any more attention to things that I can't control, which is my appearance. Because you get things on Twitter, nice or not nice, but to me, it's, I don't know you. So, that's not, but you know what I mean?

That's not going to affect my confidence. Do you want to talk about Collingwood? Oh, man. Do you want to? Why not? Okay. It's your story to tell. Okay.

Only under the, and I don't want to distract from you, Carolyn, because you're the guest here. No, but it's a relatable account. You're on TV, right? I want to tell this story, but I want to preface it by saying that this person is not a bad person, and I do not want them demonized. Okay. Okay?

Yeah. We clear? Everybody listening clear? Good? Good? Class is in on? Okay. So what happened was we were with Sleeman.

They have their Railside Session Ale stuff that they are promoting, and we took a bunch of listeners up to Collingwood. We did a boat tour. We took really goofy, planted photos on the boat. We went out for pizza. It was terrible. Those photos were so terrible, but so great. I love them.

And had an amazing, amazing time with these people. Like, I'm so glad. Every time we hang out with our own listeners, I'm like, damn. Oh, they're the best. They're like, everybody's rad. It's awesome. But we go to a bar. And, of course, now we're outside of just the listeners, right?

Everybody's there. There's an Irish pub. And I forget what it's called, but it's right in that Blue Mountain Circle there. And you're at a bar, so everything's kind of more relaxed. You're friends, right? Speak your mind. And I'm sure that you've seen, and I'm sure you've had this happen if you're at a bar or something like that. And I'm not sure how many bars you frequent.

But somebody grabs you and goes, hey, I know you from. Right? Sure. So I'm walking to the bathroom. I already have to pee. Right? Like, naturally, I've been drinking beer all day. I got to go really badly.

So imagine that you're in that headspace and somebody grabs your shoulder. And I turn around and it's a guy about my age. good looking dude and he says I know you you're Adam from Breakfast Television and that was surprising

somebody under the age of 35 recognized me from Breakfast Television and he said I watch you every morning and I said thank you so much

that's really great and you know we talked back and forth I find out he's a firefighter in Mississauga he told me what pump he was at and I said

well that's amazing like you know I almost was a firefighter like if broadcasting hadn't worked out that's what I probably would have done and he's like oh that's really really cool

he's like yeah you know he's like when I watch you I feel like I'm I'm watching a friend and I said that is the best compliment you can pay me and then he and this is where this is where the train falls off the rails he grabbed my belly with his thumb and his

index finger and he said but this has to go though and it was like I'm sorry I'm laughing but the balls the kind of balls that only liquor can But what I find fascinating is, I'm sorry that that happened to you, by the way. No, it's okay. I don't need it.

No, but even the fact that someone, like, touches you is offside, let alone what he's saying. But I find it fascinating, and we were talking about this at work the other day, is that for some reason when you're on TV, people and TV, radio, people think that they know you, even though they don't, and they feel, like, I'll have people say, oh, yeah, I love watching you. i hate when you wear that dress or like you look or you look smaller in real life and it's just it's what how does this but they think they're kind of being a helpful nice friend and it's just my mom used to get very you're prettier in person yeah which was which they think is a compliment but it's not because you're saying yeah but you have to be very nice right and you just say

like how did you react though because you must have been so it was it was kind of like Adam's a very nice person. I honestly explained it to him. Because you know what? I have put on weight in the last two years. And that is because, and we were talking about this before the show started today, I'm working three different jobs. So I'm doing this. This I consider a job.

It is a job. It's a small business. We're doing breakfast television and I've got the radio show. So there's some days where I start at 4 a.m. and I'm not done until 7 p.m. And at a certain point, you've got to sleep, right? What's this guy say? what's his expression when you're just like

you don't know me well I didn't know I said I was super kind about it I was like super calm too like because what am I gonna do yell at him

no exactly that's not gonna help I got this radio show in the afternoon he's like oh I didn't know that and I said so I'm usually exhausted so yeah recently

I've been skipping the gym a little bit more than I normally would and I'm really tired and when you're tired you eat more I can't believe you gave him an explanation

I know meanwhile don't forget he really has to go to the washroom yeah I know so anyway I'm like anyway dude I'll see you later and I went down to the bathroom and I came back up and the reason I'm continuing

the story is this and this is this guy again not do not demonize this person he came up to me put his arm around me and he said listen man I'm so sorry oh that's nice 15 minutes later he's like I don't want you to think you're fat and he's like I he said I just I said the wrong thing and that happens

yeah and so I want that's why I tell that story not a bad person he just misspoke yes right and again it's this thing where people and he paid you the highest compliment where I feel like I'm seeing a friend on TV. So then they think in person, I know you so I can say anything. Right.

It's I again, we talk about it at work all the time when there's just we have something in our day, something similar. And we come in and it's like, can you get over this? But then it's kind of like, OK, well, I mean, I get it. We get it. It's just very it's very bizarre. And I find, too, at bars, too, when people are drinking and they'll come up to you and it's like just social norms go out the window.

So you have to be very good at, I mean, be nice, but you also have to move on. And at a certain point, I think some people would give you the license not to be nice, but I always feel like people have the best intentions. Yes. Right? Yeah. Always. Every single time.

I've never once had someone with bad intentions in person. Right. And you know what? We put on fucking weight from time to time, right? Holy fucking shit. I'm almost 30, man. I'm going to put on some pounds every once in a while. But I just find it funny.

Can you imagine any other job, just some random person coming up to you saying, like at a law firm, and some client comes in being like, listen, you were great on this case, but hey, buddy. Johnson, what's going on there? Compelling argument. We won the case, but you put on a few pounds later. Yeah. Greetings, Your Honor. You're fat also. We also have like a BT, and I know you would get this because women always get it worse than men.

we have foot fetish people oh that's gross like i don't have that thank goodness and like oh yeah i really like the sandals you're wearing today and stuff like that it's like oh my god yeah like jesse's like i know it sounds crazy but and they they're totally cool with tweeting that out and going hey you got great looking feet like it's weird it's i i've seen it oh my god anyway sorry back to you the only time i've blocked people too is if they if i feel highly uncomfortable because that makes me mad when I hate that feeling where I let someone

make me highly uncomfortable but then I also think I don't need this you know that feeling when you're just like nah you just go nah

I don't care if you're kind of mean and say you suck at your job I'm like okay whatever that's fine but if I feel really at ease it's not your boss

who cares Adam and Steve tend to have trouble with the Twitter trolls does that affect your life no I never respond I think I responded once but I

And we'll talk about this at work, too, because sometimes people get kind of heated and it's like, look what this guy said. I just want to. And I stop and I say, I get you want to say something back, but what's it really going to do? They want you to respond. They want you to. No, but they want you to respond. It'll make you feel good in the moment, but you're not going to change their mind. Do you know what I mean? It's like trying to talk down a Trump supporter. You're not going to change their mind. That's a weirdly specific thing. Have you maybe heard us talk about that before? You know what?

We both struggle with that. And it's, Jesse always is the one, same attitude. Who cares? Who fucking cares who these, like just. You don't know them.

You don't know them. Why does it matter? Steve and I have to, from time to time, I'll go, look at this fucking whatever. And he'll be like, Adam,

just don't respond. And then I'll see him later on and then I'll respond. Look at this fucking, And it's human, right? Yes. And at the end of the day, yes, we shouldn't. But sometimes.

I know. It's so tempting. Yeah. So, yeah, I try. The one thing that bugged me before is when someone made a comment on my work Facebook page and my brother follows my Facebook page and he saw it and it was inappropriate and it really bugged him. And I was I was pissed. Families. Because I thought you should not have to see this.

Right. Because that right. I can handle it. But I don't want you to see. Family's rough. Yeah. So that's where I'll delete inappropriate things, because I don't need my friends or family or other people to see that.

I had to talk all my uncles down when Kiprios called me a loser on TV. I don't even like him anyway. Fucking, no, I'm like, dude. Was it the Italian side? Oh, buddy. So there's a lot of bros dropped? Oh, there were a lot of- Fucking bro.

They don't say bro. They don't say bro. They say some other things, for sure. But, yeah, I had to talk them all down after that. And I hope you showed them the show when he came on and talked about it. Oh, yeah. God bless him, man. The guy's fearless.

He came on and it was so much fun. Yeah, that was good. But they don't watch the podcast, though, because they're in their 50s. So they don't know that. They don't know that. So I got to. Yeah. And, you know, you don't see him for a few months.

So all they have in their mind is. And they're probably telling all their friends at work. And then Kiprios comes on. He tells my nephew. My nephew. My nephew. That's right. My nephew.

And Kipri, who is one of the coolest people. Yes. Like, and that's the great thing is that you, when I've met the people that I grew up watching, Nick's one of them, when Elliot came on, when, you know, we've got the chance, Jeff Merrick, these guys are, like, they're all really great people. Yeah. And it seems like the crew at Sportsnet, and I know we're a little bit biased, you know, we're loosely associated, and we work for the same company, and I've met you all, but everybody seems really cool. No, I agree with that. Yeah, Ken's kind of, you know, whatever. Yeah, I mean, whatever.

Who is that guy, anyway? What's he writing, a book? No, everyone is. I mean, we say at nighttime, too, we're lucky because we just have a really fun crew. Because people are always saying, and I'm sure it's the same with BT, is, oh, it must be hard work until, for us, 2.30 in the morning and you're there at night. And I said, no, it's really fun. You're just watching sports and you're having, I mean, there's no bosses around.

Not that that wouldn't also be fun, but you're just kind of hanging out. It's more fun when they're around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think they know that. I prefer it. Yeah, I prefer it. Like, Doug McClain was, when he would come in, I love Doug. He's hilarious.

He's one of the good ones, too. But he was coming in and doing, like, kind of Hockey Central hits during the playoffs for us. And he says, I can't believe how much fun you guys have in here at nighttime. I said, what do you expect us to do? Just sit around and be all mopey? Well, because when Mount McClain goes off. Because he had pizza parties. He's very serious sometimes, right?

Oh, yeah. When Mount McClain. When he blows up, it's big. And I would tell him that. Like, he's just, you know, on Hockey Central, sometimes they're like, I'm like, wow, it's a very serious day today. Yeah. but I can imagine that him coming in

and stepping in and like it's probably a younger crew that works at night yes and he just probably relaxed yeah it's probably

much different than what he's used to because we're just telling jokes and laughing and being ridiculous and when we're watching sports at work too

like Carly Agro and I who's my usual co-anchor she and I have a ton of fun Raptors playoffs it was the game what game was it Raptors had a really bad game

and then Kyle Lowry hit a three to tie it and send it to overtime but they lost anyway oh and that was the same night Is I think a Jays playoff game Seconds late second or within the same minute

Or something I remember that now So yeah I don't remember the exact game but she And I jumped out of our seats My leg got caught in her chair And she Like went flying and scratched Up the wall like there's a scratch from her Flying back oh my

Gosh we're so loud and they're swearing And oh she's the best She's hilarious yeah I love Carly Yeah we just have a really good time I wrote her scripts once upon a time Did you? Oh, yeah. Just a few times.

Did you ever have to say, like, Steve, do better? Steve, this is subpar work. And I was like, I know. Yeah. One day I'll write a book. Yes. Can't even write a script. How are you going to write a book?

Two will be subpar. No, I'm kidding. Ouch. But that's actually a really interesting point you made about nights that I'd never thought of. It is a younger crew. Yeah. Well, and it's a smaller crew in the Grands. I mean, we work.

I mean, the BAs who are cutting the scripts and the editors there on the main floor where the studio is. we're up we're upstairs so there's not a ton of there's one two three four maybe at our station like seven of us so it's pretty we're just it's like i know it sounds cliche but it's just kind of like watching with a bunch of friends and you're just watching and reacting and getting snacks at the grocery store that are unhealthy and i think i might have seen you in that rava oh yeah because i live in that building oh really which i probably shouldn't say yeah but i live Yeah, I live right across the street. Everybody knows I live across the street.

What floor is that? No, I'm just kidding. That, I will stop that. But, yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, it's fun. That's, yeah, okay. Because I wandered in there one night, and I was looking like shit. It's usually the sports tech group.

I'm like, I'm not even going to. And I'm in full makeup with fake eyelashes, but jeans when I go into Rabbit, like, midnight. It's quite the look. It's convenient that it's open 24 hours, because if you ever need a snack at midnight, if you're playing video games late. There you go. Which I am doing. If you ever need your grocery store the other day. It is my grocery store.

It's not a grocery store. It is. I mean, it's. What is it? It's a grocery store. It's a convenience store. No, it's a grocery store. No.

There's a produce section. It doesn't. So does like Mac's convenience store. No, it's a grocery store. You can go to a gas station now. You can't get kale at a gas station. You can go to any Petro, any Supreme Petro that has like the fancy gas. And there's also like a Supreme section.

There's no kale there. It's a grocery store. There's kale. It's a grocery store. Yes, but can you get warmed up samosas or those Portuguese custard tarts? Or sushi. Yeah. Or sushi.

I hope you can't. No, I've never wandered down that path. You know what? My co-workers have. I have. And you're okay? Well, they make it there fresh, right? There's a bar.

Are you convincing yourself? Listen, I, uh, there's a lot of things. There's actually a tapenaki in the back. It's really high class. You'd be surprised. If you ever went in there with an open mind, you might know this. I guess you don't. So now that you're, we kind of stopped at March 2016.

You come back to Toronto and they tell you, hey, we've still got a spot for you. There obviously were cutbacks. And I mean, I don't think it's any secret that the entire industry, not just sports, everybody is going through an enormous change right now. So you find out there's a spot for you and you're coming back home. Are you excited? Yeah, that day was quite, quite bizarre. It was very, I would still say more bitter than bittersweet. because everyone I worked with in Vancouver was let go and I was moving back to Toronto in three

weeks. So there was just a lot going on, but I was grateful to still have a job. And again, I had a good relationship with everyone I worked with. So we kind of had our goodbye party and goodbye dinner. But yeah, I was excited to come back. I was kind of, again, when you're kind of working in Vancouver and you're really separate from everyone for two years, it was, even though i'd worked in toronto it was kind of stepping into a different office than i'd left so i was kind of nervous for that and i'd be doing more live tv which i was really excited about because the morning show out west we taped it so i was probably a little bit nervous to go back to live tv but that was kind of just silly nerves because once you do a show you're fine um but i was kind

of nervous i didn't know carly very well but when i started with seaball i didn't know him well so i kind of thought okay hopefully i'm sure we'll get along but you never know how it'll end up but I always say to chemistry wise, I think it was my old boss said it when I moved to Vancouver, that it takes about 90 days to kind of really build good chemistry. And I really found that with Seaball and Carly, because you kind of when you work with someone new, especially at the desk, you kind of you need to it's like what you guys have. Right. You know, their tendencies, you know, their timing, you know how to set them up. And but yeah, Carly and I got along really well from the get go. I thought it was nice. Went to a musical like three weeks in on a Wednesday afternoon. Kinky Boots.

Oh, nice. Yeah, because Brendan Dunlop's fiance was in it. Really? Yeah. I didn't know she played. Wow. That's something I didn't know about Brendan. That's amazing.

Yeah. Yeah, it was really good. They will be. Does Brendan Dunlop like soccer? Just a little bit from what I've heard. Like casually? Yeah, casually. Yeah, casually.

He'll make so many references in shows during PAX. I'm like, I have no idea what's going on. He doesn't even use the North American terminology. Yeah. This is the real legitimate. Penalty. Yeah. Penalty.

Going down to the pitch With your kit Oh the footie Yeah yeah Oh it's a footie on And by the way Villa Who's better dressed

Brendan Or Faisal Khamisa Ooh that's a good question Are you trying to start World War 3 I might be Yeah I'm gonna plead the 5th Yeah

You're gonna plead the 5th That was an option That's a veteran move How dare you Adam That is a scary question I feel like with Faisal's is more flashy I feel like

Yeah cause he He goes with the bold colors Oh yeah But Brendan does the patterns really well, I find. Yeah. He's got nice ties, too, Brendan. And Brendan will never do that. No?

Yeah. Yeah, true. Shoe game's different. Yeah. I've actually never really looked at Brendan's shoes. Ken Reed, he wears golf shoes on the desk. Does he? Whether they go with his suit or not.

With the spikes? Yeah, they're like these rubber. Well, they're like, they're rubber. Not kidding! They're rubber, so they have very kind of loose kind of spikes. I don't know how you'd explain the... But yeah They rarely go with his suit

Freaking screwing up the floor At Sportsnet Well no It's rubber It's soft They're soft spikes They're not the The intense ones

Listen don't let Ken off the Never let Ken off the No Yeah No it's So you come back You're doing this show with Carly And you were talking about chemistry

The thing is You either With people You have chemistry Or you don't Yeah And even if it takes 90 days to build If you get it at all

It's rare Totally So I've been very lucky Where Seaball, he and I got along super well And the chemistry was really easy And I find too, the more you spend time with people Outside of work too, whether it's just going for beers Or just hanging out

The better you are on air too But yeah, Carly, it was just really Easy from the get-go That's what's fun about anchoring too though Because everyone, when you anchor with different people Which especially in the summer happens Because of people on vacation And Yvonne Cosmax on mat leave

So you just, it's fun because everyone's very different so you so just reactions and the type of show or is very different like someone like ben ennis when i work with him i can barely keep it together because i'm just he's so funny he's very funny yeah so there there was a show like especially i find friday shows get kind of silly because it's friday but there was a show maybe a month ago and i burst out the camera girl michelle was laughing And the camera kind of jiggled And I lost it And I had

In the middle of an on I forget what I was talking about I said I'm sorry I'm losing it Cause camera Like This show is There was a fire

Yeah No Luckily it wasn't like that So in sports You can kind of get away with it But I do laugh a lot on air People Comment on my giggles

On Twitter A lot Yeah I figure If you're having fun Then the viewer will have fun Exactly Right As long as it's not fake fun

No Fake fun's Fake fun's no fun But one of my favorite bits that i used to do with seaball and i'll still do is fake anchor laugh so you tell a bad joke and then it's that yes yeah that was good you do the teeth too oh yeah yeah it's really forgotten yeah yes very important yeah it's an art um i want to get back to something you said because i i think it's something i've never really been able to put into words the 90 day rule i think is so smart

because i i i'm encouraged by how many people will send me you know their new youtube channel or their new podcast and hey we're trying this out and you know you inspired us to do it and we think it's going to be great and they don't last 90 days yeah you gotta they don't even give it a shot for 90 days yeah i think all good things everything takes time so whether it's a new show or a new partnership you've got to find your legs work and i think i think one of the things i learned to working with seaball just because i was nervous moving to vancouver was i think early on i tried to force it a bit too much right because you know people you want to do a good job but then you try and be funny when you shouldn't right just ease into it and be be yourself and then the the

partnership and chemistry will kind of find its way but i mean that takes time and and mistakes and learning yeah you um i found it with radio especially because i was all alone in a booth yeah that's tough well it's i mean it's it's i mean it's no tougher than being on tv right it's all and how you learn well it's all different yeah but you learn how to be yourself publicly yes which most people don't like when you're telling when you're giving a speech in school it's like well i have to be prim and proper and well spoken and i'm not going to say um and uh and like and uh what you realize is that the ums and the ahs and the like is what makes you you yes that's your your cadence you're the way you speak the way you emote the way you use your hands

that's all you and you have to realize that that's okay to bring that to the forefront it took me a long time to get there yeah I think especially in your 20s too right because you're still just figuring stuff out from coming out of school and figuring out where you are in the workplace and and I was always very cognizant of the fact too of knowing my place in the business now that's not to say you can't be you and but you need to respect kind of your elders and everyone else in the business so when they give you feedback listen and take most of it but also listen to what like take it all in and then decide what you want to do from there but i find yeah now like sitting at the sitting on the desk i'm i don't think i'm any different than i am in person

i mean my posture is a tiny bit better but that literally that literally happens seconds before i'm on camera right but oh is this is this what we're doing yeah for sure we're going on there people the directors are always say carolyn can you put your can you move your chair up a little bit i said no i think it's oh yeah no you're fine it's just my posture that's that's a weird juggling act eh you want to take as much advice as you can because you want to get better but yeah it's not all perfect not always no but it's like i find too just i watch a lot of tv like i watch i love watching live tv even talk shows because i find you can kind of you can see how people react to different things see their body language it's about observing and learning and

knowing what you would do and what you wouldn't do is just as important, too. And it's all still a work in progress. Like if you again, if you think you're done learning, then you're probably not very good at your job. You won't be there. Have you ever had the I don't think you're going to make it moment and not not within yourself? Because I think everybody has that. Right. Has anybody ever said, I don't think you have it? No, but I did have an instance. So Doug McLean always and he still firmly believes I'm from the East Coast because he thinks I have a maritime accent. I said, no, I'm from Etobicoke. I have an Etobicoke accent. So my voice and this will probably sound silly, but it was very nasally. It still can be, but it was nasally before I moved to Vancouver. And there was an old boss who said basically that it was really bad and it needed to be fixed. now a different boss set me up with a voice coach when i moved to vancouver i know this sounds silly but it actually made a huge difference it was a dialect coach so learning how to kind of

elongate your vowels and it would save your voice too you wouldn't go i didn't go as hoarse at the end of shows so i kind of had to train myself to speak a little bit differently which again i know it kind of sounds hard to believe and kind of like a farce because how do you change your voice but But I actually appreciated that feedback because when I hear things from the first two years to now, it is completely different. But I guess hearing someone say your voice is really bad, you kind of think, um, okay. What the hell am I supposed to do about that? Anything else? Anything else?

One thing that messed me up when I was an intern is I gave, I did, you know, one of those air check things. I gave it to Doug Fairway. And one of his pieces of feedback was, you sound really young. right i was 20 i am so i am i am yeah but then every air check i sent after that was like right which is a stupid voice yeah yeah i got to i looked young and i'm like well what do you i'm sorry isn't that yeah what do you want me to age faster i don't really understand give yourself one of those like x-men gray streaks or like i don't what are you supposed to do you sound young but no i've been lucky everyone actually has been quite i haven't had everyone's been very

supportive i've never had that moment if you're not going to make it and just give up that's awesome not yet no i mean i don't think it's coming at this point but knock on subs do it whatever this particle board is um so now okay like you're at a place where you know most people work their whole lives to be where you're at and it's amazing what you've accomplished um what is it that you want to do that's a good question and people ask me that too i'm sure you guys get asked it but in this landscape it's not like we know where the business is going to be or what the jobs are going to be in a decade so i don't really bother worrying about it i know what i like doing and i like doing a lot of different things so i still love reporting

i love hosting i find that the toughest thing to do i was saying to jesse too before i went on like rogers cup because that's like anchoring on steroids where there's no there's no prompter there's no scripts there's no rundown it's all just 30 seconds before air this is what this block is going to look like and while you're on air someone you're you're saying you need to fill or you need to throw to this so that I find really challenging so I think and I like doing to some radio too which I've been able to do more of I just want to be a good broadcaster so as long as I can do as much stuff and build on that to be good because I then find that challenge fun I'll be happy so as long as i'm challenged that's fine but yeah i don't know there's no one job

right at least not that i know of right now that i think that's what i wanted okay same way yep yeah i mean i think that's kind of everybody at this point it's like what yeah it's hard to know what to aspire to be yeah we don't yeah whatever's there as long as i'm involved well because would you guys have thought that you'd be doing this podcast you know what i mean no no we have no idea what's gonna be yeah when we started out podcasting barely existed yeah 2006 when we graduated I think podcasting was created right around then yeah about a year or two into school I was like I think I want to be a writer for a sitcom that would be Canada actually yeah that would that would be

ah Canadian sitcoms yeah you got a Gemini and no job Oftentimes, you win the Gemini after the show's been canceled. Your book can become a sitcom, TV series. There we go. I've written one episode of something ever. Who would play you? Who would play you? George Clooney's busy, so you can't have him.

I think Ken Reed would be really good at playing you. I also think Ben Ennis could pull it off. He's got one of the biggest heads I've ever seen. He does. And he's got the hair color down And he's quick He does have a lot of jobs already He does radio and TV

So why not do acting as well Ken would be good I want to hear some stories I want to hear some crazy Along the lines of what Steve was saying Crazy, I can't believe this is happening Not where you were But just something that happened

I have a good one So it was the Joe Carter Golf Classic three years ago, three or two years, maybe two years ago. I was saying, Jesse, I'm really bad at remembering years. I know it's 2017, but other than that. Two and a half years ago. Sure. So it was in the summer. It was the after party for the Joe Carter Golf Classic.

And I was in town from Vancouver and Seaball and I were just there to grab some interviews to use on our show later on. So really weird crowd at these golf tournaments. And by that, I just mean tons of different kinds of people. So I was interviewing Wayne Gretzky, and I knew Snoop Dogg was there. A sentence that has never been spoken before this. So as I'm interviewing Wayne Gretzky, I just, and you're trying to focus because it's Wayne Gretzky, and this was the first time I'd met him and interviewed him. And so you're trying to focus, but then Snoop Dogg comes out of nowhere,

and he's standing right behind Wayne, not as part of the interview, but just in my head, I completely was not paying attention. at that point and I thought this is so bizarre. It's Wayne Gretzky and Snoop Dogg just here

and then after the interview was done Gretzky turned around and was talking to Snoop Dogg. I was thinking what is happening? That's like a dream you have after you had a bunch of cheese

before bed. Yeah. And you left the TV on. Yeah. Like there's gotta be Oh, Wayne Gretzky and Snoop Dogg. That's something

you accidentally say out loud in your sleep. Yeah, that was just very bizarre. Even recently with Gretzky though after uh Dennis's I forget if it was after his win Dennis Shapovalov's win over it was either after his win over Rafa or the next round but I went into kind of the players lounge after and it was Janet Gretzky like hugging Dennis's mom and Wayne congratulating Dennis

and I was just standing there and I just thought like I feel like I shouldn't but I was talking to his manager and I like I know Dennis well enough from covering him but I still thought I feel like I shouldn't be here right now. So I just kind of did this slow, like, backwards walk and left. That's pretty crazy, though. Yeah. What's he like?

Dennis? Yeah. I really like Dennis. I mean, the Davis Cup, he's only 18 years old. Davis Cup earlier this year, a lot of people before Rogers Cup knew him as the kid who hit the ball and it hit the chair umpire's eye,

which was awful. Yeah. Now, he didn't, he wasn't, you okay there, Steve? Okay. He wasn't. I love that you had the wrong time. I love that you had to quantify that,

which was awful. because we know but it is it is it's terrible yeah so now to i mean in fairness to dennis he didn't he wasn't aiming for the eye socket but you should not be hitting a ball like that so he made a huge mistake which he knew he did but he's 18 years old and he's he's learned from it i'm really impressed with him and i think it's it's a testament to the team he has around him and his parents where he he's a he's a good kid i feel silly saying he's a kid but he's 18 years because even after I saw him in the restaurant after he um after he beat Rafa it was the next day and I said oh how are you feeling he said oh hi Carol like he's just very normal he said oh

yeah I'm really tired and all these people are texting me I said oh that's got to be weird he's like yeah even these girls from high school who never talked to me then now they're texting me I'm like I totally get it but then but then it kind of went kind of went quiet just and then he said how are you doing how's your week going and I'm thinking that's nice you know what I mean like It's just very, and I know that's how any human should act. But considering the moment, he said, what are you up to after this tournament? Like, are you going to, are you back on the desk or will you be? And I thought, this is nice.

We're literally in the biggest 24 hours of his life. He's not full of himself where he thinks I'm not even going to ask about other people. So that impresses me. It probably helped him out too. A guy like that under that much pressure hearing about someone else's life. It's probably kind of nice. Like, you know, what are you doing so I don't have to think about this? Yeah.

It's sad though. I feel like in our industry, and it kind of goes back to what we were talking about before, I think sometimes we assume people will be jerks and then when they're really nice people, we're surprised, which it should really be the other way where we should expect everyone to be nice and surprised if they're a jerk.

Do you get asked that question a lot? I get it all the time. Who's a jerk? Yeah, even in my industry. That's what I love. You're out at a bar and someone's like, what's that Carly Agro really like? I'm like, uh, my friend? Yeah. Well, I meant athletes, but yeah, also co-workers.

It's Kiprios. Yeah, exactly. It's always Kiprios. And also what I love too is do they think even if we didn't get along, which we do, do you think that I'm now just going to tell you? Shred them in front of you? That's what you should ask. Total day.

Yeah, I get asked that about athletes a lot. People see what they're like. But it's not like we know them in a professional basis. It's not like we know them overly personally. There's been a few where I'm like, well, I caught them on the wrong day. But I don't hold it against them. Yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely. Well, and they're pros, too, right? Like, there's a wall up there for sure. Yeah. Especially when it comes to, like, the Leafs, who you covered. Yep. And you covered them at the—you covered them on the very quick ride down the hill that they took, right? Yes, there was the playoff year, but that was the lockout year.

Right. And so it was the Randy Carlisle years, and it was the—I actually always liked Carlisle, and he was always pretty good to me. I mean, most of it's a fun guy. Yeah. And again, it's knowing how to manage personalities. So with him and I did he did not want to be asked about the goalies ever. He did not. That's when it was James Reimer, your favorite and Jonathan Bernier. And it was 1A and 1B with Bernier is 1A and well, whoever. And he never wanted to talk about it. But it was our job every right before a game to say, who's it going to be? So I would then kind of take it as the challenge to to kind of figure out how can I ask it in a way that's not going to irritate him, but that's kind of funny so that I'll get a good response back. But he knows that I have to. You know what I mean? So that kind of became the challenge. And he'd actually have a lot of fun with that because I'd say things like, would you like to tell me who's starting today?

Like, do you think I want to tell you who's starting today? Right. And then you get a good answer and you haven't alienated them or annoyed them. If the Flyers get a shot tonight, who would you hope would stop? I shouldn't use that one. That's a good one. Who's putting on their helmet tonight? Who's putting on their baseball cap and their helmet?

Who's eating more carbs right now? Is it? Oh, hey, that's good. You know, the thing was, I found with this, and maybe I was wrong, but when we were, we were, we started that, our show, just as that playoff series ended, like about a round later, That was when the first show for this started What a time Oh my god

So much hope And then David Clarkson and then the Vernier trade I covered his signing I remember going into His first scrum after he signed Oh there was so much hope I forgot about that It was really exciting and again for that year

Everyone thought this is it And even I remember there were sandwiches out It was just even a very nice kind of Introduction to him and I thought, this feels pretty legit. This is kind of exciting. And it's fun to be part of those two just as a journalist and as a broadcaster

and a sports fan. But yeah, that didn't end well and that happened very quickly. I seem to remember the word bio-proof. Remember, we weren't going to worry about the last three years of that deal. I fell in with Randy during that time, though. By not talking about the goaltenders,

he made it a story. Yes, well, exactly. So, of course, we need to ask. So, he was irritated by the fact but he was creating it yes and in and around that time

when you were when you were covering that team and you know it was the end of the playoffs they were really and they started out the next year pretty good

they did yeah they did Dave Bolin was good too he was 8 points in 12 games yeah 12-13 games he was great and then

I don't remember I can never remember stats like that I don't know how I remember that that is the only thing I remember the only thing

after that I got nothing so when they start to go downhill yeah when a team starts to go downhill but a team like this city lives and dies by this that team yeah what happens how does that how does the reporting change for you and how does the mood change and is it something you start to have a little anxiety about like what am i in for yeah i don't think anxiety because i also did it with the jays a few years ago when they had a really good start and then it kind of went downhill i guess that was four years ago and again i find now with with the leafs or with the jays quickly i remember and john gibbons

was there and i hadn't covered i wasn't covering the team a lot i was kind of filling in and i hadn't been there for a couple months and when i'd been there before they were really good and they were struggling and so you kind of have i get along with john gibbons so i kind of i saw him i said hey john like what have i missed he's like oh boy you have not missed me you've not missed much but with him you can do that that wasn't on camera either but i do find it's just kind of weird how a locker room gets it just gets so quiet and you can tell everyone's a little shy to ask certain questions that have to be asked but you don't want to push any wrong buttons it's just kind of uncomfortable and sometimes unnecessarily so i just find too you just again it's reading the

room and reading the personalities but that's where you need to be better about asking good questions right in a way that won't alienate because if you alienate the person you're probably not going to get a good answer and that's where too with with print over tv for instance it's best if you can speak to them off camera first or at different times if you're only going to them with a microphone and a camera with a light that's when people try to kind of tend to tense up you can get the good stories if you just talk one-on-one with people off air because then And it's, again, kind of like you're not out to get them. I'm not trying to report anything.

I just want to talk and get some background. I haven't made up a story before asking this question. I want to know, you know, because I think that's what a lot of them are afraid of is that there's an angle. There's a specific angle that a reporter wants to tell and they need the quote to fit that. Right. Which happens a lot. But you also need to listen to what they're saying and see if there's a better, different story. Right.

Because I find, too, there's so many obvious stories. And then you'll see like, there's so many times where both us and the other guys have the same story, right? Cause it's just kind of, that's what's there. It's like, well, let's try and find a good story other than the obvious, right? Other than a line change or a, and it's harder and sometimes you don't always get it, but that's where you could, but that's where talking to them off camera, you can kind of build up that story over time and then you can use it when you want to.

So I kind of, I miss that from reporting. Cause that was fun. Is there a story you remember that you're like proud of? because it was a little it was unique it was different yeah i remember there was one when i was covering the leafs and it was on james van reams dyke and it was on how many goals he had scored that year from within and around the crease and it was just very different than any of the stories that week because he was going on a tear and i thought this is just interesting so i figured out the stats and talked to him and other people about it and just as and talked to the goalies

too about how what makes him so good in and around the crease so stories like that i know it doesn't sound like much but i like it because it's just a it's different creatively it's not just what you're getting out of the scrum no one else will have that story because that's what you got well i think often like if a player goes on a tear someone will ask them you know what's behind this yeah but you actually went and did research and you went right this is what's behind this yes i'll talk about that they would appreciate that yeah i think so yeah because you're getting it's what's different why is this happening glad you noticed and yeah i've been working on well and then you know bang you got a story yeah ask a player how they're taping their stick they will

love you it's definitely different this week yes no it's it's crazy it's crazy god wow yeah because they are they're all we i think sometimes we don't give players the credit they deserve and we think they're like kind of lug heads but ask any nhl player about their stick with the exception of david pasternak that's an abomination his stick oh he just freaking he might as well put scotch tape. I have no idea how he scores so many goals. But every other player, they're super duper particular about this stuff. To be honest, you know, having played hockey,

it doesn't matter that much. Yeah, but look at you. That's like saying playing tennis, it doesn't matter what racket you use. Well, for most of us, it probably doesn't. No, and you know what? Who did you play with? John Carpetsales, actually.

That was our team sponsor. Oh, very cool. Crystal Goldhawks. Malvern Vipers? Yeah, but the, no, I, okay, what I mean is the stick matters, the player holding the stick matters, but we're talking about a layer of tape that is less than a millimeter thick. And now we have a story, see? We have. How much does it matter?

We have a very minute detail that these players put a ton of stock into. And my point is, the amount of time they put into that may be disproportionate to the effect that it has on their game. If they're good at handling the puck, they're good at handling the puck. I agree. Let's tell Sean McKenzie he can do this story. First day of training camp. First day of the rookie showcase. Just talk about this.

I like it. I like it a lot. He doesn't know it yet, but he's doing the story. Yeah, we'll just message him right now. Dear Sean. Assignment desk. Talking about questions, though. That's why I wanted to get into broadcasting, too, because I always it's like talking to anyone.

I figure everyone has kind of their soft spots, like because, you know, if someone talked to you about blank, you'd open up. Right. So now in a Leafs locker room or I mean, a daily story, you're not going to get those types of stories. But features, that's what I kind of find fun is if you can find those things that make people tick and then get the story out of that, because then they become a person as opposed to just an athlete. Right. So what's been your favorite that you've done? Actually, if I think back to university and I think it was maybe one of my favorite interviews, it was with his name's Jerry Boss. I'd say at the time he was probably in his 70s. This was 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He lived in a small, small, modest house in London, Ontario, and he was Christine Nesbitt's longtime coach, the speed skater. So I went to his house to do an interview and he and his wife were there and it was just like a shrine to Nesbitt.

Like he had all he had binders of newspaper clippings of all her races, everything he had. He collected hats from all the Olympics. He gave me an extra one from Calgary that he had that I still have. And I and I was there with him when we were when we were watching one of her races. And it was just so cool because he just loved it so much. And he wasn't in it, of course, like the fame and attention. He just loved it. And that was just neat because it's when you're in someone's house too, you're really, they're just very open and honest. So that was really cool. I also got to interview at Rogers Cup, Marion Bartoli after she won Wimbledon. So I think that was summer of 2013. And it was her first tournament back. And that was the only slam she won. She just kind of went on this ridiculous run.

And our sit down interview turned into talking about her paintings and how she was painting more after Wimbledon because she kind of got this new fan creativity. So things like that, I just find interesting because it's not what you'd think you would talk about with someone. Right. Like I went into the interview trying to get what went well at Wimbledon, all these kind of clips to use during the tournament, during matches. And I just left with kind of these awesome stories, which were so much more interesting than what was happening on the tennis court. Did she retire? Yes. I think I remember. Yeah, shortly after.

She won and then it was like, I guess, kind of the opposite of like all the Bouchard attention. It was like she won and nothing. Yeah. Like no one gave a damn. And she was always just a very interesting character. And I mean that in the nicest way possible, where she was just very, how do I put this? She didn't really just fit into the mold she thought she should be in. She was just very much herself and would just share different stories.

And she loved tennis and she didn't ever think she'd get to that high a point. And then she did. And she dealt with the attention pretty well, too. But then, yeah, then that was kind of before. Why did she retire? I don't remember, actually. I think for her that was just kind of it. She'd reached the mountaintop.

Went out on top? Yeah. Yeah, there's something to be said for that. I think, I don't know, it was a few years ago. I seem to remember there being something like, what? None of you care? Okay, fine. Yeah.

I retire I've been able to interview Serena Williams a bunch of times too over the years and that I found really interesting too because with her the interviews got better as the years went on too because she started to get to know me and trust me because I'd spoken to her agent number of times and it's again it all comes down to trust where if she if people know that you're there you know what you're talking about you're there for the good reasons and you're actually interested then it's just better because people like that they're interviewed by tons of different people all around the world who was the tennis player that uh and i i i wish i remembered this but this clip is hysterical where the reporter asked how he felt about the win today

and the guy had actually lost no i think it might have been nicholas mahu yeah and he's like dude were you watching the game like i can't believe it's so oh i know haven't you found that though if you go it doesn't really happen as much in trin and i mean in toronto sports just because People are pretty intense here Yeah, but it's dumbfounding to hear Some of the random questions that get asked No, I There was one

It was at the Hall of Fame game recently Or I guess it would have been Close to a year ago now actually So I go up to Messier and I say I have this podcast No, no It wasn't me Oh my god Should we tell that one?

I think we need to let Carolyn in on that Okay, fine I think I see where this is going. Okay, basically, Mess is a tough interview. Yes. And so Steve goes up to him. I guess he was getting his face on a stamp

at the Hall of Fame. As one would. Yes, of course. As one from the 80s Oilers would. And Steve's like, so I have this podcast. And Nick Kiprios told this story about when you were in New York

and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And Nick did tell this amazing story about this amazing club that they used to go to. Oh, I heard that story. Yeah, yeah. So that was one of the best stories we've ever heard on this show.

Yeah, it was a really good one. And what answer did he give? It was like, I don't remember. I'm like, well, he told me. He's like, well, I'm sure he told you, but I don't remember. A lot of stuff happened in the 90s and he was really like cold shouldered. Right. He's thinking who.

He also responded to my question of, could I get a word with you with who are you with? Oh, yeah. He was not into it. Yeah. So anyway, we've agreed from now on that if we're ever doing an interview outside of the show, we don't start it with. So I have this podcast. Instantly you're out No one cares

No one cares So Steve Dangle Sportsnet But you also Wanted him to hold a cookie Above his head That was years ago

That was years ago It was a Stanley Cup cookie At a Rogers event And I thought it'd be A really funny picture If he like held it Above his head If a grown ass man

You're daring So that's the first time You ever spoke to him Yeah and he just went No And I was like Steve Cool

Mark Lacey will not be my friend If it was a Lay's chip, though, he would have held it over his head. Oh, yeah. I mean, you got paid lots of money for that, so I'm sure he would have. I'm sure he absolutely would have. Or maybe the Rogers disc, like the logo that we have. Yeah. I guess he works for us, too.

Oh, that'd be good. Game center? That'd be good. I'm sure if I slipped him a check, he'd do whatever it is. I'm sure. I'm sure. Steve might be a little bitter about it. I might be.

No, I'm not picking up on that. The story I was going to say, Adam, was it was at the Hall of Fame game last year, and there's a huge scrum around Eric Lindros and someone just goes, who won the game? I know it's not a high stakes game. It literally does not matter who won. How don't you know who won? You should know that.

You should know who won the game. And if you don't, you don't ask. Don't ask. You don't ask who won. Exactly. It doesn't fucking matter. So don't ask the question. If it doesn't matter and you don't know, then like... If you're at a Leafs game, you should know.

If you're at a tennis match, you should know. yes right um but i mean i feel like at that point it's like it's how is it what's it like to be out on the ice again with all these legends doesn't that happen more during the playoffs and the big games when the other media comes in like the local news and they're not really following the teams all year and they ask the other questions because they don't really know about sports yeah i think that's fair and they come to with different stories right because it's a dip so like what's this mean to the fans and then if you're there and you're asking about line combinations you're Kind of like, I don't care about this question.

Right. But you got to fit everyone in. Yeah. It's the safe answer. Messier is the best. Hold a cookie over your head. The cookie is better than the, hey, I have a podcast. You think that's better?

I think so. Wow. They're both pretty dumb. I have a lot to learn. I am really surprised that you asked an adult human being, especially one that used to club people's faces in with his fists. A lot of people would have done it. A lot of people would have done it. If you've ever stood next to Messier, and I'm not saying this to you, Carolyn, because I know you have,

but anybody, if you ever meet him, he's a gigantic man. He's a big person. Made taller with a cookie over his head. Correct. Very true. He's got stilts made of money. It's an illusion. Like those Mayweather money phone. He walks around and he's got platform shoes.

So has being at Sportsnet beat the fan out of you, or are you still partial to any team? No, I'm still a fan. But I think I grew up a Toronto sports fan, so I do root for Toronto sports teams. But I find I am a fan of any Canadian team. And especially working the night shift, I'm just a fan of good hockey and Flames games. Oilers fans the past year.

Nobody's really talking as much about the Flames headed into this year, but they had a huge... I'm really excited to watch. I watched almost every Oilers game last year and Flames game and Canucks game as well. So, that's what's kind of nice working late. I get to watch those. Everything.

So, I'm just a fan. I just want good stories and good sports, right? Mm-hmm. So, however that happens. That Oilers-Flames rivalry this year is going to be amazing. Oh, it's going to be good. It's going to be really good. Yeah.

The Flames, to me, are the biggest swing team, maybe in the NHL. Yeah. Like, in terms of how good or bad they could do. Well, and their defense, too. I mean, you could argue that that's one of, if not the best now. It's unbelievable. On paper, of course. Mike Smith, I'm not totally sold on.

But, like, he might not even have to be that good. Well, is it as, and that's the thing, because when Kipper was on last year around this time, he said the Leafs will go as far as Freddie Anderson takes them. Nailed it. Is that the same with the Flames? Are they as good as Mike Smith? No, because, well, the Flames have better D than the Leafs do on paper. That's very true.

So. They have two pairings that are better than the Leafs top. Yeah. Probably. Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, I just want, I just want good sports and good teams. Like living in Vancouver, even I just loved even good broadcasting, which I know kind of sounds silly, but I mean, Vin Scully, he's since retired, but that was the best living out West.

And even last summer here where there's nothing really going on and you're waiting to go on at 1 a.m. Eastern and you're just listening to the sweet tones of Vin Scully. His stories are amazing. They're just incredible. And at that age that he was doing that, it's nuts. We ran one on the show. Bob Cole. Yeah, Bob Cole, another guy. He's 90.

Yeah. Yeah, amazing. There's the Vin Scully clip about him talking. One of the pictures, like, saved a deer. Yes, I remember that. Yeah, and he times it perfectly, too. It's blah, blah, blah. Oh, a ball just inside.

And then he just continues on. It's amazing. Yeah, it's incredible. So I miss that at nighttime, but in the summer. Who do you, who's your Wayne Gretzky in broadcasting? Who are the people that are like, I look up to, want to be like, take everything from? Yeah, that's a good question. One of them actually. And so James Duthie, I met when I was actually a ball kid at the Rogers Cup because he was at the Rogers Cup.

And this is when I was volunteering in charge of the ball kids. I was I had retired. You're forced into retirement. Yeah. Danielle Michaud from City City TV. We love. Yes. She was a ball girl and also volunteered in charge of the ball kids. Were you was your last year as a ball volunteering in. Actually, I volunteered for the ball kids when I was here. So 2012 was my last year volunteering for the Ball Kids And then the next year I was broadcasting Five years ago

And then the next But I wasn't on court I was just volunteering in charge of them Yeah, no big deal No, and then the next year I was doing courtside So that was kind of strange But anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, so he was there

Like chair umpiring a celebrity match So I talked to him then And I actually spoke So he and I Was that the Kournikova match where he was singing to her? Yes, where he's just obsessed with her Yeah. So he and I said, I'm in like broadcasting school and blah, blah, blah. And he and I would send him some of my stuff in during school and he'd take a look at it and let me know what he thought. And he actually had me. I let him know about my Sportsnet audition and he had me call him the night before and he gave me some advice. Wow.

Yeah. So he's a really good, yeah. And people like, so he's one of them, Martin Geyer too, because I watched her for years. And I actually met her at a sports broadcasting day at Ryerson when I was in school. I met she and Kathy Barnes, who used to be a producer and still works for Sportsnet. They brought me into Sportsnet while I was in school to do a tour. And I sat in and watched she and Brad do a prep for Sportsnet connected,

I guess it was at the time. and then when i got hired too she remembered me from when she did the tour she's just a stand-up person so people like that are kind of my my canadian go-tos and then i just think to anyone who can do a lot of jobs so duffy is the type of guy who can do a lot of jobs same with chris mckendry we see in the states or hannah storm if you can do because it's tough to do different jobs and a lot of people in broadcasting kind of only do anchoring or only do reporting which is good and they master that but to be able to do a lot of different things that's that impresses me amazing wow any more questions my friend no i was just i was going

to go through my phone to quickly look up who was the tsn guy whose name we couldn't rod black rod black oh yeah it wasn't rod black it was rod something else he's very tall are you sure the guy with the booming voice who looks like he could be rod smith rod smith yeah Looks like he could be a bear. He sounds like he could be the voice of a cartoon bear. Oh, yeah. No. Yeah, growing up.

Like, you might not have a grasp of this yet because you haven't been doing it for, like, decades and decades. But, like, one day there's going to be someone who sees you and they're going to be like, I've watched you my entire life. Yeah, that must be bizarre. And Rod Smith was a guy like that for me when I was at NHL Network. I remember just seeing him and being like, I've watched you for, like, 25 years. Like, do you understand that? Yeah. Well, and you get starstruck too. Again, that goes back like to come full circle from the start. That goes back to Catherine Humphries, where to me, she was the best. And I was just kind of, I mean, I would talk to her at least practices and that, but I was kind of too embarrassed to say, I don't know if you remember this, but I, yeah, you know, I should have, I should have just said, but just not in that creepy of a way. You did this bit in 1997, and, yeah.

Oh, my God. So I met my radio guy at the Grammys. Really? I was on one side of the carpet. He was on the other. Who is it? Elvis Duran is his name. And he does a radio show out of New York, and it was called, like, The Z Morning Zoo,

and now it's just Elvis Duran and the morning show. And it's on, like, you know, it broadcasts, like, 10 million people every day because it's syndicated. And so I'm reporting, and we're, like, there's 59 positions on this carpet for the Clive Davis party, and the red carpet is an L shape. And it's, so a lot of the artists, by the time they get to you, you're scrumming, rather than doing one-on-one. So, like, I remember I had to, like, scrum for Stevie Wonder, and, like, Lionel Richie,

and stuff like that, and you're trying to get a question in, and the American outlets are far more aggressive than we are. Yeah. Oh, my God. They do not. That's in sports, too. Oh, yeah, I bet. Yeah, it's just, I mean, it's just the nature of the beast, right?

More competition. so he comes walking down the carpet and in radio there isn't the if you're a musician or an athlete you have fans, you have a fan support group in radio you do but it's not

it's not the same and it's not as recognizable physically I guess yeah if you're on the radio so I see Elvis Duran and he's walking down the carpet and I was like Stevie Wonder get out of the way that's Elvis Duran And I said, I said, Elvis. And he's like, and he's like, I feel like I know you.

I'm like, you don't. And he's like, okay, well, it's nice to meet you. That was the entire conversation. You don't, but it's great. Yeah. Anyway, so yeah, that was my moment. So at least you didn't have that embarrassing. I feel.

Well, you know what? So I met Roger Federer two weeks ago or three weeks ago now for the first time ever. And Arash Madani makes a ton of fun of me because I just love Roger Federer and he's the best. And I make fun of my bias on Sportsnet Central, too. I'll say, oh, the world's greatest human. Sorry, the world's greatest tennis player, Roger Federer. And so Arash was about to do a sit down with him. And I just never met him before.

So I said to Arash, is it OK if I just hang out? I'm just going to stand here, you know, just to listen for the broadcast. And he's like, yeah, Carolyn, just don't embarrass yourself. I'm like, no, Arash, please. And so he comes in and Roger's just so nice to everyone. And if he he shakes your hand, he says, nice to see you, which is a veteran move so that if he's actually met you, you'll be under the false impression that, oh, my gosh. And I said, oh, yeah, nice to meet you. I'm Carolyn Bob.

And that was it. And then I was feeling pretty good. I was not awkward. That was good. Good for me. Pat on the back. And then he's doing the sit down interview with Arash. He's wearing these gold Nikes that were just really flashy.

And I thought, oh, I know what I'm going to say after this interview. So Arash finishes. And then I just say, by the way, really cool shoes. And I said it just basically like, cool shoes. But I, and I thought that people would chime in and it was just silent. And Federer just said, yeah, thanks. And then it was just very quiet. Well, he kind of left you flapping in the wind.

Yeah, I'm sponsored by Nike. I'm Roger Federer. But I didn't think, I still don't think it was awkward. So then as he left, a rash is just like, you're an idiot. That was just so, and he still tweets me sometimes. and just says cool shoes or the end of an email yesterday it said cool shoes i wasn't that bad but apparently hey hold this cookie um a rash it would have been a great social media post a great guy oh yeah he is holy smokes and he's almost he he is such a good guy in things that

you don't even see and he doesn't want people to see like there's just story he's just very good to everybody and he's just yeah he's a stand-up guy but i don't like him to hear that because then it's just no no we can't let that get to him now yeah i don't think he'd have time to listen to this show anyway to be honest for the compliment nice shoes i know we were trying we were trying to play uh plan to play tennis me rash and sharon fitchman who did uh analysis work for us for rogers cop and i'm like how about this wednesday i'm at fenway how about that i'll be in edmonton i'm like okay you just let me know and we'll be available couldn't just say boston i'm I'm at Fenway.

I'm at Fenway Park. It's where the Red Sox play. You know what? I would say that, too. Oh, for sure. You've earned that right to say it. Fenway. The park.

The place to be. Sorry, Yankees fans. Fenway is the place. Oh, it is. It's awesome. Yeah, I just said it. Carolyn, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you, guys.

Making time, honestly. That was fun. I was saying, I have your podcast. I watch on YouTube and listen on YouTube at work when I'm done writing my scripts. Well, we're sorry. Just saying. No, I say done writing my script, so I seem like a hard, good worker. You are.

You have to be. You have to be to be in that position. Exactly. Just one more thing before you go. For a social post, can you put me over your head? Oh, I gotta go. So you can find Carolyn at Sportsnet Central. What else are you going to be doing outside of anchoring coming up?

Are you doing anything? I don't think so. I'm doing a podcast with Greg Brady, Point Taken, so that's on Sportsnet's website. And then other than that, I don't think I'm doing anything other than anchoring coming up. you out to anything no nothing scheduled i guess i'm going to the u.s open as a fan this weekend but i guess i could possibly go if dennis goes far he plays song on wednesday so yeah one last night yeah um and you can follow her on twitter at sn caroline yes exactly pronounced caroline full circle there you go amazing and i'm talking about you as if you're not here but i'm just you

I get it It was so cheesy Should we wink into the camera? No way, anchor laugh everyone Jokes and laughing Yes, joking See you Thursday Follow the guys on Twitter

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