Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - 1050 The Team Toronto: Toronto Mike'd #925

Episode Date: October 4, 2021

Mike chats with Jim Van Horne, Paul Romanuk, Stephen Brunt, Scott Ferguson, Gene Valaitis, Barry Davis and Mike Richards about the failed 1050 The Team Toronto experiment.

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In the afternoon of August 27, 2002, listeners of Toronto All Sports Station, the Team 1050, heard this. A little less conversation, a little more action. All this aggravation ain't satisfaction in me. A little more fighting, a little less smart. A little less fighting, a little more smart. Close your mouth and open up your heart and it'll satisfy me. It marked the swift and unceremonious end to a short-lived and perhaps ill-conceived experiment. A second sports radio station in Toronto

and across Canada's sports network. Just 15 months earlier, on May 7, 2001, the Team 1050 launched, ending 1050 Chum's 56-year run as Toronto's premier music radio station. A farewell party featuring long-time Chum jocks Bob Lane and Duff Roman set the new format in motion.

All Shook Up by Elvis Presley, the first song played when Chum first changed to top 50 in 1957, was the last song played before the switch. The fan had launched in 1992, turning CJCL 1430 from a music-of-your-life format with live Leafs and Blue Jays games at night into a 24-hour sports talk station to great success.

Chum, seeing the end of music played on AM radio and wanting to get a piece of the audience that the fan had built, decided that the time was right to try to challenge the popular legacy station. On that day in 2002, several talented broadcasters, Several talented broadcasters, many of whom had left good jobs with TSN, The Fan, and other outlets, were suddenly out of a job. Why did Chum give up on the sports format so abruptly? What would become of those who had lost their jobs? Over the years, several of the key players in the Team 1050 experiment have visited Toronto Mic'd to tell their side of the story. We've collected them all here to tell the story of the team. Now before we dive in, I need to thank somebody without whom this episode would likely never

exist. Thank you with all of my heart to the VP of Sales, Tyler Campbell. I couldn't have done this episode without you, buddy. From 1972 to 1980, Jim Van Horn was one of the top DJs in Canada, the anchor of a star-studded roster of jocks from the classic era of Top 40 radio at 10.50 chum. Beginning in 1984, he enjoyed a long career at TSN, where he became one of the most recognizable faces on Canadian television.

In 2001, he was lured back to 10.50 to help launch the team as host of the afternoon drive show going up against the legendary Bob McCowan. Here's Jim from episode 180 of Toronto Mike telling the story of leaving TSN and joining the team 1050 in 2001. Every time I have somebody on who worked at the Team 1050, they kind of do this head shake and it's like, what a cluster F basically I'm told. So I don't want to put words in your mouth.

I want to hear from you. I guess you, do you leave TSN for the role at the Team 1050? Yes, I did. After 17 years, it was time for me to move. I was actually getting really bored. And I remember coming home from work one day and my wife looked at me, she said, what's wrong? I said, you know what? It's not there anymore. I'm not interested. I don't want to do this anymore. I need something different. And it just so happened that the team approached me, the chump people approached me and asked me if I'd be interested in coming over and to host their afternoon drive and be sort of their main guy over there.

So we talked, we negotiated, and I agreed to go. And they made a commitment to me. I made a commitment to them. And the rest is history. Honestly, I can't talk too much about it. I really can't. Is that like a legal thing or is it snuck because you'll break down in tears? No, no, no.

Oh, God, I wouldn't break down. I'm just kidding. You know what? I can tell you, Mike, it was the hardest job I ever had. It was the most difficult daily job that I've ever had to do to come up with interviews, story ideas, something that you thought was compelling and to present it in a way that you thought was entertaining. Now, I would never consider myself to be in a class of Bob McCown. Bob McCown to me has been and still is the best at what he does. He has a shtick that is impenetrable. He can be controversial. He could be condescending and all the rest of that stuff, but it works for him. And I've never been like that. I'm not a controversial kind of guy. And when I was hired by the team, I said, if you're looking for somebody to go head-to-head with McCowan, I'm not your guy. No, no, we want another direction, another direction. But he had such a reputation back then that they could have put Dan Patrick in there, and I don't think he would have stood a chance against McCown.

Another TSN personality who jumped to the team was Paul Romanuk. After 14 years at TSN, hosting Sports Desk and doing play-by-play on weekly NHL games, Romanuk joined the team to co-host the morning drive show with Mike Richards. Paul's experience at the team 1050 was not a pleasant one which he reluctantly discussed with me on episode 281 of toronto miked fun a lot of fun and now we're gonna touch on a subject you don't want to speak much about but i have to ask you just a few quick questions about the team 1050. Okay, so you're comfortable. I see you drank half your six-pack.

Yeah. So you co-hosted the morning show with the aforementioned Mike Richards on Team 1050. Tell us why you quit your gig at TSN for the Team 1050. Well, I've talked about this before, and it gets kind of tiresome, but the, uh, cause it's so long ago, really, but at the time, uh, I was at TSN. I'd been there for quite a number of years and I was on the road a lot. And there were a number of reasons. That was

one of them, why this team thing started. Uh, and you'll recall back at the start of our conversation, when I said, like I started in radio, radio has always been my first love. Like I've, it's just, it's a great medium when it's done well, which isn't very often in my opinion. But anyway, so. That's why we have podcasts. Yeah, and it is.

And podcasts, there's a fascinating discussion, which I don't want to get off into and sidetrack you too much. But I mean, this is this is like the early days of radio, I think, in the 1920s, where there was just a proliferation of so much material and you can pick and choose what you want. I think this is what podcasting is right now. You know, you're on the, you have been for quite some time, but on the cutting edge of this, right down to when you think about it, Mike, even the ads, like the old style ads where the guy'd go, I want to take a moment, folks, to tell you about Jim Neighbors' shovels. And you know, I was down there last week

and I picked up a car and I'll tell you, they looked after me really, really well. Well, that's how they used to do ads. The live reads as opposed to the ads. Exactly. And that's the way it is on podcasts. Now, whether it's you or Malcolm Gladwell or Canada Land or any of the podcasts, that's what they do. But anyway, to answer your question, at the time I was ready for a change and there was this great opportunity that came up with this new uh they were going to try a coast-to-coast all sports radio network with with using chum am affiliates

chum was an established company they had networks they had a network in place and it was very appealing uh they offered me substantially more money than i was making at TSN at the time. And the big thing was, uh, there was no travel. And it was just so appealing to me to say, you know what, wouldn't it be great to just wake up in my own bed every day, make more money than I'm making at TSN and do something that I love, which is radio. And going back in time, given the same set of circumstances, I would make the same decision. I went there for a variety of reasons that I don't need to go into. The whole plan didn't work, and they ended up bailing on it after 18 months. So after 18 months, they went back to oldies or whatever it was, and there were not only me, uh, but many other very talented people were, were put out of work. And so that's how that all finished up. And then I sort of bopped

around and freelanced and eventually landed on my feet with some other gigs and that was fine. But that's why I went there. And I always tell people, and Mike and I still talk occasionally, Mike Richards, um, that 18 months were amongst the most enjoyable 18 months of my entire broadcast career, because it was just, it was so much fun. We had a laugh every day. Nobody listened, but we entertained ourselves and we really, it was a very enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, didn't finish up the way I would have liked or anybody else would have liked. And nobody could, you know, hindsight's 20-20. But in the time you made, I think just hearing you describe it right now, like who wouldn't make that decision, you know? Less travel, more money.

It's chum, right? Like this is a monster radio company. Yeah, exactly. There's no reason. Like, anyway, I know I've had Jim Van Horn on a couple of times, and he talks a bit more about this. I had Stephen Brunt on recently to talk. We talked about this.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Stephen was there too, yeah. And, of course, was Steve Simmons there? Or am I—maybe I confused my wires. He might have been, but I don't recall Steve being there. He might have been, but I don't recall Steve being there. He might have been, but I'm not sure. But in the opinion of Stephen Brunt, the mistake was being a national show. People in Toronto don't want to hear about the Flames.

The local is where it's at, in Brunt's opinion, when it comes to sports. It is, and it's very funny, and this is one of the things that when you try to do something that has been done successfully in America, the United States, and you try to bring it up here, it doesn't always work. Uh, and there can be a number of reasons. The, the late night talk show format, try that Mike Bullard might have, it failed and it was doomed to failure simply because Toronto is not LA or New York and you don't get the roster of very talented stars. You end up talking to Darcy Tucker. Exactly. You know, you do. So it's no fault of Mike's or the best, the, the, the, the late night variety show, uh, remember CBC,

Ralph Ben, again, it's not going to work because Toronto is not New York or LA as much as it would like to expire, aspire to be so. So in the case of this, what works very well in the U S is national sports radio. ESPN does it. NBC does it. It's not, it's,

it's very, it's a successful format in the States, but in Canada, for those reasons that Steven said, it doesn't, the guy driving to work in Calgary does not, in fact, in Calgary, to use that as a specific example, he downright resents hearing anything

about the Toronto Maple Leafs. This show, I called it Toronto Mike, and it's very Toronto-centric, and I've been told that people in Canada outside of Toronto don't particularly like Toronto. It seems to be a thing to do with hate Toronto outside of the city. Yeah, and I think, so Stephen hit on that. That's

why you couldn't go on. And then you couldn't be all things to everybody, and Stephen's probably exactly right. Stephen actually had a positive experience when it came to the breakup with Chum because he didn't feel, he told me, and I don't think he's ever put this in the public before, but he said he doesn't think he was owed anything in terms of severance. And he got packaged, he got money anyways. So he felt he came out with money he didn't expect from this. Meanwhile, Mike Richards came on and had a very negative experience. And he had, apparently he had a very, oh no, Jim Van Horn had a very negative, I can't remember Mike's story,

but Jim Van Horn had a very negative experience did did this whole experience leave a bad taste in your mouth or did you you know was it nothing ventured nothing gained and you moved on ah yes it did but i don't want to talk about it anymore it's it was uh it didn't end well and um you know but that's it's the thing speaks for itself and it is tough to be the second guy in because 590 had been there a while now. And I mean, TSN's experiencing this now that it's tough to be the second. Yeah, it is. It's, and, and it's funny, um, you know, people, uh, you know, history repeats itself, of course. And what's the other cliche? Those who, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

And it's, it's, it's so funny. And it's so funny seeing it come in. And I think the bottom line, Mike, is that just, again, we're not the United States. We're not New York. We're not LA. I think we're the fifth biggest media market in North America, but that's not very big. And I don't think it's a big enough market to support two full-time sports stations uh and

you know tsn right now it's it's kind of just from as a listener i mean they're they're running canned programming in in daylight hours which you know tells you a lot about the their commitment to it which you know i would say probably by virtue of that fact alone they've they've grown tired of investing money in it i would think last nugget from brunt before we leave the 1050 uh the team 1050 behind last nugget is that brunt disclosed when he was here that he tried to broker a deal between the chump people and tsn to brand this as a tsn radio like he said he tried to that, like as a last chance to save it would be making it TSN branded. Yeah. I wasn't aware, uh, how, how much Steven had to do with that. Uh, at the time, Keith Pelley was the visionary, uh,

broadcast guy, uh, at TSN at the time before he left and went on to, you know, be the guy overseeing the Olympics and then Rogers media and went on to be the guy overseeing the Olympics and then Rogers Media and so on, and now he's with the European Golf Tour. But yeah, I know Keith had had talks with Jim Waters about, hey, can we work something out here? Gene Valaitis, one half of the iconic Toronto radio duo Jesse and Gene, was a day one hire at the team, working with the late Brian Henderson. Gene and Brian were on the air when the planes hit the towers on 9-11,

and stayed on the air all day. On episode 637 of Toronto Mic'd, Gene describes that experience, as well as some other key moments, including his perspective on Paul Romanuk's feelings after the team experiment ended. Okay, so let's do the Team 1050 part, because you've worked with so many people I'm friendly with and consider friends here. So how did your move to the 1050? Sorry, I guess it was called the team. It was syndicated sports programming across the country, the team 1050. And you were a member of the day one

on air staff. What can you share with us about how you ended up there? Like, did they reach a tappy on the shoulder and say, Hey, you interested? How did that happen? hey, are you interested? How did that happen? Well, I was working at CFRB. And prior to working at CFRB, I was very, very good friends with the guy who was the program director. But as the program director at CFRB, he had missed a lock on me and just really hated what I was doing. And it just got to the point where I couldn't work with him anymore. And so I'm, I'm very big on if, if things aren't going well in life, because life is short that you shouldn't go into a job that you can't stand every day. So I quit to get away from him. And I was lucky enough to get the job at the team radio network, which was, you know, Chum AM. And I was lucky enough to work with Brian Henderson.

And we were actually on the air together when 9-11 happened and stayed on the air from the beginning of 9-11, right through till four o'clock in the afternoon when Jim Van Horn came on because he was the afternoon host. So we were broadcasting right across the country and all the team radio stations from Vancouver to Halifax, describing the unfolding events in New York on 9-11. Could you elaborate a little more? That is the biggest news event since you started in radio. And to be on the air live when that was going down, can you share with us a little more about what was that like? I can't imagine, but share with us a little bit what it's like to cover 9-11 live for a chain of stations across the country. Well, I mean, it was probably the ultimate event, but I did have some history. I was one of the first people on the air at Q107 when John Lennon died. I was on the air when Terry Fox had to stop his run in Thunder Bay.

Jane Houghton and I were on the air at Q107 when the Challenger spaceship exploded. We were doing barometer. I've been on the air for a lot of different things, but 9-11 certainly was really, really big. It was a little more personal in that I had spent a lot of time in New York City. I had a lot of friends who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. So I was literally on the air when one of the towers collapsed. And I feared that a lot of my friends who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald were in that building. And I just didn't know.

Subsequent to that day, though, I learned that they all died. Oh, my goodness. I'm so sorry. That personal angle. I can't imagine. And you, but you, you're a pro, I guess you were able to deliver the news as you learned it. And, uh, I'm sure a lot of people were taking some element of comfort in this news coming from a voice that they, uh, knew and trusted at that time. Well, you know, Brian Henderson and I, the late Brian Henderson and I, we, we both had a, uh, an extensive background in news and, you know, Brian Henderson and I, the late Brian Henderson and I, we both had an extensive background in news. And, you know, any job in the radio requires somebody to be a really good storyteller.

And Henny was a master storyteller, much, much, much better than I was. But I think I'm okay at telling stories. And I think when the two of us were put together, the chemistry on that day bonded a friendship that lasted for years right up until he died. There was just something about being on the air with a fellow broadcaster describing the events of the day that nobody could have ever imagined.

That, yeah, we formed a very, very unique bond and a very, very unique friendship. And whenever we would get together subsequent to that, there was something really special there. He was a great guy. Well, let me share a quick story with you, which is in the mid to late 80s, I used to phone a number, a phone number, which would then have a recording of the Brian Henderson sports commentary from 1050 and I would listen to it every day I would listen to it on the phone like this was uh like something I did because I like to hear the sports commentaries yeah yeah no he was uh his commentaries were amazing he was a really he was a crazy crazy nutty guy but very very talented and you know there's a fine edge between brilliant and

crazy as they say and and um he uh he walked that edge very carefully wow now you mentioned jim van horn was there uh stephen brunt was part of the team there uh paul romanuk i'm just going to name a few more names that people who listen to this show know very well uh mike richards yeah and mike mike is one of the most talented guys in the country. Mike, yeah, and Mike is on the air at Saga, I believe it's 960. Yeah, in

Toronto, yeah. Absolutely. It's the morning show there, yeah. And Barry Davis, too, who I believe came over to the Team 10 Fit. Wasn't he also there, right? Barry Davis. Yeah, sure was. And he's got a show on that Saga station. And another gentleman who came over to the Team 1050. Wasn't he also there, right? Barry Davis. Yeah, sure was. And he's got a show on that Saga station. And another gentleman who came over

from the Fan 590 to the Team 1050, who's actually somebody I've been trying to get a hold of for years, but just this week, Jerry Howarth finally put me in touch with him. And he's my guest tomorrow. So this is a way to promote tomorrow's show, but ask you about this gentleman,

Scott Ferguson. Yeah, well, Scott Ferguson and i worked in the chum newsroom and scott prepared all the sports casts for uh for other people to read at the time and so yeah we worked together um when we were both very very young and both in college as interns in chum and then reunited at the team when he was doing sports really really super talented guy just so knowledgeable in baseball yeah and it'll be interesting to catch up with him tomorrow because yeah good guy man okay good that's tomorrow so everybody tune in tomorrow morning we're gonna talk to uh scott ferguson now this story here i've talked to brunt about it van horn i've talked to romanuk richards just tell us about the end of the Team 1050.

I had been involved in a, Jesse and I and a lot of other people had been involved in what I like to call a gangbang firing. That was at CFTR, where they said we were having a meeting in a hotel room and the entire announce staff was there. And they told us they were going to all news and we were all fired so I I sort of knew the hints and what to look for in case this was going to happen and I remember I started warning people that we were all going to get fired and everybody was just laughing at me and even at the meeting I was saying to these guys I said look guys I said like I don't know why you're all laughing at me but we're all about to get fired and guys were just like listen to the light as it is nobody's talking about then we all did get fired and I I will just remember

one thing about that day uh above everything else and that's Paul Romanoff jumping up, his eyes bulging out of his head, screaming and yelling at Jimmy waters and this other guy who was the program director, whose name I don't even remember. He's from Halifax. And he just went like ballistic. Like I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head and I thought he was going to run and try to grab Jimmy watersmy waters and strangle him to death wow because i mean he just it was just it was like amazing and everybody was looking at me going how did you know and i'm going this guy is anyway i just got my my little severance package and went home you had seen that movie before so yeah you knew how it

ended but i think what trick people right i think if i remember mike so back to so romey quit a good gig at tsn for that opportunity so i think if you were a couple of people right yeah and that i don't remember but approximately 18 months before they pulled the plug on uh the team i believe like it was a very pretty short run uh before they said we're going back to the uh golden old or whatever. Yeah, it was a real mess. I think it was Mike Richards who said that this mass firing that you would, at CFTR when they did the mass firing for the non-news people, I guess it was at a boardroom or something?

It was in a hotel meeting room. A hotel meeting room. But this one, was it at a restaurant? Because Mike Richards talks about buying drinks and then having to pay for them. No, no, no. It was done in the Chum building. And then everybody had to leave and they had security guards and much music there. I think I didn't go with the guys, but I think a lot of them went and had drinks afterwards. All right. Well, I just went home. I'd been fired before. Right. You knew the drill.

For Blue Jays fans in the 1980s and 90s, Tom and Jerry were the voices of summer. The third important voice in those broadcasts belonged to Scott Ferguson, who hosted Jays Talk after every game. Chum won Blue Jays' rights from the fan in 1998, and the team launched. They poached Fergie from the fan, hoping to recapture the magic of the early 90s with the big three voices. As we now know, it didn't work out. Here's Scott on episode 639 of Toronto Mic'd,

recalling his time at the team, and describing the impact the failure of the team had on his career. Let's chat a little bit here about the team because so many FOTMs have kind of crossed paths there. And I mentioned yesterday's episode is Gene Valaitis. So we actually did talk about this in some detail yesterday. But I'm just going to run down some of the names that you worked with at 1050, the team. Jim Van Horn was there. Well, ironically, when I first was at Chum as a writer

slash reporter, Jim Van Horn was doing a lot of the weekends when I was in there. So I got to know him really well. One of my favorite people in the business, great sense of humor, great work ethic, and just a pleasure to be around. I ran into him a few times, including at Spell of the Team. Don't forget Great Mustache. Yes. Stephen Brunt was there? Yes, he was. Although he had been tipped, I think that he knew it was going to go under. So he left before most of us did. He just decided he didn't want to be part of the proverbial sinking ship, I guess, and he left. But I worked with him there and also at the fan as well when he was Bob McCown's co-host for a time. So I got to know him pretty well as well.

What about Paul Romanuk? Paul Romanuk was Joe Bowen's backup announcer for a couple of years on radio. And he was the morning host there along with Mike Richards, who was his sidekick sort of and funny resident funny man. He was great doing impressions. And we just, we hit it off and did quite well. I used to guest on their show from time to time and really enjoyed it. Yeah. And Mike Richards, I know we've been talking about him here,

but he, he's just fantastic. I been talking about him here, but he's just fantastic. I've had him on several times, and he's a good friend now, a good FOTM, and he's a great, like, if Romy is going to be the straight man, Richards would be a fantastic foil there. Yeah, his

imitation of Ichiro, or what Ichiro would be, because at the time Ichiro was hardly talking to anybody, and his Jerry Howarth parodies of uh evil jerry and good jerry those were funny too yeah is bob cole absolutely uh bob oh yeah that's right that's another one and there's a gentleman who's no longer with us that gene volaitis spoke about in great detail yesterday but uh henny brian henderson do you have any incredible incredible again like i talked about the gigantic yesterday, but Henny, Brian Henderson. Do you have any... Incredible, incredible. Again, like I talked about the gigantic personality of Tom Cheek,

Brian Henderson was that as well. He got there, I want to say, a year and a half after I got there as a young Cub student sort of at Chum, and he took the place by storm. He was an outstanding sportscaster and commentator, but just the wildlife he led and the great stories I could tell you about him are just incredible. I'll share one with you right here.

Yes, please. In the 81 Canada Cup, it was in Montreal, and I was assigned to go by CKFH then, and Rick Hodge and Brian Henderson were assigned to go by Chum. And the first morning I was there, I ran into Hodge in the lobby, and he didn't know where Henderson was. And I said, oh, I hope nothing bad happened. And then lo and behold, a little later in the morning, Henderson showed up, ambled into the lobby, and he said that he had missed his flight to Montreal. So what he did was he went to a cab driver, or a limo guy, I guess it was, and said to him, how about you driving me to Montreal?

And if you do, I'll introduce you to Wayne Gretzky. And the guy said, are you OK with me bringing my son? And he said, why not? Join the crowd. So they went to Montreal from Toronto by limo. And then when Henny came into the lobby, we all asked how he got there, and he explained to us. And we said, well, how are you going to get a one-on-one introduction with Wayne Gretzky? And Henny just shrugged his shoulder and laughed and said, well, I'll work that out later.

So I don't even know that the kid ever got to meet up with Wayne Gretzky, but it was a great story. It just shows you the kind of character that Brian Henderson was. Gretzky, but it was a great story. It just shows you the kind of character that Brian Henderson was. And he's probably when the news comes down, maybe you'll share a little detail, but when you get news at 10.50, the team

is no more and they're going back to golden oldies or whatever. Henny survives that, right? He gets to stick around. Yeah, he went back to being a DJ there until health issues caught up with him a few years later, But yeah, he went back there. Right. Okay. Now let's, let's talk about that because, uh, Richards has told me about it. Brunt, Romanuk, uh, Gene Valaitis, Jim Van Horn, and it sounds like a pretty awful

experience. Uh, I hear Romy was really upset. Now, what can you share with us about that, that day that they deliver the news that you guys are out of a gig? Well, I had a previous engagement that morning, so I was one of the last ones to get there. But as we were driving downtown, I heard on the radio that there was one of the newscasters from Chum AM or Chum FM, whatever it was, was doing the sports instead of the regular person. And I thought, this is unusual. Maybe somebody called in sick. So when I got to the point where you're just about young in St. Clair, I could see in the distance this large mass of humanity gathered on the sidewalk

and some spilling onto the streets. And I thought, this doesn't look good. Something's happening. So I get there and get out of the car, park it, and go into the building. And the general manager at the time and a couple of security guards were there, and I was escorted to an office, and they handed me a brown envelope and said, this is your settlement. The team is no more.

So it was just like that. And a whole bunch of us went up to a watering hole at Yonge and St. Clair and spent the whole afternoon commiserating. And Stephen Brunt, as you mentioned, came back for that and wanted to share his sorrows with us over what happened. Wow. I mean, Gene had been through it before at CFTR because he got the same deal when they went all news and him and Jesse were part of the casualties there.

So he said he had the whole sense of that he had seen the movie before and even though everybody in the room was sense of that he had seen the movie before and even though everybody in the room was kind of optimistic about the meeting gene was of the mindset that uh everybody was about to get fired and it turns out he was correct there and uh just just sounds like a an awful day for a lot of very good broadcasters well it was but we kind of got a warning in effect the day that it officially opened in 2001 in May, because I always remember this. Alan Waters was on the roof of the Chum building with us, and we were celebrating the birth of the station. And they brought Mr. Waters up on a little dais they had built and gave him a jacket that said the team on it. And I thought he'd be really upbeat about it,

but the first thing he said that came right out of his mouth was, this better work. And then I thought to myself, he's joking. But then in retrospect, a year and a half later, he meant it. It had to work quickly or it wasn't going to be. Do you think this might have worked had they given it more time? Or do you think maybe that possibly the downfall of the team was it trying to be a national station with regards to sports? Well, that's what I believe, that they shouldn't have gone that far and been that ambitious.

They should have made sure that they concentrated on what was going on in Toronto and attacked the fan that way. That's the only way I think it could have been done, because I think the people were there that could have pulled it off, but it would have taken a little bit more time than we were given, unfortunately. And I should also connect with that, that after the first year, 2001, Chum dropped the Blue Jay rights as well, so I was out in the cold again regarding baseball. So that was a double hit to me. You lose that job after 2001, and then midway through 2002, they fold all together. So Scott, professionally speaking, when you get the one-two whammy like that, through no fault of your own, either one,

does that take a toll on your mental psyche and your outlook on things? What was it like during that professionally? Well, it was difficult. I had to take some other jobs. I mentioned the traffic job before. I actually worked at two different traffic places. I just had to plug the gaps until something came up because I was effectively told through the grapevine that I wasn't going back to the fan, that they'd decided to go in a new direction. In some ways, they hadn't forgiven me about leaving in the first place, because when I left, some other people followed. Who followed?

Was it Barry Davis followed, right? Barry Davis. And there were a couple of others, but his name escaped me right at the moment. But when people left and followed my lead, like I was sort of a pillar at that place and a voice of sanity, and they thought I would never leave there, that I'd be there for the bulk of my career, if not all of it. They weren't too happy when I left, I remember that. Now again, we talked about the crystal ball that wasn't functioning for you because it might have made things differently.

Do you live with any regret there? Again, hindsight is 20-20, so it's not really a fair question because you know what happens at the team. But is this something you carry with you, or were you able to shrug it off as you went for it, it didn't work out, but no fault of your own? Well, that's basically the way I have to look at it. After all these years, times fade and memories fade,

and you're not as bitter as you were back then. I was for a time because I thought, here's my career. This is what I built it on. Now it's gone. But in time, I got over it. I just moved on, and I worked at News Talk 1010 after that, starting, I guess, in June of 2003, and I worked there until August of 2008. I guess in June of 2003, and I worked there until August of 2008.

And then I got on with TSN 1050 in 2011 and worked there until about just over a year ago. So I've had a diverse and very good career in my mind. I've worked nearly 43 years in the business. Not too many can say that, especially to stay in the city where you were born. Like, I spent my whole career in Toronto, and you can't ask for much more than that. in the city where you were born. Like, I spent my whole career in Toronto, and you can't ask for much more than that. Stephen Brunt is one of Canada's most respected sports journalists,

first as a writer at the Globe and Mail, and then as an on-again, off-again co-host of Primetime Sports with Bob McCowan. His experience at the team was similar to most, but he did have one Hail Mary idea, 10 years ahead of its time, that he tried to sell to Chum Brass in an attempt to save the format. From episode 269 of Toronto Mic'd, here's Stephen Brunt. Tell me about how you ended up at the Team 1050 and what that experience was like? Well, you know, I was already at the fan co-hosting with McCowan on primetime, right, and doing a chunk of it. I don't remember how much of it I was doing, but I was doing a fair bit.

But I had no contract. They never offered me a contract. They never offered me... Is it pay-as-you-go? Yeah. Yeah, eventually pay by the shift, right? And there was no... And it wasn't much.

Again, one of the beauties of sports radio is that, you know, this is, this is why the death of newspaper is going to hurt sports radio more than anyone. You know, newspaper guys didn't make very good money. So we were always available to supplement our income and we worked cheap and they, you know, they look, you think of some of the guys who've come through, you know, a lot of ex newspaper guys kicking around. Right.

So, and we, you know, and we were, and we were sent places and we saw things. So we had stories to tell. So yeah, I was, I was working and, you know, Nelson was running the station and, um, I don't know if Alan Davis was gone by then. I don't remember, but yeah, I had nothing on, like I had no paper. I had no contract. They had no obligation to pay me. There was nothing.

And, um, and the team guys, so Paul Williams and, uh, Gerald McGrory started that station with Chum. And they came to me and said, we would like you to, you know, we're going to start this show and we'd like you to co-host this show. And we'd like you to do this number of weeks. And here's how much money we're going to pay you. And it was more money than I was making in a year from the Globe and Mail. Right there. So I'm going, holy smokes. Let's do it. That gets your attention from the Globe and Mail. Right there. So I'm going, holy smokes, yes, let's do it.

That gets your attention, right? I can do that, right? And again, I had a contract. There was nothing. They were competing against nothing. And it wasn't like the other guys were going to jump in and say, hang on a second. And there was a little bit of discussion about who I was going to work with. And the fan was an orphan in those days, right?

This was between the telemedia and the Rogers ownership when it was kind of in play. So like if they, you know, in hindsight, if they had taken their truck full of money and backed it up and offered it to McCowan, they might have had a shot. Oh, the Team 1050.

Yeah, they probably could have done that then. I always assume they, I don't know, I just assume they took a shot. No, they Team 1050. Yeah. They probably could have done that then. I always assume they, I don't know, I just assume they took a shot. No, they didn't. You know, they kind of, I think they kind of talked themselves out of it.

They, you know, Paul may have, in other incarnations, may have had talks with Bob about stuff and understood what it was. Oh, maybe because there was a connection with the score,

right? Yeah. And maybe they were trying to recruit McCallum. Well, the team, yeah, we weren't connected to the score,

but Paul might have, you know, Paul had a long history in radio. So he may well have, you know, negotiating with Bob's not fun. So he may have just said it's not worth the hassle and we will reinvent it and it doesn't matter. So, you know, they launched with Jim and me. And they had, you know, the morning show was Romanuk

and Mike Richards and a bunch of other people. And, you know, Gene Volaitis, I think, doing a sports show, you know, which he was kind of miscast. But, you know, he was doing a sports show. And they, you know, they were very confident. Like we had more. I always think about, you know, I had a whole wardrobe of team stuff. Like I got more gear from that station than anywhere I ever worked. I had a leather jacket, for God's sakes.

And now you can wear it ironically. Yeah, well, no. I think some guy from Mission Services is wearing it now. I think that's where it wound up. But, you know, two things happen. One is, well, again, history would tell you, if you look North America wide, the legacy sports station dominates. No one has really made it work with a second one, right?

It just doesn't work. There's room for one, it would appear. So legacy habit, radio is a habit medium, right? You get in your car, you listen to the same thing, especially sports radio. You know, it's guys in cars. And that was quite the head start, right? That was a long time, 15 years or whatever.

Yeah, so 2001 was the team. And the reason I remember that, because of course, we did a soft launch in the spring. I ducked out to Newfoundland for a month, came back. We're going to have our big launch on Labor Day and then September 11th. Right. So it all goes out the window, right?

Sports radio doesn't matter. Yep. No, I remember that feeling of like, how can I give a shit about a football match right now? Like I distinctly remember this perspective that hit us all. Yeah. And I felt the same way. We all felt the same way.

The guys on air felt the same way. And, you know, by the time things kind of got back to normal, like I'm not saying it would have been any different. Um, and they made a bunch of mistakes, right?

Like trying to do national shows. You can't really, there's no such thing as national sports radio, especially, uh, you know, I think Jim is a TV guy, but he was not a radio guy in that sense. You know, he'd done radio chum in the old days, but, you know, it was a real. He's a rock jock. Yeah, and he's going against Bob, right?

I think, yeah, and I think you nailed it about being second in. And I mean, the same thing's happening today with 1050 now, which is TSN radio. I think that being there and establishing yourself and everyone's in the habit, and then you're going against Bob McCowan. I mean, it's, it is a recipe for failure. Now they have brand power though. Like that's the one thing with TSN and in the last days, in the dying days of the team, I actually helped broker a meeting between TSN where I was working at that point doing TV and the guys running the station talking about rebranding at TSN radio because it was kind of that was kind of the Hail Mary idea

right and by then you know I had downscaled the number of weeks I was doing because it was killing me I realized I couldn't do that and you know the other thing was it was just you know it was pretty clear we were banging our heads against the wall so yeah I brokered a meeting between Keith Pelley who was running TSN then and the folks running the radio station. But it was too late, right? It was done. But I thought, look, I thought with 1050, with the brand power, you know, at that point, number one in TV, that they might have been able to do something. But you know what?

ESPN Radio in the States, you know, when it's gone up against New York, went up against WFAN, it didn't work, right? Right. went up against WFAN. It didn't work, right? Right. In fact, what's interesting is if you look at the last ratings book or whatever, it actually looks like the 1050 numbers from today, where it's TSN, are maybe even a little worse than the team 1050. Yeah, we didn't last very long.

Two years, right? Did you do two years? It was less than two years. I remember the day we all got fired. Well, can you tell me about that? Because Mike Richards, who shoots from the hip, loved this guy, came over twice. And his story about the day you guys were notified,

I guess one of my favorite stories I think I might have ever heard. Can you tell me about that day? My experience is probably slightly different because I just happened to be there that day. And I just happened, like I wasn't doing, I wasn't working that day. I would say I wasn't working as much. I was doing a lot of work from home.

They put an ISDN line in my house, right? So, you know, I was doing some stuff from home, and I wasn't doing as much regular stuff. But I remember going in to talk to Jim in his office, and he said, I think something's coming down here today. And he said, no, I think this is it. And while I was there, we all got called into this room. You know, and I've heard about these things before,

how commercial radio works. So we did. We all got called into a room you know and i've heard about these things before how commercial radio works so we did we all got called into a room and paul williams announced uh i think it was paul maybe that announced that it was over that as of noon i believe there's going back to chum 10 10 50 chum and uh thanks very much and uh each of you will you know pick up an envelope and and then they let us you know anybody who had any kind of personal effects, they had to go and get them. They were with security and, uh, they handed us an envelope and we were led to a door that led directly out onto Yonge Street. It was up at Yonge and St. Clair in the old chum building. Right. And so we were standing there in the broad daylight. Now I got to say for me, I opened up my envelope

and there was a great big check in there and they didn't owe me anything contractually as far as I know. I did not say that. Come get it now. Is there a statute of limitations? I don't think they can take it away now. Yeah, so it was like, woo, that's great. I don't, you know, I'm not really totally involved in this thing anymore anyway. And you had another full-time gig,

and you were probably burnt out by it all. All of the above, yeah. This is not a bad day for Stephen. Well, it stunk, because I, you know, and I liked the people I worked with there a lot. I liked some of the chum people, the behind the scenes people. Hey, I worked with Geetz there. Geetz was the, yeah. Like a hero of my youth. Right. You know, he's an engineer, right? He's still working. He runs that. He built that station. Yeah. So, you know, I worked with Geetz. It was just, that was the

one of the coolest things ever. Um, yeah, it was awful, right? It was inhuman the way they handled it. And, you know, some people ended up having to sue them. And, you know, there's some bad blood there. Yeah, I don't think Jim Van Horn was very happy with that situation. No, he was not. Yeah, and I don't blame him. No, he, you know, they made commitments to him.

And, you know, look, commercial radio is a dirty business. You know, it's, they, they made commitments to them and, you know, it's, it's, look, it's a, commercial radio is a dirty business. You know, it's a, it's a nasty business and, you know, you hear those stories about stations being reformatted overnight

and you walk in and suddenly it's a country station and you're not working, right? So. Did you, do you remember the song that 1050 played

when they returned to, whatever they called it, Golden Oldies? Moldy Oldies? No, what was it? Because, no,

I remember that. It was Elvis's A Little Less Conversation. That's right. And they didn't... I got to say, there were people... Like, we were never part of the Chum family. I got to tell you that.

Like, there were some people who were nice to us there, but we felt like we were replacing someone's dead relative. You know, like, when we walked in the door, the number one... Chum FM was on the go. They were the number one station in Canada at that point, right? It may still be, I don't know, but they were then.

So they were- They're right up there. Yeah, ratings monsters doing like a 21 share or something ridiculous and we were, you know, 0.5. But there was this kind of sense of, you know, there was that whole history

with the family-run business and the, you know, how, you know, and which had been built on 1050 and the hits and here are these guys, sports guys and we were parachuted in. The whole operation was not a Chum thing. which had been built on 1050 and the hits, and here are these guys, sports guys, and we were parachuted in. The whole operation was not a chum thing.

It was brought in like a plug and play. And so what I'm saying is I'm not sure there were a lot of tears internally when the frog marched out the door. Like Scott Ferguson, Barry Davis was a longtime Fan 590 on-air personality who was lured away to the team in hopes of an opportunity to carve out a more prominent place in the sports radio market. Unlike Scott, Barry got to return to Rogers after the team ended, coming back as a Leafs reporter in 2002 and eventually becoming the field reporter for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Barry shared his experiences in episode 223 of Toronto Mic'd. And then it was around 2001 that Chum Radio decided that they were going to start their own rival sports station. Right. And I jumped. The team. I jumped. You're in that.

With many people that jumped. Scott Ferguson,. Right. And I jumped. The team. I jumped. You're in that. With many people that jumped. Scott Ferguson, for example. Scott Ferguson jumped. Some folks from TSN, Paul Romanuk. Romanuk, Van Horn. Van Horn went. They were trying to purge as many people from the other radio stations as possible. I mean, they wanted McCown.

They wanted Stelic. Those guys they weren't able to get. But we started there, and they had some great ideas, we were going to be a national radio network. We're not going to just be Toronto centric. Um, you know, we're going to do this the right way. Uh, we're going to make this great. This is a five-year plan. Well, 17 months later, they pulled the plug on it and that was it they they literally it was a Monday afternoon

a company-wide email came out with everybody's name on it and it said please show up tomorrow morning for a meeting and we're like meeting what's going on right what's going on well you arrive at the chum building and there was security guards all over the building oh this is not good and then they had a bunch of, you know, stacking chairs all lined up in a big hallway, and the head of CHUM just looked at everybody, said, thank you for all coming. I just want you to say I want to thank everybody

for their fine efforts over the last 17 months. At 3 o'clock this afternoon, we'll be playing Elvis. Thank you very much for your time. There's HR people on either side of the building that you'll have your packages waiting for you. That was it. Yeah. That was it.

So Mike Richards was on recently, but in his first appearance, he tells this story. And I'm trying to make sure I don't mess up the details, but there's something about Romanox speaks up or something. You get a Romanox story out of this? Or do we have to protect the guilty here? I'm not going to say who it was, but there was one person who spoke out and wasn't very happy about it.

And basically, this person spoke for the entire group. We all felt that way. We were all in shock. We all left good jobs for something that we felt was going to be at least a five-year plan. And it was a very quick bailout. And yeah, he expressed some concerns that we all had. Yeah, I can imagine.

And that's a horrible feeling any time, hey, here's your HR envelope. Nobody, nobody. Because I had, you know, I'd been, you know, 10 years at the fan, and then I went right to the team, and I didn't know what I was going to do. How was I going to be, you know, be unemployed? And thankfully, two weeks later, I was working at Sportsnet. So it worked out quite well. The last word on the Team 1050 experience goes to Mike Richards. Now, in Mike's first appearance on episode 219 of Toronto Mic'd, we talked a little bit about the

team, but he didn't give me the full story. In that episode, he did talk about some other stops he made along the way, including his stint at Kiss FM in Toronto, during which the station was purchased by Rogers and they let everybody go. It turns out that was the infamous story where Rogers Brass took everyone to a bar and let them go, and everyone had to buy their own drinks. In some of the episodes with other Team 1050 people, I referenced this story, but none of them really validated it, and now we know why.

So, because Mike never did give me his team story on Toronto Mic'd, we had a phone conversation a few weeks ago, and he gave me the story we didn't get in his previous visits. So now, here's a never-before-heard exclusive from Mike Richards on his time at the Team 1050. Mike, how did you end up at the team 10 50? The team 10 50 came from, and again, once again, the, the trials of Richards, right? My story, I think, cause I want to do another book and I, it's going to be the path never

taken. I just made that up. This is gold. Is this live? Um, so, so I just finished my last job so that was 2001 so may of 2001 they announced the team 10 50 the last job i had was in 19 it just turned the year 1999 so it's 1998 so so january i met uh kiss fm 92.5 country myself and jeff lumby so it was two and a half years before i have a job again and i talked to a bunch of people joe zenobio uh who was running am 640 at the time um there was just a lot of strangers going on

another period of being blocked from the fan. Boy, I enjoy that. Do people enjoy the blocking? Cause it doesn't work, but I was a block from there. So then what do you do? All of a sudden they decide they're going to do sports and I get a call that they're going to do this. And Gerald McGroarty is the program director. So I go through him, someone named Paul Williams, who's a long time telemedia guy who became

the general sales manager, uh uh eventually at chum owned team 1050 but i'm the last guy hired so i'm a little pissed off about it because they have brian henderson stays there they hire paul romanek before me they hire uh so my our buddy gene gino gene velitis gets hired uh van horn and brunt who ironically i think only worked together twice in a year and a half i don't know if sometimes they even came into the station and uh it's okay i can say that because they're both friends especially brunt and it was just a setup where i came in and um there was a look on paul williams face that was one of of absolute frustration and like what what is the problem and i go down to gerald mcGrory, and Gerald just says to me,

do you want the job? Yeah, I do. Why am I being the last guy? The story of my life, right? I never go through the front door. It's never, hey, Mike's here. No, it's like I go to the front door, and it's locked. I can see the people inside. They're having fun.

I can see the party. I can see the girls. I can see the booze. They told me this is the right address. So then I got to do what I always do. Break the fucking back door down, put my hand in there and find my way in to the party and then enjoy myself and then maybe even own the party. But I never, I never go through the front door. I'm never allowed through the front door. So we finally get this thing going. So it basically is Gerald McGrory, who, from my experience,

way back at the fan, back in 94, 95, and 96, when I'm there with Derringer and Bob McCowan. So from those days, he's like, yeah, we need this guy because I'm still at this point, the co-host. I'm still the funny guy. I'm still the pie in the face. I'm all the impressions. And so that's how I get that job.

Not because of sports knowledge, because up to that point quite frankly honestly not one person really ever heard me talk about sports so it was just assumed i was the comedy guy not the sports guy now the team 1050 you mentioned it launched in may 2001 uh it all kind of falls apart by August 2002. So before you give me hopefully fantastic detail about how they turfed y'all in 2002, why do you think it failed? Why did the Team 1050 fail? It's very simple.

It's just very easy. I started at 1050 chum in 1986. So yeah, 85, 86. Yeah. So 1986, I go to 10 50 chum. It's my first job, uh, after CKB CKBB in the, in the summer. But, but my first job is basically a 10 50 chum. And I love the Waters family immediately. I become what they would call it. I'm a chummer. And I always will be. I'll always be part of the Waters family.

And so I have an understanding of what the chum way is. Or when you hear chum people say it, the chum way. You know, everyone sounds like Terry Steele when they say that, the chum way. And there is a chum way. You know, everyone sounds like Terry steel when they say that the chum way. And there is a chum way. The problem is they wanted team 10 50 and a sports radio station to run like the chum way. Well, they're, they're two different things. The chum way, the music way does not work for how you have to sell sports. So they handcuffed Paul Williams before the thing even started.

Like he was planning on having millions of dollars in the bank. Cause he'd go to Canadian tire. You go to Labatt. He's going to go to car dealerships, get all this money, not wait for the ratings. Cause he said, we won't have any,

we won't have any in the first couple of years. He knew that because he understands the format. No, we'll go in the chum guys. We'll go out and sell. Well, the chump guys are too busy having martinis and smokes across jingles to to even understand how to sell sports radio and how to sell it like the right people in the right combinations so the fail happened at the very beginning it was like

building a submarine and spending all this money with great sailors and uniforms except the guy built it said, I'm used to building cottages, so you have to remember, the submarine has a screen door. Yeah, that's your problem. And that's what really the Team 1050 was. It wasn't this massive failure. You know, Paul Roman and I have been friends ever since that time. Paul has a very different view, and it's very bitter for him.

It's very difficult for him. He loved that show, and he loved being with us every day and we myself and and doug kirkwood and and tim preston who was producing it we were like the four amigos and and really still are and it really was difficult in him and broke him in half and there's still a part of him that comes out and understandably so whenever there's anything about radio or the corporate world, although he's a communist, you realize that. I mean, he very much, I call him comrade. He's just such a left-wing nut. But he, I learned so much from him and he thinks I just say that, but it's, it is very true. A super talented guy.

His heart was in the right place, but he was very volatile at the time. And, and they, you know, so he fought a little bit with TSN, which I've certainly come to understand. I had to go up once. He wasn't aware of it, but I went up and talked to the president of TSN. That time I said, leave him alone, get off him. And they said, so, so, so Keith Pettit goes, why are you here for that? I thought you were here for a job.

No, I'm here for, I'm here for Paul. If he wants to do hockey, wants it again he's one of the best we've got give him a job and they were stunned that i would do this for someone i don't think it's i i would do i i would think i would hope a friend would do that for me i i didn't have a problem doing for paul and they do for a period of time he does get a job and they always they always call paul my friend right even even when he got the job with rogers and that ends up again in in in flames which is it's it's terrible to watch and i don't and i personally don't understand it i don't get it uh i never understood when paul goes geez you know you see on twitter they they just fucking

hate me they hate me i go well i don't know i don't know why because look i'm a pretty honest guy but i don't get it i don't i don't have really hard feelings about anyone does play by play period i think that's ridiculous and immature it's so stupid unless you make mistakes and you get older which guys do they call guys the wrong name and the wrong numbers it's fine because their eyes go why would you be i've never understood that part so the the the the breaking down of of that hurt a lot of people but no one no one got it to me in my in my estimation has had to take it and did take it to heart like paul i wish he didn't i wish paul look i'll be seeing him probably in a matter of weeks i hope i'm having a drink face to face when we're allowed to do that

but i at some point i just need him to let it go and realize that we weren't shit we didn't come down because our show wasn't good and we weren't talented it had had nothing to do with that, and he's got to give himself a little forgiveness on that. Now, Mike, I've talked to Paul about this. It seems like it's more that where you were out of work when you got this gig, right? So you're coming from nothing, and now you're at the Team 1050. Paul was at

TSN forever, and he was promised it sounds like the Waters, you mentioned the Waters family, and this family-run radio station, Chum, 1050 Chum. He was promised something, and then he feels that they reneged on this promise and then cut bait, whatever, less than 18 months later. Yeah, because they were completely out of their element.

They were not understanding that you couldn't sell it the Chum way. This was not a music radio station and so these guys who signed these big salaries when they were expecting to get their payout for the next three years they got like 10 cents on the dollar right so i i mean i can't speak to that because i got then you already paid that much money really and and because of my relationship when i was done jim they just wanted to give me more they tried to find a way to keep me but it was oldies and i wasn't i wasn't he said you could have done it because you can do any format but you needed to go on and find yourself and and that's kind of what happened

could you walk us through the uh the event where the announcement is made that uh you're going you know that the team 1050 is over? Yeah, so that afternoon, that afternoon, I don't know if Tim Preston's there, but I certainly know Doug Kirkwood was there. So there's me, Dougie, and Romy.

So I have a feeling that something ominous is coming. And so I take them to a bar because that's what I do really good. Like really good. And Romy can say what he wants, but he can get lit up pretty quickly. Oh, yeah.

And so I have a feeling what's coming. He goes, so what do you really think? What do you think? I said, you know what? I think they're going to add some stations because at that point it was a network. I think they're going to add a couple stations. Oh, that'd be great.

I really, you know. And then, because he's still not sure though, right? Because he's not I really, you know, and then, because he's still not sure though, right? Cause he's not an overly, you know, he's got his guard up all the time, but with around me, he trusts me. And I basically am telling him that there could be good news here. And I keep forcing booze down his throat. I mean, I mean, I'm giving him stuff that I don't think he normally drinks, but he's lit up pretty good by the time we get in there. It's sort of like, I know that we're going to the firing squad and I know it's coming,

but I don't want my friend to feel the pain. So I'm trying to dull the pain as much as possible. But is this, this event you're describing now, is this, are you, you already have a date in the calendar, like where you have to be somewhere? They called us for an afternoon meeting to be in this one area and there's all chairs. It looked like a little funeral, all these wooden you know those wooden chairs with the with the metal legs and stuff like that and they're all kind of set up there in rows with a middle row and and like a podium uh that looks almost sort of like a where the priest would do the altar and they're up at the

front and including jim waters and as soon as i saw that i'm like ah yeah yeah uh ready aim like i knew it was coming, right? I was very disappointed. I was really angry, but I hold it differently. So Jim Waters gets up and starts explaining exactly what it is they're doing. Now, essentially, the shareholders were tired of burning all this money because they completely didn't understand how much in man hours and how much personnel it takes to run a sports talk

radio station they just didn't know because it wasn't the chum way yeah because it's not and it wasn't going to be i don't know why in because because gerald mcgordy and joe thistle are are long gone by this point they let them go before that so that was very disappointing and so now you know you're just it's your you got a lifesaver just kind of floating on top of the water here so it was bound to happen because the shareholders that and then and chum ones are not going to put up with these million dollar losses but see you you have to sell radio a certain way and they wanted to sell it based on ratings we had a one share we had a one share sort of like how 10 50s again right surprise except this time this time but then when the 10 50 the team had there was a heritage station that was still kind of a juggernaut right that which that's no longer

juggernaut numbers why when we took over When they were all oldies, it was not... Now, it wouldn't be losing money because it was cheap format, right? You have one jock. You're playing songs from... Oh, no, no. I'm referring... No, no, no.

I'm referring to 590. So, because when the team exists, you have a formidable opponent in 590 that has been there a long time and was still pulling in the, the, the, you know,

the sports radio ratings or whatever. But today, uh, the fan 590 is a shadow of its former self. If you will. Again, but we talked about it on the show. The real problem in all of this is those that

have the keys to the car, don't know how to drive the car. It's sort of like sticking me in a Ferrari. You think, oh, yeah, I know. You put the gas down and you steer. Have you been in a Ferrari? It looks like a fucking spaceship. And the steering wheel is the size of your hands.

It's tiny. And there's all these things and knobs and buttons. Is there a button? How do you start this thing? That's what it has been like for the last 20 years in sports radio for a lot of the people running sports radio they just don't know how to operate how to run it which is why it was doomed to fail both 10 50 both times uh what i was shocked by was the second time because i thought they at least brought people in who understood but i knew it still wasn't the depth that you probably really needed. But with the, that format

that we had, so when we, the Dave and myself were doing the morning show and you had overdrive, which then was now doing at least lunch called least lunch and Dave Naylor, Dave Naylor had a, like a three share, like it wasn't Bob's 11, but it wasn't nothing. And also was two or three years in. So the fact that overdrive has a seven share now, which is great. Cause they're, they're a good show, but, but there's nobody, there's nobody else. They have no competition and they've got a television feed from a show that's not doing well. And they've been, they've been given 10 years. You know how long that I had them, you know know how long I had the morning show? Four and a half years at TSN.

And I had, at one point, after year number three, we had a 5.8 males, 25, 54. After three years and under the age of 35, a 20 share. So as much as people want to fall all over, the 10 years got, I would have loved to have 10 years. So the thing with the team 1050 was even worse because they were being pushed by those that only know chum music they only know much music they only know what their heritage is understandably which is 1050 chum so the moment you go into this and go over just going to sell ratings well we won't have any guys you know where

we you know where we had ratings, strangely enough? And kind of sort of, again, a spoiler alert. Where? Calgary. The morning show showed up in Calgary and did well. And so when the thing broke up, when it burst into flames, the first call I got was from Calgary. What are you doing?

We don't even have a morning show here. Really? Huh? Of course, I love Calgary because my good friend Jerry Forbes was there and I used to go there all the time. And then the rest of the, as Paul Harvey would say,

the rest of the story. But the Team 1050, as I said, was doomed because of the infrastructure and the lack of understanding on how to sell sports radio. It wasn't the program director.

It sure as hell wasn't Joe, uh, Gerald McGordy, who was a brilliant guy, great programmer, awesome person, and very creative. He had Joe Thistle by his side to do all the promotion production,

all the stuff that was important. Those two guys are really good at what they do and they never got a chance. Now, Mike, a lot of people say it was doomed to fail because it was trying to be a national sports network. True. And here in Toronto, we have very little interest

in hearing how the Jets are doing in the regular season. That is a very valid argument. What you learn is, unlike the United States, where if you want to talk about the University of Miami, I mean, I follow college sports. If you want to talk about the university of Miami, uh, that's a, I mean, I, I follow college sports.

If you're talking about, you know, Ohio state, or you're talking about, you know, Trevor Lawrence, that is a big story everywhere on every sports station in the United States.

If I sit there and talk about, uh, um, uh, Johnny hockey, um, in Calgary, people are like,

okay, well in Toronto, they don't care. No, no. Come back to, yeah. Talk Austin Matthews, talk Mitch Marner, sure. Maybe Nylander, but yeah, I hear you. Now, when this announcement's made, so who actually made the announcement that the team 1050 was shuttering? Okay. So this is the the we go back to the paul roman and and then by the way he stood up and just let him have it there was no two ways about it it was like in in uh and jimmy kept going but and he didn't stop he didn't get confrontational but romey you know you fucking lied to us you fucking locked and i'm like and people like why is he talking like that i'm like i don't know

i think someone took him out for a lot of drinks that's not right it's you you know just so you know this past summer uh paul romanek was in my backyard trying to set the record straight because this story has been told uh you know it's like when these stories get told in toronto mic'd over and over again they start to take on a life of their own so Paul was in my backyard just setting the record straight here yeah was he yeah well that's the real record I'm gonna tell you he'll say I didn't have oh yeah well we were there for an hour pumping them back Romy you're not you're you're not a heavyweight you're not in that category and I did it on purpose just because I didn't want to you know he's my buddy and I didn't want him to go in because I thought it was the safest thing to do of course the opposite effect do you remember the reactions of anyone else like i'm

thinking of a jim van horn or gene valaitis do you remember any of the other uh reactions no because it probably was like mine i was just very quiet you know we've been around the block a couple times but see i said paul had given up something to get something and then it was taken away and then those that he'd left he kind of spurned them a little bit so you had he i mean it was it's very unfortunate it was a double-edged sword and he deserved way better than that but but but really in this industry the way it is right now we all deserve better than this but that's just kind of how things go that's like feeling sorry for people who work in automobile plants over the years saying how come a gm in noshua doesn't have 30 000 jobs anymore well because of robotics and

because of efficiency now you only need uh like uh 18 people to build the same amount of cars it's people are not going to feel sorry for us but i think the thing that is very sad and you know see that's where i got to know gene Volitis a lot more. And Gene is, uh, he's a prince to me. I mean, I, I, I can't, uh, tell how much I love that guy. Um, you know, these storytellers, which Gene, like during some of these tough times and these turbulent, um, uh, civil times that we're in now, and maybe even the lack of civility, but, uh, when you see the social movements, I want to to hear i want to hear gene volantis talk about it i need i'd like to hear gene and even though of course uh you know i'm not sure what format it'd be but for him to be on a talker

because he's a newsman like he really is a news guy aside from the jesse and gene stuff gene volantis understands the makings of story and storytelling and i need to hear gene talk about it that's a shame so um there was certainly some talent there uh there were a couple whack jobs i mean a couple people i just you know completely didn't understand but um but that happens and but you weed those out over the years right so so now that i've gone through three and four times what you don't do is kill it kill it in 18 months but again this goes back to not going to the shareholders. Okay, I'll give you the perfect example.

The difference between what Trump did and what Rogers did with 680 News. So you got a guy like Chuck McCoy or whoever it was that went up at Rogers and said, we're going to do a news wheel that's filled with traffic. Now, you have to remember they were 680 CFTRr what are you talking about no music no no just like traffic's the backbone and news stories and it's a wheel that goes around and around and around oh by the way we're gonna we're gonna we could lose money for the first time in the first three years or something whatever whatever that number was they made money in like well someone will probably tell what it really is they made money in like nine months what we know now the world

lives in their cars it's the it they went to the shareholders and said this is what we're doing this is how it's going to work there's a possibility of losing money but eventually it will but chum chum well they said hey we got a sports station now right you you know how many people you have to hire to to make the same work and by the way there's a station that's been doing like 15 20 years ahead of you so but they just didn't they didn't do any of that so then when it falls flat it's like okay see you later you're all done hey look i've talked to jim waters about this since this time and i'm still time. And I'm still a Waters guy. I'm still a family guy. I just know that they didn't know. They just didn't know. And Jimmy

would probably say, yeah, we, we, we, we got it wrong. We got it wrong. We just didn't know. And it's a shame, but you know, out of that came my understanding of what I wanted to do because I was still a co-host, but at that point working with Romy and then occasionally when he's away and it'd be me and Scott Laughlin would go on there and then I'd go nuts. And then I realized what I wanted to do. Then I had a sort of an understanding of, you know, number one, I have to kind of show what I know about sports. Like I really can't just not do that anymore. And I got to take over. And I also have to make it entertaining it just can't be quite frankly what it is now in this market which is the most gigantic bore fest i have ever heard

you know i'm still doing the zoom thing so dave and i are still at news talk saga 960 which with its own merit it's actually done quite well even though half the stuff i wanted to do there uh has not happened but even still they're still going strong. They won't go under. They're not going down. And people are like, this will never exist. Guess what? It'll be like a cockroach. That thing's not going away.

And there'll be somebody on it, whoever moves in there. But the lack of personality is shocking. Just shocking. So if you start at the top for me. So I'm going to start at the top. So so i'm gonna start at the top so that's john so you got derringer man then who john moore john moore's gonna get me in the morning wow i really love how you did the temperature look i'm sure he's a nice enough guy and i'm sure he's a very well-read person he seems like a very intelligent person i don't want any of those things.

Where's the rudeness? Where's, where's the, where's the people telling me that something is shit? Where's the, where's the something that goes, Oh yeah. So that TV show last night,

everyone is so afraid to say things. And I get it. Woke culture is a little frightening. There are things that I did over the years. I can't do any of them. I wouldn't do anything of them i wouldn't do anything i probably can't even do bob call chicks i like what do you mean chicks you like right that's demeaning because because no that's not me it's bob you know what i mean like there's

there's stuff that that that you will have to find your own way but that doesn't mean you can't tell it like it is that mean doesn't mean you can't go on and say something that is also really good in in in in way it's not about being a shock jock it's not about being uh and it never has been it certainly hasn't been for me it's just about being honest i don't hear any honesty anymore because everyone's afraid everybody's walking on eggshells and no one will no one will talk no one will talk to me talk to you with you it's it or it's extremes political which has ruined everything, quite frankly. Extreme right, extreme left. And you can't talk to each other. There's no debate anymore. There's no exchange

of ideas. For instance, whether you like or dislike the particular person who's the premier or the prime minister, that should not dominate my conversation. i can see enough of that on news see cnn is just the worst i'd i'd lob a grenade in on those losers i can't stand what they talk about and it's not even it's not a trump thing trump's moving they still talk about trump he's not the president anymore he's not even here that's like complaining about a girlfriend who dumped you four years ago or you dumped them yeah and she's fat too no no no no no don't do that that's uh it's fat jamie i'm just saying everything has a tie to it but no one wants to talk anymore um i thought that the team 1050 certainly may be down the road with adjustments and letting gerald mcgrorty and joe this will do what they could do but they never got a chance and And so we'll, we'll really never, we'll never know if Paul and myself

had gone down that road, even five years, what would have happened? And we just don't know. We'll never know. Beautiful buddy. Oh, you know, I could spend hours. I can't believe it. I was going to do 15 minutes with you and here we are like an hour or something later, but you have to just don't be a stranger. You got to tell me the minute you and whoever wants to join you wants to pop on i'll drop everything we'll do it just i can't wait man that was awesome man well hopefully it's that there is a lot of unrest and the pandemic has done a lot of horrible things to a lot of people what has happened in the restaurant industry in our hospitality industry, is just heartbreaking. To see those news conferences of those people on the Danforth

saying, I've had this business for 37 years, it's painful. Knowing that basically almost any of these hot spots or areas of high transmission, there's probably none of those places. And again, this is not a platform to start poking at things. But I'm just saying the overall pain, the overall pain of what people have gone through is debilitating. But remember this, and this is hard sometimes, and this is not meant to be cold or heartless.

But in times of devastation like this, and the world has seen many times over when these things happen. If you don't quit, if you don't quit, if you have for some, a little bit of faith and you believe in what you're doing and moving forward, there is this Renaissance period that almost happens after all of this. Sometimes in this world, it's technology. This ability for us now to talk and see each other is one of them that has come out of this. There will be businesses who have benefited and have seen the advantage of video conferencing.

There are those that will find a way and try to make it better for others. As you know, I'm ultimately the glass half full. The radio industry took through, you know, some, some many hits and a lot of people, really good people have lost their jobs. know some many hits and a lot of people really good people have lost their jobs but in communication you just have a fine have to find a way of those where you can get to a place where you can tell some stories your in fact your podcast is a great example of that for for us to tell our lives in an industry that we don't often get a chance to do that some people are shut down and never never get a chance to talk about it so there is something coming there's something coming for me there's something coming i know but like everybody else i have to wait

to get through the stages we're under 2 000 people today covid wise it's got to get lower the vaccines the the quarantines all every anything that ends in teens is all got to go away and when it does trust me me, especially on Toronto Mike, I'm going to have something very special for you. Very special. And that brings us to the end of our 925th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike.

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They're on Instagram at Majeski Group Homes. See you all next week. ¶¶ But the smell of snow warms me today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green Well, you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears And I don't know what the future can hold or do for me and you But I'm a much better man for having known you

Oh, you know that's true because Everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't stay today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray. Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize

There's a thousand shades of green Cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? All them picking up trash and them putting down rogues And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can

Maybe I'm not and maybe I am But who gives a damn? Because everything is coming up rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms me today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine

And it won't go away Cause everything is Rosy and gray Well I've kissed you in France And I've kissed you in Spain and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour But I like it much better going down on you

Yeah, you know that's true. Because everything is coming up rosy and green. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms us today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine. And it won't go away. Because everything is rosy now Everything is rosy, yeah Everything is rosy and gray, yeah Thank you.