Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Andrew Walker: Toronto Mike'd #87

Episode Date: August 7, 2014

Mike chats with Andrew Walker about his move to The Fan 590, working with Greg Brady, replacing Jim Lang and lots of interesting Toronto sports radio stuff.

Welcome to the 87th episode of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from torontomic.com and joining me this week is Andrew Walker from the Fan 590 morning show Brady and Walker. Welcome to the Toronto Mike Studios, Andrew. Thank you. Good to be here. So you had a little, you got on the wrong bus. Is that right? I made the mistake. I'm only a year in. So I'm still trying to figure out some of the transit here.

I never drive anywhere anymore in the city. My truck's just parked underneath. Maybe I should have drove. But yeah, no, it was a bit of an adventure. You don't want to drive because they's uh they got that gardener down to two lanes yeah i noticed that we i was wondering like what'll be what'll be finished first jake gardener's contract or uh or the actual garden you know what uh i would say jake gardener yeah five years that's true yeah no i made it though only half an hour late. So. Yeah, not bad.

And I would have made the same mistake because you just get, when you get to Islington, you just jump on a bus going south and you're going to, I think you'd get to Lakeshore. That would be my thought. I'm good with north and south unless they decide midway to change their route. I think that might have happened to my brother once when he was coming here. Like, I thought it was so simple. So I thought it was him. Like, what an idiot but maybe uh you've made me realize it might have been just

sometimes these buses decide to yeah maybe maybe though but i i didn't do my homework i'm i'm still the uh i'm still the prairie country bumpkin in the big city so that's okay hey tell me since you're a young guy uh that theme song you just heard, do you want the MP3 for your playlist? Was that a good jam or what? It was pretty good. Yeah, it was pretty good. I couldn't tell. I'm brutal at saying, I don't know, name that tune.

So I don't know what that is or who that is. Or is that yours? That's original. Oh, yeah? This guy, Ill Vibe, he's like a local rapper producer guy, put that together for me. And the lyrics are all about Toronto Mike. It's like a personal rapper producer guy uh put that together for me and the lyrics are like all about toronto mike it's like a personal uh theme song that is cool it's like when i enter a room that's what plays like the imperial march right uh also you ever uh if you ever branch into

tv there you go that's your that's your show you know what is it too late for me uh like i just turned 40 is my tv like the hopes for somebody seeing me and saying you should be on tv and putting me on tv is that uh past due like that's too late now i don't think so no i don't think so okay good john shannon just got into tv yeah how'd that happen a couple years ago remind me asking well he was john is like uh it was i don't know i don't know how it happened honestly because because john shannon is a is a just a famous tv producer one of the best in the truck and and you know he's done games for years and years and and i wasn't i wasn't generally around when when the transition happened so i couldn't tell you why but it was kind of just

one of those days where all of a sudden john was on tv and he went from from behind the scenes to in front of the scenes. And he's so well connected and has guys in the NHL. So, I mean, I don't know how it happened. Well, he's got nude pictures of Bob McCowan. Is that true? Because I heard that. He must have something in a drawer, like nude shots of Bob McCowan in incriminating positions.

I don't know. Maybe. It's got to be. Just my two cents. So do you mind me asking you how old you are? I just haven't seen you a lot. I'm 30 years old. Okay.

Yeah. I put you a little younger, actually. Oh, no. I'm 30, and I guess it's one of those things you fight a little bit. You sound older. I'm glad to be in my 30irties, put it that way. Um, but I,

uh, but I've been doing this since I was 18. So it's, you know, I, I feel 12, you know, 12 years in and,

and a couple of NHL markets that, you know, but it's one of those respect things. You just gotta, you just gotta do it and keep on doing it. Yeah. And it doesn't matter what you look like. It matters how you sound.

Cause you sound, you sound older. Well, thanks, I guess. I mean, 2554, right? That's the demo that we shoot for. So I certainly, God, I would hope I appeal to the lower end of that. And it's just the challenge of...

Well, Brady's an old man, so you got to offset that, right? It's actually okay. You know, we have one guy in the show in his 40s and one in his 30s. that right it's actually okay you know we have one guy's in one guy in the show in his 40s and one in his 30s and you know i'm it's not like i'm some young out all the time party or i'm i'm an old man too but you know he's the one with the with the kids and and with the different perspective and and hopefully i can bring the other one sometimes so actually i want to obviously go into like how you ended up with a fan and all that but But real quick, did you listen to the Brady episode? I did, yeah. Which is, I have the number down. I listened to...

76. Yeah, I listened to... I want to say the whole thing. I might have glazed over at times when... We have to because he might... When Greg got rambling about... Say something about you, right? Like, that's an episode you've got to listen to, right?

Am I right? Like, if my co-host does, like, I don't know, an hour and 20 minutes with a local podcast, I'm listening to that entire thing. Right, yeah, because you never know when he's going to... What is he saying about me? Yeah. I want to know.

Walker's an asshole. Yeah, I don't... I listen to most of it, and then I could tell when he started rambling about the things he rambles about, but he's a unique guy that way, so... Yeah, it was a fun episode. That one was my buddy Elvis set that up,

and he was here, so that's why we have the three microphones, but Elvis is in New York doing something or whatever. So you just get me. Lucky guy. It's good. It's like Frost Nixon. That's right.

Exactly. And before we dive in real quick, I want to note that this is episode 87 and we're recording on Sidney Crosby's birthday. So number 87 for number 87. That's incredible. Who's the biggest name you've had in here? I've been through a couple of the archives, but what's your favorite one?

Well, who's the big names? Well, Jeff Merrick was here for like two hours and I had to kick him out eventually because he didn't want to leave. And Aaron Davis was fantastic. That was recently. And Jeremy Taggart was the last guest. Last two guests have been Aaron Davis, Jeremy Taggart.

I've had Jonathan Torrens from Street Sense. That's right, yeah. And J-Rock. And Alan Cross and then Humble and Fred. So actually, now that you're here, I've got Humble and Fred, Aaron Davis and Brady and Walker. So I'm making my way through the morning.

So I don't know which is the biggest name out of that group. The morning crews are always a different breed. You have to be, I think. Well, you have to be to wake up. What time do you wake up? Four bells every day. Yeah.

And what time do you have to go to bed to wake up? Because I see you tweeting during Jay's games, and these games are ending like after 10 sometimes. See, everyone always asks that. And I think it's different for everybody. I've always, like being out west for so long, it was the biggest transition coming here that no one ever thinks of. You think, okay, well, there's this job in this market

and this paycheck or whatever. But it's about lifestyle. I had this thing, because we talked a lot of hockey out west, even more than we do here, believe it or not, but there's more going on here. And I found it difficult to go to bed when we had a show to do the next day and say san jose and la are playing on the west coast right so so i could stay up at the end of that game it's 10 30 11 and then you're in bed for

for about five hours and and that's okay you can you can survive off that here that two hours is a is a killer yeah so i mean i'm a i'm a puckhead for sure but i you just can't do it you can't watch all of san jose la or san jose vancouver i i get the whole and you don't appreciate it till you're here and the one week of the year that you know the leafs take on the the ducks kings and sharks right i mean the game doesn't start till 10 30 that's insane and it must be tough like the playoffs for example example, when the Kings and Ducks or whatever... You've got to watch. That's important stuff. You've got to talk about it. But to be fair,

I'm different. Not everybody watches the games all the time. And for me, the way I like to prepare and the way I... I like to approach every show as... Because I'm a fan. I'm a fan of sports. I love it. For me to go in the morning way I like to approach every show as, because I am a fan.

I'm a fan of sports. I love it. And so for me to go in the morning, I like to have my emotion level of, like, this is what I was thinking during the second period. I thought there was no way that that team would be able to come back. Right. So anyone can watch a highlight. And some guys do, and some guys pull it off.

Yeah, the game in six minutes or whatever. Just fine. I feel awkward when I do that. So, yeah, I don't get a lot of sleep, but I also don't have kids. Yeah, and you're 30 years old without kids. Yeah, I measure it in two, four-hour sleeps a day. If you can do that, that's kind of a good way to live.

That would work. That might be ideal. I bet just somebody like a Winston Churchill or somebody said that was probably the way to go, get the napping. But I love the games, and I have to watch the games. If I ever go in and, you know, I didn't watch the ball game the night before, it's tough. Gotcha.

Tough for me anyway. All right. Now tell me. Oh, firstly, you mentioned you were going to run home. Is this still a plan? You're going to run home? Maybe not all the way. It's further than I thought.

Is that your exercise of choice running i go i go back and forth since i i'd say the last couple of months i've been getting more into it um so i'm not like a i'm not a a passionate like i'm not running ironmans or not running marathons but my buddy did a hundred mile race this last weekend. That's insane. It's four plus, four marathons plus. And you stop overnight and stuff. He took them, I don't know the detail. I don't think he stopped very long. He definitely did stop periodically, but he took them 26 hours.

You know what? I might be young, but you're getting older. And as you get older, it's tougher to, you have to find ways to work out. So yeah, I'm running. I like Toronto that way. We figured out some trails and it's the girlfriend and I out here. Cool. And yeah, so I'll run halfway.

No, I'm just curious. I'll run halfway home and get to a bad area and then probably be in trouble, yeah. So when you were texting me that you got lost on your way here, or not lost, but you got detoured, you mentioned you're a prairie bumpkin so where where did you grow up i grew up way down south uh in saskatchewan uh kind of weber nest of an area little town called bobeer um right kind of in the mix of where graham delet is from um you know if if people ever researched him uh and and who hasn't yeah so and we'll see how he's doing on i don't know you turn this around but i haven't even checked his score today i guess he's teeing off right now as we speak at the pj

championship but um yeah way down south and in saskatchewan and then i went to school in in saskatoon my uh ex-wife is from saskatoon we're connected now it's an underrated city it's a university town right it's just yes yeah yeah the bridges and the water. See, Regina has the riders. And if you've never been, I get it. The CFL is not big here. And I understand. It really isn't, by the way. It's a dud.

And I understand. There's a lot going on, too. But it's just a different world out west. Calgary and Edmonton and Saskatchewan, they love their CFL football. And they're like college atmospheres. I mean, if you ever went to a game in Regina, you'd completely appreciate the CFL, I think, on a different level. If I ever find myself in Regina, I'll make it a point.

It's the only thing. Like, Regina's a terrible city, and I'll say that. I don't even like going there, even though you've got to go there for the odd wedding or whatever. But the riders are a great time. Andaskatoon is is legitimately nice city on its own but doing can you compare it like i don't know if you have a ontario destination compare i'm just trying i'm trying like i've never i've been to like saskatoon i've been to edmonton okay so i've been to edmonton recently and i've been through calgary and i've been uh to vancouver and i've never been to

saskatchewan i'm just trying to like saskatoon could i say was like london i i guess that's not bad at all yeah london i would i would say that yeah okay so at some point if i find myself in i just know my friend uh humble howard the aforementioned so humble howard uh he's from moose jaw and he went on a road trip back home. I guess he had to do something in Regina, and he and Fred did this, I think it was a road trip to Saskatchewan. So Fred, he grew up in Scarborough.

He's a local guy, and it sounded like underwhelming reviews I got. Let's just say he was underwhelmed by the Saskatchewan experience. It didn't sound like it was much. It was like a small town ontario kind of yeah so i i'm not i'm not uh poo-pooing the saskatchewan experience hey no i i get it i there's a reason why everyone and saskatchewan is booming right now but there's a reason why you know people that i think that's the biggest reason why like i'm i'm an unabashed

saskatchewan rough rider fan i'll i'll admit that because it's just, it's ingrained. It's like a religion, right? Well, you need something to be proud of. Is this like a Packer fan who grew up in like near, in Wisconsin or whatever? Yeah, it's similar. And you go into Wisconsin, there's not a lot going on there either, right? I mean, you drive through and it's straight and flat and there's not a lot going on in Saskatchewan. So at least there's something, I think to to hang your hat on cool yeah yeah

nothing wrong with that and you're right though i'm my perspective is that it really like when you talk to toronto people they really don't care about the argos like there's transplanted like people who came from elsewhere who came from out west and stuff who are crazy about the cfl but the torontonians born here they don't seem to care. Yet I still think it's... I don't quite... Someone's watching. I just don't know who in Toronto is watching. I don't quite get it. I mean, a city of 5 million. Like, take the home opener this year.

So, it's the home opener. The Grey Cup champs are in town, Saskatchewan. It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Saturday afternoon. The roof's open. And there's 11,000 people there. It's pathetic. You know why?

It's because the people have decided it's minor league. Yeah. Like, it's a go big or go home town. I still feel that it's an NFL market. In my time here, the city of Toronto will have an NFL team. Do you promise? Because Bob McCowan said it's not going to happen. I would.

I mean, what are we looking at timeline? Read my lips. Ten years. Ten years. That's high end. 10 years, I would bet anything that it'll be here. That'd be cool. Will Bon Jovi have anything to do with it?

I don't know. Maybe. Living on a prayer. Tell me why you got into radio and how you got into radio. I like sports. When I went to broadcasting school school i went to a school called western uh western broadcasting academy in saskatoon and a lot it's it's this little independent crap school it really is but for some reason guys like uh you know darren millard went

there and and and darren titian went there and pete labardius went there and brad fard went there and, and, and Darren Titian went there and Pete Labardius went there and Brad Fay went there. All these guys went there. Um, I don't know if Fay went there. I shouldn't say that, but there's a lot of guys that have gone through there. Um, and for some reason it works. And I, I'm not a, like everybody, when I went there was this radio nerd that, that grew up and, and did their, their little music shows in their, uh, you know, in their, in their room before they went to bed and taped their own shows. And I didn't know the first thing about radio. And I still don't. I don't know a lot about radio. I couldn't describe you exactly how advertising works or I can barely plug in a microphone.

But I love sports. And so I went to this school and I started in news and so within you know half a year a year I was in North Battleford Saskatchewan doing a kind of a news and sports weekend making no money kind of thing and I just found that you know it came came easier to me I guess than than some people and so after that I was in Red Deer for six years and did some sports stuff there and and uh rebels games and a little news before i finally transitioned full-time into sports which is tough because i mean and it's changed even now and that was that was 10 12 years ago but it's changed in the sense of you know every newsroom had eight people he had won the sports guys so as as difficult as it

was to crack the broadcasting world the sports sports medium was even smaller. I can imagine. Especially all you hear is cuts. I hear City News is talking about losing their news. It sounds like a really tough business. It's weird because I still feel, I'm naive, I guess, but I still feel invincible because I've gotten lucky. That's the pull.

I'm going to pull that out. Oh, hey, and it's coming. Everybody, you're hired to be fired, right? because I've gotten lucky. That's the pull. I'm going to pull that out when you get with him. Oh, hey, and it's coming. Everybody, you're hired to be fired, right? And everybody, hey, the guy, Greg Brady, was fired from his station in Detroit unceremoniously. And I can't imagine what you do, especially if you have a family. And what's next?

You're good at what you do, and you find yourself out of work. I've never been in that situation yet. I've just been right place, right time. But even Barb DiGiulio was on the show recently. She sat in that same seat. And she was there. She was a founding, what do you call that?

Like an original member of the fan 590 fan, 1430 before that. And I think 20 plus years. And it's like, thank you for your services they will no longer be required it is tough because you always have that like you wonder if if the numbers don't match up or or hey maybe maybe it's a good problem to have maybe one day you get paid too much for what you do and and that's but i hate this because it's essentially you get paid you've been around a long time so you start making more money than a guy who comes in like a 25 year old and essentially

you're punished for making more than that 25 year old but there seems to be very little regard for the fact that you're a consummate pro you know that you're good at what you do and that when you ask to do different things you don't complain you do them to the best of your abilities but you're just a number at the end of the day it sounds

with exceptions of course near and Davis exception you just a number at the end of the day. It sounds, with exceptions, of course. Yeah, with exceptions. Near and Davis exception. Yeah. You're a number at the end of the day. And it's about finding that medium, I guess. Yeah. And, you know, there's a way up and then there's a way down.

And I'm still learning it. And, you know, hopefully the feeling of invincibility you know helps a little or stays around for a while but you know it was it was tough getting into into the into the sports thing and you finally do and then i was in red deer for about six years and then and then i moved to the fan 960 in calgary which is a sports net station and i was there for about four years right and you worked with mike richards there he was, was he on the roster at the time? I did. I did. I did the show. That was my, you know, my first full-time sports talk show.

I was, it was Mike Richards and myself that did the show every day for a year and a half, basically. So what, what his David Bastel is now, that would have been me in Calgary. And I, you know, I was, I was still young. I was still green. So what his David Bastl is now, that would have been me in Calgary. And I was still young. I was still green. I was still learning all the nuances of talk radio, so to speak. But yeah, I worked really close to Mike for a long time before he kind of zipped out under the cover of darkness to Toronto. Right, like the Baltimore Colts or whatever. It was exactly like that.

In the middle of the night, the moving trucks. Baltimore Colts or whatever. It was exactly like that in the middle of the night. The moving trucks. I remember him when he was, before he went out west, when he was doing Fan 590 he was on. And I always thought he was a very funny guy. I listened to him quite a bit when he was here. And then he left.

I can honestly tell you, and I don't know what it is, but I never, maybe you'll be happy to hear this, but maybe it's because I'm an old guy and old habits break hard, but I never go to 1050. I know it exists and i never maybe there's just nothing like drawing me there but i'm i always go to 590 for sports talk radio yeah i mean the the heritage thing is is a big thing in radio and broadcasting and and i think it's even know, there'll be challenges with Sportsnet for with, you know, the new TV deal for 12 years simply because, I mean, TV in this country. I mean, I'm a competitor, right?

I'd like to beat the brains in of every competing station and network. You'd like to beat the shit out of Mike Richards. Is that correct? Sure. See it here. I want that sound bite, too. I do. Of course we want to beat the shit out of, well, anybody in the 25-

But not Aaron Davis. It's a whole different demo. It's a whole different demo. But, I mean, TSN has done the TV games so well for so long that, yeah, it's going to be tough to match up right away. But you have, to me, that's different because you've got something that we need, which is you've got the live games. Like, to me, that's a monopoly there that TSN can't compete with that.

Yeah, and they'll still have some games but i i think that the shoes on on the other foot with with radio i think it's been it's been a big challenge for those guys um you know and and you can say it's because the product i don't i don't know if it is i you know but there's never been a personally in 1050 sorry go ahead flip this show and you flip another show on different stations. Do the numbers flip with it? I don't know, but I do know that 590 for 20 years has been the preeminent sports radio station, one of them in North America, and I think it's well known. That's why it was such a privilege to come and work for these guys. I think 88.1, I don't know how familiar you've become with the other

toronto stations but 88.1 is feeling that right now because they're trying to take a piece of the 102.1 alt rock pie if you will and that's a heritage right like right essentially uh same kind of playlist actually but 102.1 has been doing that for decades and it's where we go if we want to hear you know ubiquitous synergy seek or whatever that's where we go yeah uh 88.1 is kind of the new kid on the block trying to take a piece of that pie and i think it's very tough you're right the heritage stations are very tough to supplant yeah and it and it takes time and i don't i don't know what what the end game or the end result is for for those guys but you know i i still know they work hard and and the one thing

i'll say about about mike and and a lot of people ask me about him because i don't know everyone knows that but yeah it was it was basically mike and andrew and in calgary and and he is he's some things and he's and he's not other things but he is legitimately funny he always did make me laugh and he was a comedian first right that's kind of how he he started i didn't know that he made the transition i gotta get him in here yeah he's a he's a he's a funny guy would you hook that up and he always made me laugh i don't talk to him much anymore now you're the enemy is that right i i think so i we're still we're still friendly we haven't talked a whole lot since uh since he left and it's it's ironic more than anything that now we're kind of going head to head a little bit yeah that's crazy so the fan uh 960 in calgary that's i'm gonna guess that's the only sports radio station in town correct it's not yeah

it's not the only it's not the only male 2554 obviously the other is the conservative uh talk radio right because i mean you got sports and conservative talk there is no there is cbc now now there's uh and the fm there's the um oh god, right off the top of my head, the call letters I can't even remember. But they do the Calgary Stampeders games. They do a lot of the football talk. And they do a nighttime sports show. But yeah, in terms of sports content, and it's hockey, hockey, hockey in Calgary. So yeah, 960's had a bit of a monopoly for a long time. And Rogers owns 960 because I guess they own the fan branding in this country.

Is that fair? Yeah, and they changed it a few times, as they did here. So now it's Sportsnet 960, the fan. Okay. And I guess you're working for the same company, so this is a pretty easy switch. Did they approach you and ask you if you're interested in moving to Toronto? How do you make the switch from 960 Calgary to 590 Toronto I was in a position where um I I had an offer to go out west um to to Vancouver and basically again you talk about

right right place right time um luckily enough the way that that contracts worth work and and you know right to match and all this kind of stuff or or you know you have to be a little transparent with you know when you're still under contract and and it just so happened that um that the guys here and and don collins Collins and company approached me right after and gave me what I felt at the time was a better opportunity to come out here and work with Greg and be on the show. And so far, so good. I mean, it's... So wait, so you actually, so you went to your boss essentially in Calgary and just said that you had an offer you were considering at Vancouver or something like that? Right. had an offer you were considering like Vancouver or something like that right and then they I don't

know maybe your boss talks to his boss and then they they came to you with an offer you couldn't refuse um yeah I mean kind of kind of yeah kind of like that the way I mean the way the way a lot of and I think everybody's contract is different um but you know a lot of them have a exclusivity, I guess, or what it's called. I think it's right to first refusal kind of thing. And everything, if you really want to get out of a contract, I think you can with enough legal push. But do you have a, because Erin Davis got fired.

Yeah, she was fired, and then she had a non-compete. So she couldn't work for a while. She couldn't work for a year or something. She couldn work and i know that like my humble and fred were fired and they had the same they had this contract period where they couldn't work so uh i just wondered does that uh apply to the market you're in like is that just like a calgary thing like you can't go to a calgary station but you can go to a vancouver station like i'm just i think naturally curious i mean especially in the same in the same market, for sure, for sure. And I think it all depends on how big of pricks they want to be to you at times, right?

Sure, I mean, they'll treat everyone differently, I guess, depending. Yeah, but I would say if you got let go and you had to sit for a year, yet you had a job offer across the country, the honorable thing i think on both sides is to let somebody go to that and i've never i've never been in that there's no honor in radio anymore come on you know that so you're asked to come to toronto the fair to say the big smoke this is the uh mecca of canada like there's nothing bigger in canada than the toronto market it's it and and and really i mean like i said before 590 and it's easy to say this now i work for the company and

i'm a sports net guy and all that but um 590 is is legendary it's sports radio hasn't been around that long and when you look at at north america and it's a it's a top five market it's you know it's not an nfl city it's the only thing that goes against it. It's a monster. So, yeah, the decision was easy. And I think when you think of, you know, you think the center of the hockey universe, you think the Leafs, you know,

the Blue Jays have let people down for 20 years, but it's still the majors. And you have Derek Jeter and David Ortiz. It's still the majors, right? Yeah. David Ortiz and Derek Jeter coming in every second weekend. And even when letting us down, we still had Halliday coming out there every five days.

We had Delgado in the lineup every day. Like there was still, you know, it's still the big leagues. Yeah, it's incredible. And even, you know, I feel fortunate because you come here and the Blue Jays are a story. And back in the Vince Carter days, I mean, even out West, we were big into the Raptors in college. And then they went away for so long. And I think it we were big into the Raptors in college, and then they went

away for so long. And I think it's cool to be a Raptors fan again now. So it's an exciting time for the city. And to me, it still feels, and I get it, right? You grow up here, you get used to things, maybe you take some things for granted. But I mean, I think it's still pretty cool how big and how happening this city is sports-wise. And it must be wonderful for you that you can just walk up to the Dome on game day and get a good seat for a low price to see an Argonaut match, right? This is a dream come true, right?

To be fair, I've only been to one. I've only been to one. I'm turning into a snob like everybody else in the city. I've been to a few, but I went to pinball, I think pinball's last game, because I was a big pinball fan. It was against the Rough Riders. And I'm telling you, I never saw so much green in that stadium like every every transplanted

saskatchewaner was at that dome and it's more and it's even i thought there'd be more like home opener i thought that there'd be a lot of green there this year and there really wasn't there wasn't a lot of anything to be fair there's a lot of blue because it was dressed up like a seat night but right um in the west it's it'szier. You go to Calgary, Edmonton, and it drives those markets crazy because they consider themselves really strong CFL markets, and it's half green,

and it drives them nuts. I understand. It's the loyalty. It's the religion. Yeah. That's awesome. Now, at the time you were asked to come to Toronto

to co-host with Greg Brady, was the Brady and Lang show still going? Was that still on the air? It was still Brady and Lang show still going? Was that, that was still on the air? It was still Brady and Lang and there was some transition cause they knew, uh, Mike Farwell, who was on the show was heading back to Kitchener. So, I mean, in, in essence for a while there, um, I, I guess I, I kind of came in to replace Farwell and I mean there's who knows exactly what what their original plan was um i knew i was going to play a substantial role um as long as i didn't so you when you took the gig you didn't know jim lang was going to get a pink slip uh no i didn't know jim lang was was i

didn't know that that they were going to part ways with Jim so soon. Certainly that. And we were going to see how it went for a little while. I mean, I figured that in terms of where I was and where we wanted to make a transition or for me to play a bigger role would be honestly about now, right? Like give it some time let it breathe right not a year ago but we came in and things started going and and um it was the three of us for a little while and and just like it was the three of three with with mike farwell in there before and they decided to you know without consultation or anything they just they just

kind of snapped their fingers and said this is the direction we're gonna go and and i mean hey that's it's it's good for me but jim lang is about as a classy well-liked guy this is what i hear i have a good friend who works with him now in markham and all i hear is just like the nicest guy hey i like 20 years ago not even like 15 years ago i remember you know sportsnet is just starting up and and i remember watching jim lang on on at whatever that it was called then sportsnet it wasn't connected sports central or whatever yeah and uh yeah i mean he's he's great and that was that was tough and that was you know it's in an end around way it's you know because a couple months later or a month later they they decide to to make it brady and walker and and remarket it and all that kind of stuff and it's a it's it's nice personally but you know you there's always a fall no of course

there's always a collateral damage i guess you'd call it um on episode 76 when i had that you know over an hour with greg brady we definitely dove into what was wrong with brady and lang essentially like what happened that it needed to be kind of blown up? And he was very honest about the chemistry, he'd call it, that essentially there was a lack of good chemistry between Greg Brady and Jim Lang. And I'm guessing he, when you came in as the third guy there, that there was a chemistry test going on with Greg Brady

to does he have the right chemistry with Andrew Walker walker yeah fair i think so uh yeah that's that's definitely fair and and i also think i mean i can't i can't speak to i i heard the show before obviously a lot of everyone knew what brady and lang was but i can't i can't speak to that but uh see i never heard brady lang uh because my my commute disappeared and i was never in a car in the morning anymore which is good except it meant i never heard morning radio like i just don't i wasn't up for it uh and my buddy elvis who co-hosts with me normally he did listen he does a big commute every morning and he heard a lot of brady and lang and he said that brady was a bit of a like a dick to lang like it was tough for him to listen at times because i don't know

if you call it snark he maybe it's snark or just sarcasm or just that he was not he wasn't wasn't very nice to Jim Lang. See, and I'd like to hear back and I'd be interested to get people's perspective now because I don't know. You know, I don't know what happened behind the scenes or if there was anything. But there's a lot of of radio and there's a lot of broadcasting that is an act and you, and you play, you play the roles. And, um,

Greg Brady is, is, uh, nice, polite, um, smart family man with a way smaller ego than, than you might think.

Uh, almost none. I've worked with a lot of guys in this business and done shows with, with different types of guys. And, and Brady has, has about the smallest ego. And it doesn't come across the way all the time on Twitter and, and on the show and things like that, but it's, it's, it's legit. But, um, yeah, so, so I don't know, but he is, he's a great guy. He's easy to work with. He's real smart. He's a star. And we, uh,

I think it's safe to say that, that we knew right away that no matter what happened, Greg and I had a pretty good understanding early on of where it's going. And it's not an easy thing. basically told me that that any really successful radio show and some of the guys that you've had in and interviewed it might take four or five years before you're completely comfortable and you are a commodity where people can snap their fingers and know okay i i know those guys have seen them on this billboard or this commercial or whatever and i'm i'm pretty proud of where we've come in in a year you know we've had some we've had some good numbers. There's been a lot of changes at Sportsnet and stuff like that. But we try to get better every day. And I think there's some chemistry there.

So that's good. I think so. I think he came out and said it on the episode 76. So you can look me in the eyes now and blink twice if he still picks on you behind the scenes. He's not picking on you. He's not bullying Greg Brady. No, I feel bad. I feel like I's not picking on you, he's not bullying Greg Brady. No, I feel bad. I feel like I bully him sometimes.

Oh, that's beautiful. Because that leads to, there's another blog. Believe it or not, torontomike.com is not the only blog in the market. There's this, I want to get the name right, Toronto Sports Media.

Okay, yeah. I read that site. All right, so they, unlike Toronto Mike, which talks about everything, Toronto Sports Media just talks about Toronto Sports Media. That's the name, yeah. So if, unlike Toronto Mike, which talks about everything, Toronto Sports Media just talks about Toronto Sports Media. Hence the name, yeah.

So if you're not reading, you should be because you're in the Toronto Sports Media. I read it on occasion, yeah. I try not to read the commenters, but I read

when they post some articles on there. So here is the quote I saw on there. Give me a moment. Maybe you can do a little song. I've lost it, but it's

coming here. I want to get the quote exact. This is from Toronto Sports Media. And excuse me, it's coming now. Here we go. The more I listen to Brady and Walker in the morning, the more it's starting to sound like Walker and Brady. Anyone else seem to sense a shift in who is driving the show

so in this uh blogger's opinion there's been a shift what do you what do you say about this uh quote i read you um i think that back in the day when it was this is what i think i think when it was brady and lang it was a lot of brady uh a lot lot of Brady and and you know he he would if someone had to call it a team it would be him if someone had to bring the strong opinion it would be it would be Brady and he was the alpha male yeah and I think there was there was a that's a lot of pressure it's a lot on it's a lot on his plate and I think what we're seeing now and we're both proud of it we're happy with it is that we're about a 50 50 now and I think it might be a shock to to some people's systems that have grown up with Brady and listened to him for five or six years but

yeah there's there's a lot of Brady and there's a lot of me and and any given day I mean we both have confidence in what we're doing I might be the one with the opinion or he might be the one with the opinion. And I know for a while there what we decided to do. And I mean, hey, Greg's a pro and I feel I'm a pro and this really means nothing. But so, you know, you flip on the radio and I'll be the guy bringing it into break, which all that means is it's a bump set and a spike for volleyball so I can get it to greg and if he has something he wants to go off on go nuts so i mean i i think i think people aren't necessarily used to hearing uh as much 50 50 i think one the comparison i would make that we'd like to go is i don't know how much you listen to uh other radio but i've always really

like scott van pelt and ryan rossillo i think they do a fantastic job never heard on espn they're the afternoon guys and and the one criticism we get uh is people say i have trouble telling you guys apart sometimes and i've always i've always thought the same boat about SVP and Rosillo, except sometimes I find that I listen and it doesn't matter who's saying what it's just good, solid, entertaining radio, uh, that I enjoy. And, and, you know, so those conversations, so yeah, I, I mean, I can see why someone would, would get that impression. Um, for sure. But I, I think it's 50, 50. So it's not being rebranded uh walker and brady no not not to my knowledge that's my knowledge i'm just i'm just kidding um a quick

question because i remember reading this in the same the same site the toronto sports media site and they the point they made i agree with which is they were talking about tim and sid you know tim and sid yep heard of these guys of course So it was something to the effect of like, Sid without Tim is pretty good, but no, let me get real. Sid without Tim is pretty good, but Tim without Sid is not.

Do you have an opinion on this? They're good together. They're good together, first of all, but you can, Sid by himself is still listenable. And his opinion was, the writer in this blog, was that Tim without Sid is weaker.

Tim without Sid isn't as good as sid without tim correct um i i think they're i think they're they're both really different i i i can't i can't confirm or deny that i don't even know if i have an opinion on it to be honest well you gotta be a little diplomatic you work with these guys you can't uh i mean obviously these guys, these guys are. These guys were the answer to Dan and Jay, right? In a lot of ways. And I think they're.

I've always thought those guys do stuff that Brady and I could never do. Just different speed, different personality, different everything. And I feel that we do stuff that they could never do. And that's why. And like that. And that's why there's, there's two shows. I think any show when you lose half the head, I mean, I, as much as I'd like to think it does when, when Greg's not there and I'm, you know, and I'm with Eric Smith or Ben Ennis or whoever happens to be, or, you know, Justin Bourne did some co-host work with me, and we will again next week.

You'd like it to sound the same or as good, but chances are it doesn't, and I think Greg would say the same thing. So I don't know which one I prefer listening to out of Tim and Sid. I just know they're dynamite together. I agree. I think it's a good team. Actually, it wasn't even written down or anything. I just realized I read that,

and I was thinking that was an interesting point as well. So you're with Greg Brady every morning on 590, and is the goal one day for you to have your own show? What is the goal for Andrew Walker? What is the goal? Where do you see yourself in five years? Yeah, in guidance counselor talk. You know, I try to keep it with an open mind.

I think it's a... I mean, we talked about it, right? It's a strange business that has twists and turns, and you can wake up and freaking sell none of it before you know it. I would... Yeah, I mean, mean eventually would i be surprised if it if it goes that way and and i have my own show in time some time slot yeah i mean i plan on doing this for a long time i think for the first time in my career i know really where i'm where i'm

supposed to be and and i'm in the medium that i'm i plan on staying i mean this is this is uh it's a it's a passion of mine i mean if i was if i was a lawyer by trade um i would get home from work i would say this i'd get home from work and i'd take off my shoes i'd flip on the game uh i'd check my fantasy football team i'd pull up my sports elect ticket i'd phone my buddy and and see how, you know, the game is going. And then at the end of the night, I go strap on skates and play rec hockey. Nice. Right. That's what I'd be doing anyway. So, I mean, I know it's the right thing to be sitting here on a mic talking sports and giving opinions. I think it's just fabulous.

So there's no consideration to talking about other subject matter on radio. Like this would be, you want to be in sports radio. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Am I doing a CBC current affairs program? Doubtful at this point. Or one of those angry conservative shows that you hear on 640 or 1010. All right. Very good. Very good. Now, quick question.

I see this on Twitter a lot, but I know Greg Brady is a big fan of 80s music. Yeah. Yes, he is. You give him a hard time for this? Yeah. He's, listen, everybody has their, I bug Brady about a lot of stuff on the air. And everybody has their music genre that they like.

Brady's a bit of a freak in that sense i mean honestly like no nobody like people like 80s music nobody likes the 80s music that he listens to no one's no one's been to see sarah mclaughlin like seven i know she wasn't a that's a bad example but yes bad example but he's been you mean more obscure 80s stuff sure But he's been to like... You mean more obscure 80s stuff? Sure, but he's been to seven... He likes weird music in general, not just 80s. But he's been to seven or eight Sarah McLachlan concerts. Okay. He's been to little...

But Sarah McLachlan's pretty fantastic. Seven? Seven times? I think so because I could see that. I could see... Seven? This example, yeah, because she's pretty fantastic. I remember when she came to Convocation Hall in the early 90s, the fumbling towards ecstasy.

She's like, this album fumbles. How many times have you seen Sarah McGonagall? She's a 90s... No, I haven't actually seen her. I'd put her in the 90s category. But is he like a flock of seagulls is coming to town he'll find a way in? Yeah, even deeper than that. He'll be on the treadmill to Prince. It's just something I don't identify with.

It's really weird, but teach their own. I'm not a big music guy. That's my next question. What do you listen to? I like a lot of country. Interesting. And to go the other way... I can't even fake a conversation about country with you. Garth Brooks, is he still around?

Actually, so Calgary Stampede. They have a big headliner. I've heard of this. even fake a conversation about country with you garth brooks is he still around uh he actually so so calgary stampede um yeah they have a big headliner i've heard of this excuse me every year okay and it's it's kind of there's a lot of concerts but it's the concert at the end and two or three years ago garth brooks was in town for the first time in whatever was 15 20 yeah he's been he's disappeared on us. And it was incredible. And he wasn't Chris Gaines, right? He came as himself, right? Yes.

Not with a bad soul patch, remember? So, yeah, awesome, awesome. I listen to a lot of country music. I think it takes me back a little bit, but I'm a big... Well, you like what you grew up with. Yeah, but I'm a big Pearl Jam guy. You know what? That's my band.

Yeah. Well, Tragically Hip is my band. pearl jam is a close second right how many times you seen pearl jam not enough times three three times yeah i'm at yeah three times pearl jam i'm at 10 yeah i know yeah no yeah 10 it's perfect monkey blaylock there you go yeah perfect what's uh see everyone likes 10 and i and and i mean i wasn't, I wasn't in college when 10 came out, right? So I was a little later. And I certainly appreciate 10. Let me guess.

Can I guess? You're a no-code guy. I like no-code. Because it's that Neil Young influence. Yeah, I like no-code a lot. I really, honestly, it doesn't get a lot. I really like Riot Act. Yeah, you know what?

They don't get, I think the last, I think Yield might be the last time they had, like, I don't know. They seem like the Elms are quieter, like, more under the covers, more less talked about or whatever, if you will. Yeah, it's what I like the most about Pearl Jam is that they figured out something that, God, that so many groups can't. And it's, you know, they started with, God, they were jumping off railings, right? And 20 years later, they're the same, but they're not jumping off railings anymore. They know they're going to hurt stuff.

You're preaching to the choir. They're more mellow. Yeah, but he's still, yeah, they're still, I don't know what their ages are now. If they're 50 years old, probably, these guys now, probably pushing 50. How old would Eddie be? Because that album broke in 91.

10 breaks in 91. I'm thinking they're pushing 50. But they are incredible live. There's a reason I've gone 10 times to see Pearl Jam. It's an unbelievable live band. And you're never going to see the same set list. I actually, this is really geeky, but torontomic.com slash pearljam.html.

I track all the set lists of all the Pearl Jam shows I've been to to see which tunes I've seen how many times. And in every concert you've been to, you have the live show on DVD, right? No, not on DVD, but CD. I did used to do that for a while, and then I stopped

because they put out official bootlegs for everything. Everything, yeah. Go crazy. But I love Pearl Jam, and I'm glad to hear that's a solid band. You are a little young for Pearl Jam, but like you mentioned,

they haven't gone away. They've just stopped their top 10 hits, if you will. Although, I got married last June and Just Breathe was the procession song

that my wife came out to. Awesome. So they're still producing kick-ass, you know, singles. Really, really kick-ass, yeah. Because Just Breathe is fairly recent

and just freaking amazing. Oh, God, yeah, I could talk about PJ all day. Yeah, that's, and I'm not, really really kick ass yeah because just breathe is very fairly recent and yeah oh god yeah i could talk about i could talk about pj all day i i uh yeah that's and i'm not and it means a lot to me because i'm not i'm honestly not a big music guy i don't download music i use you know i have i have whatever you buy cassette tapes i have songs on my you know so i'll be running and i'll just grab some some random playlist. But Pearl Jam is the only band

that really, it's one of the only concerts I would go to see. I'm not a big concert guy either. I've never been. You know who performed down the street last weekend was 5440.

And they were really good. Really? Solid performance down the street for free. Yeah. For free. That's where they are right now. That's what I was thinking.

What happened to 5440? I saw this website that had, or this article that had pretty much every band on the planet and what it would, I don't know if you saw this, what it would cost to book them.

I think I did see this. It's kind of like the, you give us this and we will show up. Birthday party or whatever. And of course some are millions and millions of dollars. some are like like you've you've heard of them a long time ago it's like six grand and these guys will play anything you want yeah like the whoop they're where it is guys probably tag team tag team probably comes to your show for like five grand oh yeah probably i saw them at a halftime at a raptor show that's i mean i know they're

making the rounds yeah 1500 and they're there. These one-hit wonder 80s rap guys, yeah. Or Partners in Crime, who did the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Oh, God. They're probably 500 bucks. Probably. Yeah, probably. Just pay their gas.

That's funny. So the country music, it's fine. You're from, like, you spend a lot of time in Saskatchewan and Calgary. In Red Deer, I would excuse that as, like spent a lot of time in Saskatchewan and Calgary, like, so I would in Red Deer, I would excuse that as like a nature of your environment. Uh, it's a genre I never could get into. Like I just,

I got some old country. I never had a phase. Not a Willie Nelson, uh, Johnny Cash type phase. And my mom used to listen to a lot of Kenny Rogers. So as a young man, like as a boy,

I remember hearing Kenny Rogers greatest hits all the time. So I knew all the words, and it was nice to hear it, because it reminded me of a different time. But in my adult life, I can honestly tell you the most country, I don't know if it even, yeah, it would be like Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson. Yeah, and I know, Joel, and real country fans would roll their

eyes at me, because I'm not Waylon and... You're like a Kenny Chesney guy. Yeah. That's the stuff I can't stomach. I'm a, I'm a, this podcast is over. I'm a,

I am new. I am new country. I, I'm a, I'm a lot of, uh, you know, Brantley Gilbert and Luke Bryan and Aaron,

Aaron, Aaron Pritchett is a good buddy of mine. I don't know that name, but he's a Canadian guy. Okay. Yeah. Um, when,

uh, 92.5 switches back to kiss, we had a station here. C I S S 92.5 switches back to kiss we had a station here ciss 92.5 it was all country it's the last time i think the toronto had a country station actually before they flipped to top 40 or whatever but when it comes back i think you should consider leaving sports radio for a country what's that supposed to mean i don't know i think it'd be good for you because it's another passion of yours but um, so everyone likes different kinds of music. And as silly as Greg Brady's 80s fascination is, your country fascination is equally silly.

Yes. No, I agree. Although he could go deep. I can't go deep on you. He can go deep on you. I got to get him back in here in just about 80s music because I like guys who have that encyclopedic knowledge of deep tracks like that. Yeah, he has that.

I love hearing that shit. I asked Twitter if there's any questions for you. And a guy named Ryan Fabro, do you know this name? He's our producer. Yeah. He wants to know what's the key to being sharp on the air the next morning. So you have any, do you down like a Red Bull when you wake up? Or is it just, do you have a coffee?

No, it's just coffee. So Fabs would ask that. And Fabs is a superstar. Is he fabulous? Yeah, he's the producer of Brady and Walker. He used to produce Hockey Central. And as you can like Greg or you can like me, you can hate either one of us.

But the guy that really makes the show go is Ryan Favreau. He's the straw that stirs the drink. Guy's a star. He really is. He would, I don't know what it is. And this is almost bad to admit on air. the show go is is ryan fabro he's the straw that stirs the guys star he really is um he would i don't know what it is and this is this is almost bad to admit on air but um because it reeks like i have a problem and i don't but when i come in on month if we ever have a bad show i feel it's on a monday because i've gotten normal sleeps over the weekend it's eight to ten hours you know you

slept in and i'm a little fuzzy and i'm a little groggy. You're mellow. If I'm ever out a little too late and I have one extra glass of wine that probably I shouldn't, God, I feel sharp in the morning. I don't know. That's funny. Oh, Johnny Fever, Dr. Johnny Fever, the more he drank, the faster his response time was in that test. Yeah.

Speaking of radio. And there's a limit and there's a line and you can't do it every day but um if if i can have a if at the end of the night if i'm doing my lineup and and sending some emails about topics we want to talk about if i can do it at at the local at the wood over a couple of beers the show is better for it and so if we ever need a big show or a big week uh fababs will email me and say, go out and have two bottles of wine tonight. We need a good show tomorrow.

That's funny. You're like Dr. Johnny Fever. That's awesome. We're going to wrap up with some quick Jays talk because I know you're a big time Blue Jays fan. I'm a big baseball fan. I grew up watching the Jays. And it's, you know what?

But you would be a very young man in 92 and 93. Yeah. I'm just dropping 10 years from my age, so you're like 7 or 8 or something. Yeah. I mean, I remember it clear as a bell, and I think that obviously kicked off so many fans. It set the bar really high, because your first memory being Joe Carter walk off in game six is going to be tough to capture.

And back then, I remember watching even regular season's game as a kid. And I always, I'm still amazed by just the way fans think. And I remember as a kid

watching a game and they'd be down six to two and you would just, you would never be panicked as a kid because you just, they're going to come back

and they'll do it. But it's funny because when you become a fan and and that was great the world series are great and everything but i you know cut grass and worked at golf courses you know all through junior high and high school shocker and uh and weber and radio cfsl 1190 was was the station there that would carry tom and jerry yeah tom and jerry so i grew up with tom and jerry it's and it's a thrill to work with jerry now um but i would you know go to work and put in my walkman and if there was 162 games in the summer i'd listen to 140 and these were the these were the shit teams right these were the teams the late 90s these were these were no good teams right this these These were the teams that... Oh, the late 90s. These were no good teams, right?

These were, you know, Craig Graybeck. I'm trying to think of the crappiest players. Like a Bill Rizzo. Remember, Jeff Fry did hit for the cycle, though. He did hit for the cycle. These were bad teams that didn't, you know... One year, I remember, whatever year it was, they were 12 games back of the wild card,

and they made this crazy run. They got up to within about two and a half in the final couple weeks of the season. Then it all fell in. But there was, hey, and I think that's really... Was that with the guy who said he was in Vietnam when he wasn't? Or am I getting Tim Johnson?

Tim Johnson. Was that his year? Oh, there's some bad managerial errors, too. It's just been a long road. But yeah, I mean, I love ball. And to me, the biggest privilege of working here is and even, you know, last night this happened, too, is that I always said. So watching, you know, these games on TV and I always said, if I lived in a baseball market, I work in a baseball market. I go to every game. What's with this 17000 people up in the stands?

And and then you get here and yes, stuff goes on and you have things in your life. And maybe, you know, you don't stuff goes on, and you have things in your life, and maybe you don't want to be there for a 7-0-7 start, and you feel, maybe I'll just sit on the couch. And I've been really good this year, because every time that's happened, I said, you know what, 13-year-old me would kick my ass for being 15 minutes away from going against, you know, a series against the Orioles and not going.

So you're going tonight? Oh, yeah. No, I'm going tonight. Although the Riders play the Bombers tonight, 2 at 830. But I would think if you're looking for what I am on the air, and maybe, you know what, maybe listeners don't want to hear this, and maybe they do. But when you do listen to me, it's someone that I love sports, and I love being in games.

Passionate guy, like you can tell. And I love talking about the games. You can't fake that. That's awesome. This year, so some people like Marty York, for example, you got any thoughts on this guy? He's saying the Jays are going to finish third in the division. I'd say he's completely irrelevant, but you're asking me about him,

so he must not totally be. To my own chagrin, I've had a couple of run ins with with Marty York, who who used to be in media. He was a Globe and Mail guy. OK, so that's why I I'm I you know what? I would say this. I'm a little worried about him. I would say this. I think I don't know what what he's doing or or where he is or where he's tweeting from but i would say that that i hope i hope he figures out some of his issues and and gets some help but that's the only thing i i can think are these run-ins virtual run-ins or physical run-ins like these are all uh twitter Very virtual. I don't know who he is. He hasn't roughed you up? No. A lot of people...

I don't know who he is, and he doesn't know who I am, or frankly doesn't care, but one of us is in the business, and one isn't, so... Well, okay, so he's got us... He doesn't think it's a very good team. Well, I mean, he has his finishing third

in the division, and... He was pretty down on Hutchinson's start last night you know so hutchinson was one hitter uh what more although it was a homer but you can't ask for much more so that was a key game right because we got smoked the day before and i was thinking if we lose this series like then you're at least was it six you'd be six back and i mean it was really important to win last night let's put it that way oh yeah and tonight too i mean this is a this was a series that i mean there's a lot of baseball to be played but you you definitely had the danger of losing touch with the division if that's still your goal and i still think that every blue jays fan out

there should if i could tell you right now second wild card snap my fingers you're there you get the one game play in if it's oakland or anaheim you take it because that's the best result in 20 years you absolutely do but if you have designs on our real playoffs uh and winning that division this is a series you couldn't you couldn't lose touch with and i think at least they guarantee themselves that with that win last night but it was very important so important and i don't remember the last time we had games this important in this don't remember the last time, like in August, we had a series that we looked at like this as like a pennant race series. And if you can stretch that until September, I mean, there's going to be issues with this team,

and there'll be questions in the offseason no matter what. But I just think in terms of, like you said, the passion of it, if you can get the Jays playing ball that keeps your attention until September, and then the second that their season is done, the Leafs are getting going. That's the best part about living in a city like this. Right. It's been a while since a team in this market has had any kind of smell of the play. I mean, the Raptors did make the playoffs before losing the first round,

but it was the first round, but it was the first time in a while. So you've got basically a market where, leave the Argos aside, because most people do, you have a, TFC has never won the playoffs, if they're big leagues or not, who knows, but they never make the playoffs. Raptors made it for the first time in forever, and it is exciting now to be a Raptor fan,

but that's like a new development. And the Jays haven't made the playoffs since 93, and the Leafs, we did slip in two years back, but the first time in like seven years or something. The Leafs are, at least they play in the East, and at least they're seeming, they're seemingly

changing the way they go about business. In comes Shanahan, in comes Kyle Dubas, and new assistants, and Randy Carlisle is a sitting duck. He really is. He's just there still because Shanahan needs to keep him around so he has a move to make to buy time, right?

I think so. Sitting duck is a good term for it. Or a lame duck. Lame duck, right. I would agree with that. So I don't know. I wouldn't say it's a great time to be a Leafs fan, but it could be worse.

But it is a good time to be a Leafs fan, but it could be worse, but it is a good time to be a Raptors fan. And I've never, I've never looked more forward to a season than, than I am this one in the NBA. I think that's cool. And I think, I mean, the Jays can frustrate you and, and, you know, you can think they're the worst team in the world, but they're not, um, they're giving you a very meaningful, controversial, exciting baseball in August and September. And, I mean, you have Stroman, Sanchez, and Hutchison,

hopefully for your next five, six years in your rotation. I think as lousy as Toronto sports have been, I think it is a great time to be a Toronto sports fan. And I think it's really exciting to be here. No, cool. And I'm glad, I'm glad you're here and I'm glad you came on the podcast today.

Any final thoughts before we, uh, hit some lowest of the low to play us out? Um, just, Hey, I appreciate the support and, and I know,

you know, people are, I'm still, I'm still trying to find my place here in the city, but I think the show is going, uh, real well. And,

uh, I appreciate everybody listening and interacting, and you as well. Thanks for having me on. Hey, thanks a lot for coming. And that brings us to the end of our 87th show. Happy birthday to Sid the Kid. You can follow me on Twitter,

at Toronto Mike, and Andrew at Fan590Walker. See you all next week.