Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Arash Madani: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1784

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

In this 1784th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Arash Madani about the big Blue Jays win in game 7, why he was taken off Blue Jays broadcasts on Sportsnet, why he parted ways with Sportsnet after 16 years, and what he's up to now. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Nick Ainis, Blue Sky Agency, Kindling and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail].

Exactly the part of the lineup. You want up in a situation like this. And a swing and a fly ball to left field. That goes a Rosaray now. She's gone! Welcome to Welcome to episode of Toronto I'm from Toronto where you want to get the city love

A fiercely independent craft brewery Who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh. Homemade Italian pasta

and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Blue Sky Agency, the official distributor of Silence's quiet, comfortable and customizable office pods. Create sanctuary within your workspace.

Nick Aini's. He's the host of Building Toronto Skyline and Building Success, two podcasts you ought to listen to. Kindling, go to shopkindling.ca, for free one-hour cannabis delivery. Recycle MyElectronics.ca. Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Redley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today, returning to Toronto. Brono-Miked. His timing is impeccable. It's a rash. How are you, Rash? I'm doing well. For the record, we plan this, what, six weeks ago or something like that? So this is not just the Jays are going to the World Series for the first time in 30 years and we're doing this. You know, it's funny how that happens. I feel like it's happened in the past where you book a guest. Okay, I think this is a crazy example, but Stu Stone was booked to return after many months.

Stu Stone, by the way, a great... I just spoke with Stu Stone this morning. Can I guess why? Sure. Bowdog. Yes. So what are you doing for Bodog? And then we'll get back to... Well, this morning, we were...

We have a weekly show. We... I host with... But it's Flutie versus Stiegel. So Doug Flutie, Milt Stiegel, myself. We talk NFL. It's a weekly NFL show on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify.

Shameless plug. We are the fastest growing football podcast in North America. I saw like two or three weeks ago on YouTube, it was like over 107,000 views. So that's a lot of views. That's a lot of views. So that's why I was talking with Stu Stone. So, yeah, it's, again, Apple, Spotify, YouTube.

My Doug Flutie bobblehead. There it is. An Argo's one. Yeah. Not a stamps. No. Not a lions. Not a Bill.

Not a Chargers. Not a Patriots. No flutie flakes here. So you and Stu Stone are now crossing paths thanks to your, your work with Bodog. Yeah. And just talking football. And Stu's a big Jay's fan who's actually at the game yesterday. Well, you know who he's BFFs with?

Who's that? Mr. Atkins. Ross. How'd that come to be? I didn't know that. I believe, this is how it goes. I think Ross Atkins is a neighbor of Stu Stone's brother-in-law and business partner, Adam Roddenis. Okay.

And I think that's how they became good, fast friends. I went to a movie premiere for a Stu Stone movie once, and there was Ross sitting right in front of me. So I was shocked. not to see Stu Stone on the field last night. With a hat on and a t-shirt? So did you only meet Stu Stone through the Bodog deal? Yes. That's how we got connected.

And then I mean, this is going, okay. So Stu's also involved with Dark Side of the Ring and I haven't really watched wrestling. I was at the Montreal screw job as a first year university student when I was at Bishops. I sat in like either the home bench or the, the, visitor's bench at then the Molson Center. Wow. And then after that, I really stopped following it, but Darkside's right up my alley because it's a lot of the,

you know, prior to that, I was totally into it. So we've talked about that a little bit. He was actually in Charlotte a week or two ago and he sent me some BTS, some behind the scenes of his shoe with Arne. Not K-pop news? Okay, because BTS now I say BTS myself back behind the scenes and people think I'm talking about the K-pop band. Ah, he was with Arna Anderson.

Okay. I don't even, I'm not sure I know that name, but I did have a... It's one of the four horsemen. Okay, see, and that's not WWF though from 1984 to 1988, so I missed that one here. Hey, speaking to WWF, because a man I know, and I think you know him as well, of course, does a very good Randy, macho man, savage imitation. He texted me this morning to say, tell a rash that of all of his accomplishments, being the keeper of the beads is his greatest achievement.

Do you want to guess who sent me that text? Scott McCartner chiming in. The Beads is only, it can only be Scottie Mac. That was Scottie Mac. You know what the Beed's story is? No, tell me. So 2005, I'm the PR director for the Ottawa Renegates, the now defunct, RIP, CFL franchise in Ottawa, the second of three renditions they've had there. And Lonnie Gleberman was the president, co-owner, minority owner, whatever.

And he decided to sell tickets. They're going to have a Mardi Gras. promotion and the woman who left the stadium with the most beads would get a thousand bucks and as that was you and as the media relations director i had to wear it own it be the face of it be the spokesperson for it okay thank you moni so and thank you scotty mac for that story so back to the timing okay we got distracted by stew stone because stew is in the FOTM Hall of Fame, Arash. Oh, he is. That's an esteem. That's rarefied air. One day, you're going to have to step up your game because do you want to guess the last time you

were in the basement for an episode of Toronto, Mike? Shoot, I'd say 10, 12 years ago, maybe. Good guess. Almost 10 years ago. It was December 2015. And just I'll read the description. Now, if people want to go back, it was episode 148. Mike chats with Sportsnet reporter. We're going to have to talk about that, Arash. Sportsnet reporter Arash Medani about the many sporting events he's covered, including the Olympics, Super Bowl, World Series, Masters, U.S. Open Tennis, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, Gray Cup, and one frightening day in Honduras. Yes. We also talk about the waning popularity of the CFL in Toronto, perceived bias by Rogers reporters

covering the Blue Jays, Stephen Brunt, and the future of Bob McCowan. And that episode was about 81 minutes. Why did it take almost a decade for you to make your Toronto mic to return around? That's a very good question. you know what's interesting about that? So that's December of 2015. Right. You know, two months, less than two months after the bat flip. And here we are the day after the top three home run in Blue Jays history. So we, I think you're going to say number one is Joe Carter. So what do you have at number two? Alamar. Okay, sometimes people put Ed Sprague up there. Yeah, no, I put out. I even put

like Alamar as maybe even one. Like, because you had to walk before you run, Alamar, the index fingers up to the sky in Oakland in the shadows. Off Eckersley. Off Eckersley. That was when the Blue Jays arrived. And until that moment, they were just the franchise that was knocking on the door.

What's amazing about the Springer home run last night is the bad flip. The bad flip that for a decade has been like the moment in Blue Jays, in Toronto sports. Like, it's, it's the bat flip and the crouch. It's Kauai in the corner. It's, it's Jose with the bat flip. It's immortalized with this mural in downtown Toronto. Suddenly, Joey Batts, who was in the house last night, by the way.

Right. Suddenly, Jose Bautista's bat flip is no longer on the medal podium of top three home runs in Blue Jays history. No, great point. I do want to talk about what happened last night because I actually found, so, Rash, this is interesting. I think this is interesting. I found myself waking up periodically during the night, and I could see the home run,

and I had this weird, like it would wake. I don't know, I had like almost like springer-dinger fever dreams last night. Like this moment, I know, I know. And by the way, I took the regular season off, okay? I only started watching this team in the playoffs. That was a personal thing I decided to do this year. I think I found a life hack there, but that might be a longer conversation. Sure.

But this game last night. You do look more fit. I decided to bike instead of watching. You look happier, yeah. I've never been happier. But I came on for the playoffs, and I don't even feel like I missed anything. Like, I feel like I know this team after this long run.

And that moment, George Springer, hitting the 3-1 blast to put us up last night in the seventh inning, it was so absolutely wonderful. It's like a reminder of why we love sports, right? Tell me, from your perspective, what was that moment like for you watching it? and can the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers in the World Series? Here's what's interesting.

If you were to say to me, Feb 20, March 20, April 20th, May 20th, June 20th, the Blue Jays are going to the World Series. I look at you and be like, what are you talking about? What are you smoking? Right.

And then Canada Day, they hit, you know, they're just on fire. And then towards the end of the season, and it almost felt like they kind of hit that wall and it was all falling apart. They regroup. They beat the Yankees and then, all right, Seattle rolls around.

They lose the first two at home. You're saying yourself, I've seen this script before. Hey, it was a hell of a run, et cetera, et cetera. Right. So you didn't think it was going to happen February 20th, March 20th, April 20th, May 20th, June 20th.

And then October 20th, game seven. In the sixth inning, you're watching this game. Mm-hmm. And they go Kirby to Wu, and the Js have one run on the board, and they're not generating much offense in the sixth inning. You're like, oh, well, you know, it was a heck of a year. And, you know, they got this far, and you know what's coming in the Mariners' bullpen,

and the bats just aren't alive tonight. And you think about the previous Springer at bat. This is what's so amazing about these things. The home run will be immortalized. George Springer is now in Toronto lore with the great. ever do it, et cetera, et cetera, and understandably so and deservedly so. The at-bat prior may have been the worst at-bat of his Major League Baseball career without hyperbole.

The swings were bad, the knee looked off, he's chasing, he's reaching, and you're like, yeah, you know, it's a long run that started in February and here we are almost at Halloween and George's knee isn't right and this is it. And then with one swing and one moment against a guy who'd been throwing the ball really well for Seattle, it all changed. And it's amazing how sports works. I still can't believe it happened.

Like I watched it. I witnessed it. I celebrated, but I still can't believe the Blue Jays are going to the World Series. In 92 and 93, like we expected to go to the World Series. What a team. Expectations for,

high in spring training that this was going to be a World Series competitive team. But like you just alluded to, this particular team, when I was chatting with Kegan Matheson about it here in whenever that was April or whatever, I would have bet a lot of money on the fact this team doesn't even make the playoffs, let alone actually win a playoff game, let alone a round, let alone win the ALCS, win the American League pennant, and go to the World Series. I did not see this coming. Well, because no team wins, has a 20 win swing. Yeah.

With basically the same roster. Right. Right. So much of the regular, the month of July was just madness and bonkers. These are things you don't see. And then in the construct of just this best of seven, like in the CS, you're down two games to none. You lose both at home. Right.

Then you come back home and you're down three games to two. Like, you were never leading in the series officially until the seventh inning of game seven. Right. It's, it's, it's incredible. And I tell you this, I want to go very micro here. Over the, talking about the lens of the season, after the game five debacle with Brandon Little, what became crystal clear is that the Blue Jays weren't fucking around after that. Right, game six in the exact same spot in the Mariners lineup, in the exact same situation, the exact same inning, no, no, Jeff Hoffman for six outs.

Right. And then last night, what did you see from the jump? Shane Bieber, who they went and got at the deadline, Louis Varland, who they brought over from a trade to get the one out, that was the key in the fourth in that situation. Yeah, he gave up the home run after. Gosman, who's their ace, and yeah, he had a couple of walks, and they gave a free pass to another. Bassett, who's their number? two starter, and then to Hoffman, their $39 million closer to finish it off.

There's no more being cute. There's no more bullshit. There's no more fucking around. We are getting to the finish line the way it needs to be. And that was the method to the madness. In an alternate universe where we don't win this series in seven games, that game five decision, we'd be talking about that right now. Like, I feel like winning this series.

The series should have been over in six. Right. Right. Like I feel like that decision in what happened in game five, we will now forgive that, of course, because we won this series. But we lose this series in six or seven. And that game five decision is still,

like that's going to be what we talk about all winter long. You know what else it's done? And this will be part of the story now. Right. But because of the drama, because we all love home runs, because it's George Springer, because of what he is,

what he's meant, what he did before he got to Toronto, et cetera. Sure. It almost feels like Max Scherzer sending John Schneider back to the dugout with his eyes. It feels like that's like... Mad Max. That's like Chapter 11 instead of the face of the series, instead of the face of this kind of run. So it's wild.

And I got to get back to the timing because the great Brian Gerstein is on the live stream and he makes an interesting observation here. But even the fact that George Springer had, basically the that regular and again I caught up on all I caught it incidentally like I'm on blue sky I'm in a big FOTM chat where they literally celebrate spring or dingers if it's a Tuesday night in May okay so it's like and you weren't watching and you weren't watching I tuned in my first game that last weekend when I wanted to see us clinch that I fucking hate the Yankees and I wanted to see the the jays hold on and clinch the American League east and I tuned

in for a couple of games on the weekend and that was the first time I put on sports net since the oilers were in the Stanley Cup final and I was catching some stuff there which I probably was watching on CBC anyways but same difference we'll talk about that but the fact that Springer had this kind of season and was even the fact that Springer was the Springer of old like I had him I watched last season

I thought he was done like I thought Springer had aged out and had a bad season you don't know 35 or something like that's an old manorash okay I felt like he was done You said to me, Feb 20, March 20, March 31, they're going to DFA George Springer. I'd be like, that makes sense. That makes sense. Right. I'm not saying it's going to happen.

Right. But there's just as good a chance they do. Right. As they don't. What do you know, if we can upset and I don't have the difference in payroll in front of me, except I understand the Js have a good payroll. Very healthy. Top five, I think.

It is. But the Dodgers are number one of a bullet and we could do this. So, you know, we're the underdogs and I kind of like that position for the Jays. I feel like we've been underdogs all season. And if we could pull off this upset, this is totally different than 92, 93. Like I said, this is a team we didn't give any hope to, and here they are, and they became a very likable team.

Like, say what you will about management or say what you will about ownership. I got lots to say about that. We're going to get into that. But what a likable team. Every player in this team is likable, and you can't, you know, the fact that in the same year, the president of the United States,

threatened to annex our sovereign nation and make us the 51st state. To see a Canadian team win the World Series, that sounds like music to my ears. It's so different from 9293 because for a lot of reasons, but mainly it felt for a while those Blue Jays teams were knocking on the door. And they just couldn't break through.

This is a Blue Jee team that in 22 bombed out in the wildcard. round in 23 did whatever they did in Minneapolis in the wilds card round in 24 came nowhere near the postseason so it what like this is it's not quite out of nowhere but it's damn close we didn't knock we just barged right in we just addison bargered our way right into that that in the summer like in what you know April didn't go well right in May and June their ace was struggling like Eric Lauer was the one keeping the season alive literally Like Bowden Francis was supposed to be an important part of this rotation. At the end of the season, Jose Barrios done now.

We're not going to see him again. Like there's never a linear path to any of this, not to a division title, not to a pennant. And the Blue Jays have shown that this year. And look, Max Scherzer, who's there, who's the real, like one of the heroes of this championship series, it felt like he was on the injured list as much as he was on the active roster this year. It just like, and we haven't even touched. on Trey you Savage yet, this unicorn falling from the sky. So it's just incredible how it all has really come together.

One last, you know, we could spend our whole hour talking about how incredible it is that we're going to be playing a World Series game on Friday night. I do want to catch up with you, Arash Medanee, but it is interesting, we did this playoff run without Bo Bichet. It's an interesting side note that, oh yeah, your best pure hitter on the, you know, who had another bounce back year because he didn't look so hot last year either and he had the injury and I don't know if he's in the right head space at times but this season he had a great season and he had to watch this playoff run it'll be interesting to see him if he gets

into some world series games yeah will they activate him hasn't played a games in september the sixth right um so at best if you do activate him he's a dh and dh only right which then you wonder what's the like we're springer in his health except et cetera, because Bo can't play the infield right now. Like you can't go seven weeks, you know, change a direction, twisting, turning, all those kinds of things. So, yeah. So stay tuned to Rashmadani.

Okay, we got to catch up with you because I got, I was just reading what Brian Gerstein was writing on the live stream. And we talked off the top about the timing. So we booked this visit. And I don't think either of us thought in our minds. Oh, this will be the, the morning after the big game seven win, right? And the ALCA is like, I wasn't in that mindset anyway. I don't think you were either.

And then, uh, well, here. Yeah, let me bring up the day we booked this. You bring that up while. You hit me up out of the blue. Well, I kept seeing you in the neighborhood. That's right. Like, it's almost like torture. It's like, oh, this guy could walk over.

October 5th. So October 5th. I rash, it's been too long. I would love to have you over to my home studio at 92. Oh, your dog seeing me there. Okay. Somewhere, okay. But let me read the...

But no, this is where you got me. Not only would we have a great conversation, but if you visit in person, you'll leave with Free Craft Beer and Lislia. Did you get any... When you came here 10 years ago, Did I give you anything? Nothing. Wow.

Okay. And then I heard everybody comes here and gets beer and I'm like, where's my beer? And you're a Great Lakes fan, right? I am. It is my home. Because you own the hoodie, like this is a different, it's not a rash's hoodie that I'm wearing here today. That would be kind of weird. But you own a Great Lakes beer hoodie.

I do. So you're a real fan. They brew it here in South Atobico, and you know that. Yes. My favorite one is they have a New England IPA that only like has a couple of drops a year. but my go-to is the burst because the hoodie you're wearing, the octopus likes to fight,

that octopus likes to fight. I have the same problem of Octopus wants to fight. I can't do two. Like, you know, I can do one, but if I do two, bang, bang, it's like, no. But the burst.

What I like during the summer is the Sunnyside session, IPA, but of course, that's a seasonal brew. They don't have any more. But the burst is year-round. So I have for you, A rash madani,

some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes. I appreciate you. And I have a lasagna. It was delivered by Palmiposa and I just want to tell you Arash and everyone listening that we, we listeners of the program, we FOTMs,

it's weird to call myself an FOTM because I'm a friend of myself, but on November 29, which is the last Saturday in November, we're all going to collect at Palma's Kitchen in Mississauga at noon for a live recording. If you drop by Arash, you get a free meal from Palma pasta.

I'll bring fresh craft beer from GLP. What was the day? What was the day? 29 at noon, November. I'll put it in the calendar Put in the calendar because I think I've invited you to several TMLX events, including many that have been held at Great Lakes Brewery. I'm not sure I've seen you yet.

November, November 29th or November? November 29th? I'll put it in the calendar. Put in the calendar. So if you showed up. Oh, a Saturday. Yeah. So it's a Saturday. But if you show up, Palmipasa, they have a, Palmipasa, pop it a few peas here.

They have a hot table there. They'll feed you. Your meal is courtesy of Palma pasta. I'll bring the beer. We'll do a live recording. You pop on the mic and you can say happy holidays or just tell everybody what's going on. It would be amazing if a rash medanan, showed up at TMLX21.

That is TMLX21. It's funny, just yesterday, my buddy, Kyle Smith texted me and he said, are we going to Georgia, Georgia Tech on November 29th? So if I'm not in Georgia, if I'm not in Georgia, I'll consider Palmas. So you will go for pleasure.

You'll visit the United States. For sports. Okay. So you have a sports exception there. Yeah. Okay, well, Hey, Ref wants to see you at TMLX21. So tell your buddy you're otherwise on.

occupied. So just to put a bow on this timing thing, I've teased for the last half an hour, I had Leo Rowden scheduled to visit, and it ended up being the morning after, oh, I see, he, Brian remembers it as the morning after the wraps beat Philadelphia. I actually remember it as the morning after the wraps beat the bucks in double overtime game three. Okay. So we lost those first two games. Sounds familiar. And we went to overtime and it was, you know, if you go down three nothing in an NBA series, you know, good night Irene. But we, we, you know, Kauai carried us. We did it. We won in double overtime. I remember that being an epic game. In the very next

morning, I was actually recording with Hebsie, Hebsey on sports. Sure. And then Leo Routens was here for a chat and the timing was impeccable. This timing is also impeccable, but I've got a question for you. Yes, sir. I think it when you call me, sir. Keep that up. Okay. No problem. The first question comes from another Mike. It's not me, but he goes, I will assume you'll ask the obvious. And he puts in quotes,

what happened at SportsNet. But I'd like to know why he was put off the Blue Jays beat about a year or so before that. So, Rash, if you're comfortable, you were on these SportsNet Blue Jays telecasts. Yeah. And then you weren't. And then it wasn't. Yeah. So they made a change and you're just kind of told.

And that's fine. Like that's the way the industry goes. That's the way the business goes. And kind of coming up and I kind of looked at the schedule in 23, 24, the way it was kind of presented it is you're going to be a generalist who's going to do a bunch of things for us. And I'll be honest, um, 2023 and 2024 were two of my favorite years career wise in the industry. Um, in 2020,

I, myself and, uh, camera operator, Mario Fontana, we were sent to Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila Philippines for the Fiba World Cup. Wow. Spent a month there from like, mid-August, late August to mid-September, Canada qualifying for the Olympics and men's basketball for the first time since Steve Nash and Company did it,

literally with a courtside seat for Shea and all those guys doing what they were doing. Right. That's August and September. I had just done the National Bank Open court side before that. Get home in November, one of my true thrills, You talk about out of nowhere. Canada wins the Billy Jean King Cup.

World Championship of Women's Tennis, fortunate enough to be on the play-by-play of that. You know, and kind of on it went. And, like, you know, you pitch things. And they said, I did World Baseball Classic in 2023. I went to the final four for basketball with Zach Edie and Purdue in 24. Did the Paris Olympics.

We did a number of Olympic features. We went to the President's Cup. You know, I get to go to the Great. Cup every year. Like all these things, Super Bowls, NBA finals both years. Jamal winning it with Denver, Jamal Murray winning it with Denver in 23. And then the Celtics kind of just dominating in 24. So it's getting to do so many different things. And then you're kind of going, you're going, you're going. And then it just abruptly comes to a stop. You're told that's it. And that's it. I remember,

being at real sports years ago after a Raptor's game. And Jack Armstrong, you know, Hello. Hello. Holding court. And he said, this is how sports TV in Canada goes. You're doing great. You're doing great.

This is what you're told. You're doing great. You're doing great. You're doing great. You're doing great. You're doing great. You know, and that's just kind of the, I guess, the nature of the beast. And you see it all over the place.

Yeah. And you become immune to it until it happens to you. and my number, my name came up in March of this year, and that was that. I don't have this, you know, crazy fire and brimstone story. Like, that's just kind of how it was, how it is, how it all played out. As you know, I talk to many media personalities in this very basement. And many extremely talented broadcasters like yourself were given the tap on the shoulder. Sure.

For no particular reason, sometimes it's typically it's cost cutting, but it could be. be a variety of reasons, whatever. But it's funny, we mentioned Leo Routens. Like, shortly thereafter, Leo got the tap on the shoulder by Sportsnet. I know he's still this TSN work, but he was, he was the, you know, the guy alongside Maddie Devlin for Sportsnet Raptor telecasts for a long time. And prior to that, Chuck Swirsky and Chuck were on the broadcast forever, yeah. And Chuck, we should shout him out.

Is it right? He inspired the DeBers skit, the Swirsky DeBers skit? I don't know. I think he had a show. on Chicago radio before he came here. And I feel like the Daberskit, like the Swirsky, was named after him. There you go. Maybe the George Went, the late great George Went character. Okay, so many a great sports net broadcaster. And even now that we've been talking a lot about 2015 and 2016, which was like what we all went to before this season when you're a Blue Jay fan, because that

was the last time. It was fun to be a Blue Jay fan. And Barry Davis is all over those dressing rooms with champagne in his eyes. And, you know, we like our team Barry. And Barry got a tap on the shoulder. Your services are no longer required. So there's two things here. One is a rash, we're taking you off the Blue Jays broadcast. But as you just said, that opened you up to do a whole bunch of other stuff and maybe the best, maybe a highlight of your career was being able to be a generalist and do all that amazing work. Yeah. And I just, I think, and this is not a, believe me, this is not a sports net thing. This is not a TSN thing. I just, I'm somebody who follows the industry, just like you do, Mike. And you follow trends. You follow what's happening everywhere. I just think

the days of the generalist are gone. I think, excuse me, I think it's now come to networks on both sides of the border. I can't speak for Europe, I don't know, or Asia. But on both sides of the border, you cover the properties that you are the rights holder to. Right. And that's it. Really effectively, for the most part. Now, there might be one-offs here and there, et cetera, et cetera.

I, you know, and I just think that that's, that's the reality of how, of how networks are going to, are doing business now. And, you know, like, the, I want to say this, like, I got 16 years there. Like, I'm very, very fortunate. I've traveled the world. I've done multiple Olympics and Super Bowls and NBA finals and World. series and Stanley Cup final and hockey night in Canada and then Blue Jay's sidelines and on and on and on and go sitting with Bob McAwen on Friday afternoons the roundtable.

But I think, I've had a lot of time to think the last seven months, you think back to some of like the the heyday of things you were doing. I was thinking the other day of 2017. I did the entire MLB postseason from there came. It ended on a Wednesday, flew home Thursday, hosted, with Bob on Friday, the next week off to Italy to do tennis. While we're in Italy doing tennis, the boss calls and says, hey, are you guys, when do you fly home tomorrow?

You want to stick around a couple extra days? Italy is playing Sweden at the San Ciro in Milan and a World Cup soccer qualifier. If they don't win by two or more goals, they're not going to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in like 60 years. Mike, I'm standing behind the net at the San Ciro in Milan. No, that's a good gig if you can get that. Right. That's on a Tuesday, fly home Wednesday, Thursday fly to Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

From the San Siro to Raymond Field, you do a U-Sports bowl game on Saturday, and on Sunday you fly to wherever for the Grey Cup, you spend the week covering Grey Cup. Like, that's an amazing run, and it's not that I think. I just know this won't exist anymore. And everybody I've spoken with, and I've spoken with a lot of people. on both sides of the border the last seven months trying to get a sense of everything.

They're like, dude, you're the last one. This just doesn't happen anymore. And these are like people in the states, etc. It's not just a Canadian thing. This is just how,

just how the whole thing goes. Yeah, I think of somebody, I'm thinking of Stephen Brunt right now where he was a bit of a generalist, right? And then at some point, you know, Stephen Brunt parted way. with Sportsnet and he's running his own shop.

So, okay, so your quote on X, by the way, you still post on X, so you're... I do. And is it, what's the handle, Arashmadani? Arashmedani, yeah. Okay, no judgments here. I wish you were also in other places that we could follow those posts, but I know X is still where it's at for what you're doing.

But Arashmadani, you posted on X. After 16 incredible years, my time at SportsNet has come to an end. And honestly, what a thrilling. ride. That was March 2025. So would you mind? How much would you share with us about like processing that and then, you know, what's next for you and et cetera, et cetera? I'll be like the processing is honestly ongoing. Like I'll be honest. Like there's certain times here we are what, seven months later. Seven months later. And it's and I'll tell you why it's weird, Mike, because there are things that happen you're like man i'd love to do a story on this or man i'd love to to do a feature on this or

you're watching it and it's like wait a minute like these are all my former colleagues and people i worked with and um you know when oklahoma city gets to play indiana in the NBA championship and it's shay and it's lew and it's matherin and nembard and in siakum you're just like these are the things that I would be at. So it's, you just, I just enjoy, I enjoyed the gig I had there immensely.

I enjoy the, I enjoy storytelling and interviewing and reporting. And there aren't a lot of places to do it, but I've been fortunate since. I mentioned Flutie versus Stiegel. It's a weekly NFL show on YouTube, Apple and Spotify. I've just teamed up with CBC Sports. We've launched a weekly show

through the end of next month called the U. It's about U-Sports, University Sports in Canada. I'm their U-Sports football kind of reporter and going to be doing a lot of football coverage on university sports, which is near and dear to me through the end of the Vanier Cup. I'll call one of the national bowl games. I'll be on the sidelines for the Vanier Cup. Mark Lee is going to call it. So getting a chance to be with CBC. So very pleased about that and like lining some stuff up for next year. You know,

it's a busy year on the calendar. You got the, you got the Olympics, you got the World Cup, you got the World Baseball Classic, you got sports. So, you know,

you move forward, but it's still, it's not every day, but it's on nights like last night, game seven, you're like, man, how cool would it be to be able to cover that here

in the city that you live in. and tell it through a lens with a lot of kind of historical significance to it. Well, I wondered, so I knew you were going to visit this morning, and I thought, I don't know if the Js are going to win game seven or lose game seven, whatever happens, we'll talk about it. But then I wonder, do you have any, because you're only seven months out, do you have any, I don't know, I want to call it almost like FOMO, but like you got Dan Shulman, Buck Martinez, Hazel May, Jamie Campbell.

But these were your colleagues. Joe Sittle, of course. and everyone I mentioned there, by the way, except for Buck is being in the basement. Oh, there you go. I've got to get Buck over here. Buck's son went to my primary school. No kidding.

That's my only link. He was younger than me, but Buck's son. And Rance Mullinix's son also went to my primary school. Shulman's been down here, huh? Yeah, a couple times. Awesome. Multiple times. Dan Shulman was great.

Hazel May came over with Kevin Barker, and she said, I only have 30 minutes, and I said, okay, I'll take 30 minutes of Hazel over no time with Hazel. And Jamie Campbell's been over multiple times too. He was actually rather amazing on this. They were all great, but they got to get bucked down here. But so any party you like just feel a sense of like, I don't know,

melancholy and infinite sadness over not being a part of this run? It's not about the run. Just you like being around like a number of people before I got sent out by Sportsnet. have referred to me as a drug addict. I said, oh, okay, that's a new one. I'm like, what do you mean by it? They said, you love the adrenaline of being at a big live event. You enjoy the adrenaline of chasing a story.

You enjoy the adrenaline of breaking a story. I'm like, yeah, guilty as charged. Like, that's what gets you out of bed in the morning. Like, there is nothing like being court side, pitch side, rink side, you name it. when there's 45,000 people going nuts and you're getting ready to do a show. You've put in so much preparation, your stories, and like, let's see how this thing all unfold. So, you know, it's not necessarily the J's this or the J's that or whatever. It's more you just miss being in the middle.

Like, this is what I've always wanted to do, Mike. And I was very fortunate to do it at one place for 16 years. Not a lot of people get that opportunity. And now it's about finding the next one that hopefully can take me to places like the Olympics and the World Cup and wherever else down the road. And we'll just see how that all unfolds. Okay. So in the interim here, we have a couple of things going on. You're doing some work with CBC you told us about.

You're doing some work with Bodog. So you've got a couple of things going on seven months later. And you're taking a lot of meetings, I'm going to guess. A lot of meetings, a lot of coffees, a lot of Zoom, a lot of calendar invites. It's a lot of calendar invites that have to get rescheduled the last minute. And that's all part of it. Right. I'll tell you this, a few things.

One, I've had more meetings with people that I never thought I'd get in front of. And it wouldn't have happened if I wasn't a free agent. And it's amazing how many people, I'm so lucky and fortunate to have so many people who continue to answer my call. continue to connect me with people in their network and continue to say, how can I help? And I have a lot of gratitude to a lot of people who are willing to do that because they don't need to. And that's gotten me in front of a lot of people. Some are extended conversations, some are short conversations, some are everything in between. But that's been a really neat part of this because when you're when you're in it you're going you're going like you want to be you

want to do it at a high level you want to be as as great as you can at whatever it is you're doing you're spending your time sourcing and interviewing and talking and pitching and planning and now that you have some time you're just trying to meet with as many people how do you guys do things over there what what's happening what how do you foresee this have you thought about that what's the plan for this And it's gotten me to have some neat conversations with some neat people, and I'm very appreciative of that. Well, I'm glad to hear this. And I think you're very talented. You mentioned the 16-year run. You know, you're bigger than a sports net property, if you will. Like there's, there's an irashmedany beyond the giant cable company here. You're just looking for a place to happen. Yeah, and probably places. And I think this is another thing that has probably changed since you and I first visited down here.

10 years ago and as the industry has evolved, I'm not sure how many, um, air quote landing spots there are full time, um, any more in sports media. I don't know. What I do think though is,

okay, and I'm just using these as examples. Right. Just because they're coming up next year and we've talked about them. Hey, uh, the world baseball classics coming up. We're going to need somebody for like two, three weeks.

Hey, the Olympics are rolling around. That's going to be a three week gig. Hey, up's coming. That's going to be a six-week gig. Hey, National Bank Open Tennis, there's two weeks there, et cetera, et cetera, and you kind of add

them all up and you just kind of hope that it's all going to work. Maybe, maybe not. Hey, we're going to have a package of, I don't know, 10 baseball games here or 15 hockey games there or 20 basketball games there. Could that all work? So we'll see how it all unfolds and if

there's anything we've learned, things change and things change quickly. So we'll just see how it all kind of, um, how it all unfolds. Well, we'll be following along. And if anything, uh, super exciting trance comes together, you waltz over here and get another palm of pasta lasagna. And you get another, so you, you, you, your face scrunched at the, at the mention of X or Twitter.

So are you a blue sky guy? Yeah, I'm a blue sky guy. Which, um, was it? Supriya DeVetti came over and said it's basically X, or sorry, former like, like, like their Twitter refugees have all collected on, uh, blue sky. So a former colleague of your was Mike Wilner came on this program just right after you. How's Webster doing? He's, well, you know, he's covering the Blue Jays for the Toronto Star.

Yes. And I think he's enjoying his life. You know, he's got a Toronto Star podcast and, you know, you'll read him in the dead trees there and online. So he's doing well. He came over fairly recently. And he basically said to me this. Okay, so this is April. I had already soured on X when Elon took over.

over and it had stopped. I loved it since like 2009 or whenever I joined Twitter. I absolutely loved like yesterday would have been a good example of I'd be online, I'd be on Twitter and we'd kind of there'd be a collective. Like you'd be sharing this experience and it felt really fun and great. This is what happened with the bat flip, for example. But now it doesn't feel like that. It feels,

it doesn't have a good feeling associated with it. And Wilner just came over and he said this. I'll tell you exactly what he said to me. This was April 2025. He goes, Mike. Let's say there's a local pub. you like going to drink your great lakes? And I go, yeah, okay.

He goes, let's say the owner was a Nazi, okay? And would you go to that pub or would you find a new pub? And he said it like that. And then I posted my final ever post on X was that day, April 2025. And I don't check it anymore. I don't look back. A lot of people I used to follow have gone to Blue Sky. Some have stayed on X like yourself.

And no judgments here. But I just simply, whenever I have to log, in for Humble and Fred, for example, because they have an account I maintain on X. It's not a good feeling. There's a lot of hate. There's a lot of anger, a lot of bots. There's a lot of vitriol on there.

There's no question. But I'm not even sure anymore, like, are these bots? Because there's been a lot of evidence that these are just people, rage farmers literally there to like, so you'll post something. I don't know something about how spring or dinger, can you believe it or something? And then somebody will come in and say something absolutely horrific or negative or mean So there's a lot of bots

And then if you're not a bot You might be Marty York So I'm just going to let that one slide Oh I was hoping for Okay That's fine Like there's also like

No one's everyone's lost their chill On Twitter I find Rage farmers I feel like people love being enraged And I sometimes I just want to post You know Here's a bike T.O photo And you know

Let's go J's in the seventh Or this happened Or just share this piece of news if you're like a little commentary on it. But it's just, it's just an angry place. And I don't like that feeling. So I don't go there.

It's, I realize I don't have to go there. Fair. And a lot of people come at, what I've noticed is, people come just like, whoosh, like with their biggest uppercut on nothing,

based on nothing. And there's, there's a lot of angry people out there who's vitriol quickly turns, vile, quickly turns, dark, quickly turns, racist for, like, no reason, dude. Like, this is sports. Yep, yeah. Chill the fuck out.

I know. Right? Like, come on, man. Like, it's just, it just. But you're there, but you're probably, I know why, I understand why you're there. You want to have engagements. I know bow dogs are part of this too, and you want to get engagements because that's, that's what you're being paid to do.

And X is still the place for that as far as you're concerned. I realized it just, again, I don't have anyone helping to finance that, like a bo-dog or whatever, so I don't have to be there. But I just realized that the benefits we used to have from having a presence and engagements on the app formerly known as Twitter were no longer there, but there was a whole separate, angry, hateful, racist, misogynist. But it's not all things. You can't paint everything with one big brush. It's not one or the other. There's a little bit of everything out there.

I don't care what platform you're on. but except it seems to be nurtured and encouraged on that platform and I think that's a reflection of its ownership which destabilizing the biggest

social media site we have I've gone down some Reddit some Reddit things that are also kind of weird too sure humanity is weird as we're learning around like look I'm much more active on LinkedIn

which is a completely different platform and I feel like everybody there is living on Pluto, like it's just, you know. We call them LinkedIn lunatics. Right. You know, caring and sharing and greatness and, you know, um, so. Well, I'm going to, I'm going to tag you on LinkedIn when I post this episode. And I have some more questions for you from listeners. Yes. But I am going to give some love, if you don't mind for a moment of rash here. Are you looking for breaking news there? I see on the phone there. Are we looking for, uh, no, I just went to LinkedIn to find something, but I'm like there's no. Okay. LinkedIn lunatics. Uh, shout out to,

of this. I also post on LinkedIn. I actually, so this, you know, I won't edit this. So we'll wrap this and I'll drop it. And I'll post it on Blue Sky. I'll post it on Instagram. Are you there? Instagram? I am. Okay, so Blue Sky, Instagram. I'll tag on Instagram. I'll post it on LinkedIn. I'll tag you there. I'll post it on Facebook. Facebook, okay. Yeah, and that'll be it.

Okay. And I used to... So my mom can listen. Sorry, sorry, Mom for swearing. It's literally, it's a copy and paste of my Blue Sky. She will listen. If it's going to be on Facebook, She will listen, and the first thing she'll say is, do you think, why did you swear? Why did you use those? I swore. I didn't know your mom was listening.

I feel bad now. But I do have a question. I didn't know my mom was listening until you said it was going to be posted on Facebook, and so now she's going to be listening. Yeah, absolutely. It'll be on Facebook. Of course, shout out to Mark Zuckerberg. I have a question that your mom will like hearing, but I do want to give some love very quickly

here to who am I going to love. Our newest sponsor is shopkindling.ca. I've been told by a devout list. listener that I need to nail the D and Kindling. Apparently, I've been skipping the D. This is my Toronto accents. Yeah, so shop kindling.ca. You can have discreet free, what's free delivery in one hour.

So you pick your cannabis products. It's completely discreet. So the person who shows up and delivers it might as well be delivering a book or something, right? Maybe they're delivering Hebsie's new book on sports media. Have you got a copy yet? Not yet. Okay. Do we need to be discreet about cannabis in 2025?

It depends on your neighbors and it depends on what you do. I don't think you need to be as discreet as you used to be, but there's still some occupations where there's a stigma. I guess three weeks ago felt like Tylenol was more under fire than cannabis was. That's true. Hey, do you partake? Are you strictly a great leg, skimmon? I used to, not anymore.

Sometimes right before bed to help me sleep. Sure. Well, yes, it's not all getting high. I've become a capsule guy in my old age, not a puff. Well, if you, whatever you require, it's at shopkindling.ca, so welcome aboard Kindling. Shout out to Doug Mills. He's at Blue Sky Agency, and I would like the listenership to know that Blue Sky Agency has partnerships with established office furniture brands, and Doug Mills is eager to chat with any and all Toronto Mike listeners who are looking for dynamic and creative

work environments. So write them now, Doug, at bluesky agency.ca.ca. I know he's excited about the Arash Medanee episode of Toronto Mike. We won't docks you, but you're close enough that you probably know where Ridley Funeral Home is. Am I right, Arash? I do. 14th in Lakeshore. They only sell Canadian caskets at Ridley Funeral Home. Brad Jones, they were sent over a measuring tape for you, Arash. Oh, thank you, Brett. Measure Brad Jones. And Brad has a great podcast called Life's Undertaking. And speaking of great podcasts, I want to shout out Nick Ienis. He's back. His two podcasts are, one is called Building Toronto Skyline, where I learn about the frozen condo industry and more. And the other is called

building success. He always has great chats. There's one with Keith Stein where he talks about his entrepreneurial career. He owns the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team. We got to get you out to Christy Pitts next summer for a league game. I'd love to. That'd be awesome. I'm going to work with you on that. I'm going to talk to Keith later. We're going to work something out for that. Absolutely.

Last but not least, recycle myelectronics.ca. If you, A rash, have cables, devices, electronics in some closet or drawer. You've probably had it there for decades. don't throw that in the garbage because those chemicals end up in our landfill. Go to recycle my electronics.ca. Put in your postal code and find out where to drop it off to be properly recycled. I'm going to bet it's staples near Sherway. That's my guess for you.

Okay. By the way. Yeah. Congrats on all your sponsors, dude. That's great. Thanks, man. But you know what I've never had in the history of this program? I've never had a sports betting.

I feel like I'm the last person standing. Talk to your boy, Stu Stone. You'd think, right? FOTM Hall of Famer Stu Stone. I'm calling you later. We got to rectify that immediately. Okay, so this question, I think your mom's going to enjoy hearing. It's from, and I hope I pronounce this right,

it's a blue sky person named Ex-Ho Doyle. Ex-Ho Doyle. I hope I got that right. And this person writes, Has a rash ever had the food from Ian Hanomancing's mom? Ian Hanenomansing's mom's stall at the Sackville Farmers Market. Wow, what a question. Yeah, so we'll leave that.

he's got a part B, I'll ask you next. I have not. I've been to Sackville, New Brunswick, a few times. Actually, I almost went to Mount A. And I have some friends from Sackville, but no. By the way, shout out to Ian Hannah Mansing. Talk about an O.G. He listens.

He's probably listening right now. Nice. His son went to bishops well after I went there. And I met him when I was back for an alumni event or whatever. I think Ian's very good. And he has promised to visit this basement at some point. And I remember your first visit, I called you Truro. rash, as I recall. Yes. So you're a proud

Maritimer, as we recall. Everyone, go back to that first episode. I was expecting a few questions, Mike, coming into today. The Sackville Farmer's Market was not on my bingo card. So shout out to the listener. Ex-Hodoyle. I'm probably butchering that. And ex-Hododoyle also says that it was an awesome food stall that Ian Hanna Manzig's mom had at that market. But what's your guess? A lot of people have been wondering. So games one and two of these world

series are in Toronto. Who would you like to see throw out the first pitch for those two games? They're starting to run out of guys, aren't they? Joe Carter hasn't done it yet. Yeah, I was going to say Carter's going to be one. Cedogaston. Cedogaston. Is there a Pat Borders? Dave Steeb in the, like, do you have to have a ring in order to do it? But he has a ring. He got a 92 ring. He did get a 92 there. That's a good one. Yeah, I don't think he pitched in that playoffs. But he has a ring. But he has a ring. did get a ring. Yeah.

It's wild. Like you're thinking about some of the Rolodex, some of the guys are no longer with us. Like, Kelly Gruber, for example. He's not,

I feel like he's, and Alamar certainly isn't. Well, Alamar for sure won't be going on at a first pitch. Absolutely not. Any thoughts on that? Like, we were just told, hey, we did an investigation

and he's banned and he will have, and they removed his name. Any, uh, that's disappointing to hear that he, may be of a behavior where that would be necessary, considering I regard him as the greatest position player in Toronto Blue Jays history. You do, huh?

I guess, I mean, Hall of Famer, the first two. Well, those five years, think about the tools. Yeah. You know, who, what position player? I mean, you can have chats about. So, okay, so who's throwing it out so far? Bautista. Yes.

Donaldson. Marco Estrada did it last night. Yeah, Baptista Donaldson, Pilar, Estrada. Those were the four home games, right? Yeah. So we've only gone back to like 20, 15, 2016 then. We haven't really done the 92, 93 yet. If I'm right. Yeah. So it'd be Carter. It would be, yeah, I guess borders because he was the...

Yeah. And he seems, I think he's very accessible. And I heard him on CBC radio. I think it was yesterday, but I feel like he'd be... Yeah, CETO would be... CETO kind of fits that bill. I saw CETO at the Joe Carter Classic in the summer. And I saw Joe there as well. I saw Joe there as well and got CETO on the mic. And Cito did some work of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team at Christy Pits this year. Oh, did he really? That's awesome. Like some ambassador work or whatnot.

Okay. Hey, ref says, do you, A rash, have any comments on Vicky's tennis career so far and in the future? What are your thoughts on Vicky? So I'll say this about Mbocco. I have literally been hearing about her,

being told about her from the time she was like 14 or 15 years. old just being around the tennis scene in Canada and you know you do the billy gene king cups you can go to the national bank opens and you're kind of asking around all right who are the next ones and you know there's there's a flicker here something there but they're always like hey just just wait on this imboko kid just wait on this imboko kid and you're like okay sure I got nothing else to do um and then this summer it all kind of came together and it was wonderful and it was amazing and all those things. Now, we talk about things not being a straight line. I actually sent the screenshot to a friend of mine that I saw on social media

the other day. Since beating Osaka, Mboko straight set loss at the U.S. Open, straight set loss in Beijing, a straight sets loss in Wuhan, and a straight sets loss in the latest tournament in China. doesn't sound great it's hard it is not a straight line and it was an incredible week for the ages out of nowhere landing on the moon all those things for her and nothing's being taken away but like a lot of sports but tennis especially you don't pick up where you left off just because you did something last week last match doesn't mean it's going to continue there's a long road to go she is not an unknown anymore. People know who she is. She's got a target on her back because she's 101,000 now. And nobody wants to be embarrassed by a kid. So she's going to get everybody's

best shot moving forward. And there's, look, the potential is incredible. The sky is the limit. All those things. It's just not going to be, it's just going to take some time. Hey, ref has a part B to his question here. Will Tennis Canada ever renovate slash upgrade the York facility? He goes on to say he feels it's kind of dumpy, especially as compared to other Masters 1,000 events like Cincinnati and Indian Wells. Well, you can't compare Indian Wells to anything. Let me just say that.

Like Larry Ellison, the founder and majority owner of Oracle, has basically turned that those grounds into his personal playground. Indian Wells is nicer than Roland Garros. Indian Wells is the player's favorite tournament. All of that. So all you need for Soby Stadium slash York University to turn into Indian Wells is have somebody with like, you know, $50 or $60 billion want to just make that a passion project.

I do think, I do know that Tennis Canada is trying to upgrade its facilities. There's a lot of government things that go into that. There's been talk for a long time in Montreal about a roof situation there. So I don't know where things stand now, but your facility is vital. Here's, and it's a good question. Here's what I wonder. And I just don't think it's going to happen in our lifetime, Mike, maybe ever, but who knows? I, and I'll preface this, I think it's one of the great sporting events in our country every year.

I just wonder how much better it could be if it was more accessible. I just think the location is just so tough. Now, is there a footprint to make that happen? And I think the answer is no. Like I've thought about for a while, and I've chatted with people casually at Tennis Canada, you know, after an event over a great lakes or two about what about the X? You know, you already have a stadium. You have all that space around for grounds, for extra courts, etc.

And there was never like official pushback, but it was always like, yeah, I don't think the grounds are anywhere near big enough, et cetera, et cetera, and there's a lot of kind of headaches with it. And now that the Indy has left, gone to Markham. Right. I think it's kind of like you're seeing why. Like, I think there's just so, I just, I think that event is so world class, the National Bank open.

I think we're so fortunate to have it in our city and in Montreal. Can, can the facility be better? Of course, I just wonder, could there be a change in location too? But I just don't know if there's a footprint. What about the poor lands? Yeah, I just don't know if the footprint's big enough. Right. And just how much is that going to cost?

to. Can we wish somebody a happy 66th birthday Arash? Sure. All right, this gentleman. Hi, I'm George Bell. You listen to Toronto, Mike. 66 years old today. Let's have him throw out all the pitches. That's a good one. Let's bring George back to throw out the pitch. Yeah. I mean, he didn't win a World Series, obviously. Long gone by then. Not long gone. He went on to Chicago in early 90s, but he was gone by World Series time.

But it would be amazing for George Bill to throw out a pitch. I mean, Joe Carter, apparently Brian Gerstein, my official correspondent tells me, is confirmed for one of the first two games. Who is sorry? Joe Carter. Here's a question for you. And I think he'd bring the house down. And he had the briefest of cup of coffees with the Blue Jays organization.

And there is a... Joey Votto Vladimir Guerrero Senior. Yeah, he did have a cup of coffee. He didn't get into a regular season game. But Vladimir Guerrero from a, look, so the Blue Jays are not a Toronto story. The Blue Jays are a national story.

Right. The Blue Jays have fans coast to coast, blah, blah, blah. The numbers of TVA sport right now in Quebec are huge. I'm told that they had a sideline reporter here in Toronto for the games. they're going to send their crew on the road to call the World Series in person, et cetera, et cetera. Vladimir Guerrero is as senior, is as identifiable a baseball figure in this country. Now, I don't think they're going to do it, but imagine his son catches the opening pitch.

Would he even come? Like, I feel like he's... Sure, he'd come. Okay, I hope so. He's... His son's playing on the team. Why would we come? But I'm surprised he's not here now.

Like, aren't you surprised he's not here now? Like, I mean, if my boy was playing in the game seven at home in Toronto, I feel like I would, if I were healthy enough, I'd be there. Maybe he is and we don't know. Maybe he's got stuff on the go. Who knows? But that is, I like that. That's an inspired choice because when I saw the tears in Vladdy's eyes,

I said to my wife, I said, I like it when I'm reminded that they actually care. Like, this isn't just a job and they're not just cash in a big fat check, especially Vladdy's check. It's a fatter than yours and mine combined around. That's a fun fact. But when I saw his eyes tearing up that he's going to the World Series, I just, like, hooked that to my veins.

And my apologies to your mom, but I fucking love that kind of emotion. Yeah, it was real. Yeah, it was authentic. And he had the red eyes. And I mean, Vladdy, this is his team now. You know, I know. And he's been through a lot of shit.

Yeah. Still, you know, we... He's still young. Yeah, he's been around forever. And the guy's still young. And look at him now, right? This is, you know, showy Otani versus Vladdy. Don't bet against these blue jays.

I have one last question. So happy birthday to George Bell. My favorite player when I was growing up. Really? I keep, yeah, I keep the, I'm pointing for the listenership, I'm pointing to a 1986 Blue Jays calendar from Shopper's Drug Mart. And I have that stuck on May 1986 because that was the George Bell month and you get all the George Bell pictures.

And yeah, I was a big George Bell guy. Absolutely. He's my favorite guy. He'll fired up and hitting those dingers. Okay, Jake the Snake, this will tie in nicely. with what you're doing at CBC, which you can remind us of on our way out here. Jake the Snake,

who's a big, big Thai cats fan, as I recall, he likes to hand out the buttons that say Argo Suck. Nice. Reminds me of going to Maple Leaf Gardens as a kid when they'd have,

when Harold Ballard owned the Thai cats. I remember that very well. Jake the Snake writes, for Canadian University football, what are your thoughts on how to balance the level of play across the nation? I don't know who has an appetite to do that, Jake. I think that everybody's just in it for themselves

in terms of what can we do to win games and what can we do, how can we raise the most money and how can we get the best resources to do it. I don't think there's an appetite for parody. Everyone's just trying to win. Can you tell us what Jake means? Some of us are embarrassed to say they haven't been following. I did follow in Mario Sterino,

was the quarterback at U of T because I was going there, and we won the Vanier Cup that year. There you go. That was exciting. What does Jake, what's Jake referring to exactly? Well, I mean, there are no budgetary rules in Canadian University football. Every school can kind of decide what they want to do. And LaValle, you know, like people get mad at LaValle,

and I'm like, no, man, they're just setting the bar, setting the standard. What is the number? On Sunday, they had a home game in Quebec City, Mike. They were undefeated, playing, you know, or one lost. Anyway, they were playing the arrival, Montreal. It's either LaValle or LaValle Rugeot or Montreal Caraband would do it. Right. On Sunday, they set a single game regular season attendance record in school history.

They put 21,399 people. The Argos are jealous. Well, most, most, uh, professional sports franchises in this country are right right that's amazing 21,399 and so that's a great number for your fan base but guess what else it is it's revenue right and so if i'm laval and you know insert name of school and the gta is drawing friends and family and LaValle's, you know, bringing in a million bucks a game in revenue, why am I, why, we're excelling at what we're doing here.

We don't care what you're doing. We're going to do things at a high level. So I just, I get that Jake wants there to be parity, but I guess the answer to your question is, Jake, every single athletic department has to decide, do we want to make, success, winning, budgets, fundraising, alumni support, philanthropy, a priority or not. And that's how you're going to get it. I have a question. I don't fully understand because I'm not as big a tennis head as I should be, Rash.

But Raptor's devotee is asking about Felix, who is making a late run to make Turin, the top eight players qualify for this end of season tournament. I guess he wants to see Felix there because he's a dangerous indoor hard court player. Will he be there? I'm only learning about this right now. I have to say I'm out of the loop on what's happening in Turin. He just won Brussels this week.

I'm not sure what the race looks like right now. Obviously the semi-final run in New York was huge for him. Yeah, and he does play well at the end of the season. I think he's won titles in Stockholm before and a couple other places. So it'd be good for Felix's career, but man, the tennis calendar is just too long. And everybody's talking about it now. Arash, I hope we don't have to wait another 10 years to get you back in this basement.

And I hope we get you on the mics November 29th, that TMLX21, come for the palm of pasta, stay for the real talk. Appreciate that. Good to see you. Good to see you. I hope you know. Are these mine? The Great Lakes brewery mine? The beer, of course, is yours.

Yes. I've got the lasagna in my freezer. Okay. We'll take our photo by Toronto Tree. and I was going to say you're in good company when it comes to people who got a tap on the shoulder from either Bell Media or Rogers as you did. Many a great broadcaster got that tap.

So, you know, keep on, keeping on. There's life after Sportsnet. I'm glad to hear you got a bunch of things brewing and I look forward to reading about all the different things you'll be doing over the next few decades. I guess if you're going to be doing that, I should get on Blue Sky, huh? Well, if you want me to know what's going on,

otherwise I just have to invite you over and then find out when I ask you. This was great. Thank you so much. What kind of music does Arash Medanian listen to in his spare time here? Late breaking story on the CBC. There you go.

There you go. I mean, shoot, the hip remain undefeated, don't they? Bring out my vinyl road apples for you here, Rash. There you go. I have no arguments there. Big hip head here. Do you like the 90s alt rock from Canada? What exactly?

the hip kind of, there's a special shelf for them. Phantom Power was actually my favorite album. Phantom Power is a great album, but maybe it's my age speaking here. I'm a big up to here, man. And I like road apples. Maybe it's because I need to go back to the early 90s

when the Jays were winning World Series. And guess what? We're doing it again, Arash. Go Jays Go. Perfect timing on your part. And that brings us to the end of our 1,000, 7804th show.

Go to Tronomomike.com for all your Toronto mic needs. You can follow Arash on the app formerly known as Twitter. Now known as X. What a beautiful name. Much love to all who made this possible. That is Great Lakes Brewery. Arash is a big fan. Palma Pasta.

They're hosting us for TMLX21 on November 29. Nick Aini's. Kindling. Go to Shop Kinling. dot CA, make an order now and in less than an hour to be at your door. Recycle MyElectronics.ca. Blue Sky Agency and Ridley Funeral Home.

See you all. I gotta go to my calendar rush. I'm not a professional like you. Who's my next guest on Toronto Mike? Oh, I'm excited about this. John Castner, he was the singer and founder of a Montreal band known as the Doe Boys.

I've wanted to talk to John for a long time. It'll be a Doe Boys episode of Toronto Mike, that's happening tomorrow. Alan's Weig on Thursday. See you all. Then. So, you know, I'm going to be able to be.

I'm not I'm going to I'm I'm going to I'm I'm I'm I'm

I'm going I'm I'm Thank you.