Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Caroline Cameron: Toronto Mike'd #188

Episode Date: August 4, 2016

Mike chats with Sportsnet broadcaster Caroline Cameron about her move to Vancouver and return to Toronto working the desk at Sportsnet, her appearance on ESPN's Breakfast at Wimbledon and how she became Canada's Tennis Queen.

Welcome to episode 188 of Toronto M's, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is Sportsnet broadcaster Carolyn Cameron. Welcome Carolyn. Hello, thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Thanks for dropping by. You have one of those names that can be Carolyn or Caroline. Yes, my parents spelt it wrong.

It's spelt Caroline, but pronounced Carolyn. But I'm used to people saying Caroline because it's fair, so I never correct people. Oh, yes, I've heard this song before. I'm actually pissed at Boston for co-opting this song because now when I play it and I hear this song which is a sing-along and people love it,

it's a Boston thing. I know, but at Fenway it's so fun. Yeah, but I hate Boston. I hate the Red Sox. I also don't like Boston teams, but being at Fenway in the moment, I like them. Do you want to sing with me? No, you don't have to sing with me. I don't like Boston teams, but being at Fenway, in the moment, I like them. Do you want to sing with me? No, you don't have to sing with me.

I don't like to show off or alienate. Because Caroline's a Y. Yeah. And, yeah. So, who screwed up, like mom or dad? I think it was both of them because they liked the name because of Caroline Kennedy and Princess Caroline were in the news a lot. So my mom explains that in the media, they would pronounce it sometimes Caroline, sometimes Caroline. So she just thought I like the look of Caroline better, but I'll say it Caroline.

So it's always the media's fault. It's always the media. Blame the media. That's way before Rob Ford and Donald Trump. Yeah. Hold on. Sorry. The other name like that is like Tanya. Like you'll know a Tanya and then it'll be Tanya. I'm trying to think. There are a few names where it can go either way. So you're Carolyn.

By the way, you are the very first. This is episode 188. You're the first guest ever born in the 1990s. Thank you? I guess. Yeah, sure. Yeah. I'm only three months into the 90s.

Oh, I know. Because I found it on your Wikipedia page. Oh, really? Yeah. My birthday's there? Yeah, your birthday's there. Otherwise, I would have no idea. And I just thought that was a fun fact because my daughter was a guest. My daughter was a guest a long time ago.

Yeah. And she was born in the 2000s. Okay. Yeah. And I've had lots of 80s people. Sure. But yeah, you're the first 90s guest. Here I am.

So it's nice to have you here. Thank you. 90 was a good year. Well, you know what? It's nice to have a guest from my favorite decade for music. Like that's my 90s music. That's my jam right there. Who?

Who specifically? Yeah. All of them. Like Pearl Jam was a big favorite. Nirvana is a big favorite. The Tragically Hip. Yes. Are you going to one of their final shows?

I'm going on Friday. Wow. Great segue. You're the professional because I needed to ask your generation, quick question for your generation. What does this band mean for somebody born in 1990? Because when their first major album, Up To Here, comes out, I'm a teenager. Right.

So guys my age, you know, they're all in love with the Tragically Hip. But when someone's born in 1990, I'm just curious, what does this band mean to you? I don't remember when I first heard the Tragically Hip. I think it was something that I probably heard in the car or my dad was playing it or it was on the radio. I think I started listening to them probably in my teens. So that's in the early to mid 2000s.

Yeah. And Bob Cajun was the first one that I really caught on to. Okay, cool. Yeah. So I'm going on Friday. So a week tomorrow. Wow. How fun.

Yeah. Well, it's kind of a weird, like, it's a bittersweet thing. It is. Like, I'm excited to see them, but it's terribly sad. Like, it's not one of those, like, I'm excited to see them but i'm good it's terribly sad like it's not one of those like i'm gonna go and enjoy it and have fun no i think it'll be very like i keep using the word cathartic as if i'm sick or something but it's gonna be like um bittersweet i'm sure there's i'm sure the germans have a word for this like bittersweet's a good word yeah so it's it's going to be, it's one of those like not joyful, but like important to me, if that

makes sense. Like I need to like say goodbye. I'm sure the music will take over though. And that'll turn into fun. You know? Yeah. I'll just start singing along and. But will I hold it?

I'm going alone. Kind of glad I'm going alone because I just saw a photo like from the end of the Calgary concert. I think it was a couple nights ago. And Gord's sort of in tears. He's very emotional and it's like even seeing the photo I got all broken up over it. So it's going to be like

this is going to be... And then I keep thinking about August 20 when they broadcast the final show from Kingston on CBC. And it's like the whole nation is going to be like in tears. It's going to be a big deal. Any excuse to play the hip is a good thing. One more question because I need to know, are you playing Pokemon Go?

No. I am strongly against Pokemon Go. Well, personally. Why? Well, I was going to the grocery store the other day and I I'm trying to get in, and there's this crowd of people, and I thought, is someone injured? Has someone been hurt? What's going on?

What's all the commotion? And it was a bunch of grown men playing Pokemon Go. Pokemon was actually part of my generation, and I never really caught on to it. I remember people trading cards, and I didn't really understand. So it's great that some people are getting out more apparently now, but I think it's kind of a waste of time.

I've seen a human being I love ask to go on long walks with me just so he can hatch eggs, okay? So I absolutely have nothing bad to say about Pokemon. I totally get your point because I see when I bike the trail, I see like nothing bad to say about Pokemon. I totally get your point. Because I see when I bike the trail, I see like they look like zombies. Yeah. Like they're kind of wandering aimlessly. But then I realized these are people who like would never be in the park otherwise.

Exactly. So that's where I'm okay with it. But if you're spending all your time on your phone instead of talking to people, that is a moment you might want to reevaluate. Right. Except I suspect they used to be in their basement playing like Xbox or whatever. Sure. So you're right.

This is my thoughts on vaping, okay? Because vaping is big now. Yeah. My thoughts on vaping are if you quit smoking to vape, I like vaping. If you weren't smoking and you just started vaping. Fair. I don't like vaping. Like it depends where you're coming from.

I like that logic. Thank you. See? I'm smarter than I look. I'm smarter than i love i'm smarter than you should hear my theories on uh black holes but i'll save that for another episode uh okay that beer in front of you great lakes brewery uh that's a gift from them to you thank you oh it's and it's made in etobicoke that's the thing here is they're local to this neck of the

woods uh so they're local craft brewery i almost like i just dig the vibe there because they're local to this neck of the woods. So they're local craft brewery. I almost like, I just dig the vibe there because they're not, you know, they're not, no offense, but they're not Labatt's, they're not Molson. They're Great Lakes Brewery. It's great beer. And that is all yours. I love craft breweries though.

Where is this one? So, okay. So you know the Costco? Yes. Of course you do. Yeah. Because before we recorded, you mentioned you know the West End.

Yes. I grew up in Etobicoke. Good old Etobicoke. It's between the Costco and the QEW or the Gardner at that point. So it's kind of out of the, you see it from the Gardner and you can get at it. There's that street. People don't really know that street, but there is like stuff between Queensway and Gardner. Yes.

That's where it is. Is the Harvey's still there by the Costco? Harvey's is still there. Believe it or not, that's the closest Harvey's to where you are right now. Believe it or not. The Harvey's is there. There's some cool stuff there like the Pie Commission. That kind of stuff is all around there.

Great Lakes Beer Shop. I will put it to good use. Enjoy. This podcast is being crowdfunded. So if people want to help keep it going, go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. And if that's too much work, go to torontomike.com and click the big orange buttons

that say become a patron. So give what you can. People are given maybe a dollar a month or whatever. Just everything helps because Carolyn's on some very expensive microphones here and Andrew Stokely helped me put some new swing boom

arms. By the way, he worked with you on something. Did you do some Blue Jay stuff? We'll get to this. Yeah, it's been a couple years though. Yeah, he mentioned he had a good professional experience with you. Good. To give me a heads up. See, it pays to pay people off.

That's right. That's why I give beer to everybody who comes on, to be nice to me. See? You started, I believe you started, because you must have been very young, but I had Jackie Redmond on this show. Oh, yeah. And she said that she worked with you, although she met you she worked with you on rogers tv in london correct yeah i uh when i was in school i went to western and fanshawe it was a joint program and while i was in london i volunteered at rogers tv the local station and yeah she and i were on

a show called forest city living at the same time we were both reporters but we never worked together because you would just kind of do your segment throughout the week and then throw to the host and then i think we eventually met probably at a jay's game or something yeah she was with the score right so let's uh that's a small world story do our stories line up yeah okay good because she did say you met at a jay's game so there you go okay so you guys must have gotten cahoots before your appearance but we did not i promise uh so that's kind of bizarre how you just you're you're both kind of contributing to the same roger's tv show that's the cable 10 stuff right yes yeah like the wayne's world would have been on that yeah or um oh man uh the guy from ottawa uh why is my brain forgetting his name and this is gonna kill me um the green tom green okay yes whose name eluded me for like

two minutes that's okay i used to watch him on cable 10 really way back in the day. Huh. And Ed the Sock. Oh, yeah. Do you know Ed the Sock? Oh, yeah. So you know him as like a BJ? Is that right? Yes. Yeah. Oh, yeah. The good old days of much music.

And his fromage, his end of year fromage specials. Oh, yeah. They were classic. Yeah. I wish they would bring those back. I would just watch TV between Christmas and New Year's. Yeah. Like those were so good.

And then we took them for granted and then they were gone. He's still very active on Twitter. He's a funny guy or a funny sock. He's been on the show. I have a photo. It's one of the, I kept on my phone because it's me. And because he obviously is not a sock. This is, I hate, I hope this is not like revealing anything,

but he's like a human being. Huh? Yeah. Named Steve. And he does the show. So he's doing it without the sock, but then he does the show. So he's doing it without the sock. But then he brings the sock in case I want a photo with the sock. So I have a photo with Ed the sock.

So you did the interview with Steve, not with Ed. This was the great discussion. I wanted to interview Steve because I like the whole real talk, like how the sausage is made kind of thing. That's what I dig. But he wanted Ed on. So our compromise was, I start with Ed

and then Ed has to go move the car because he's going to get a ticket outside. So he goes like up the stairs. I don't know how he did that because he has no feet, but he goes out and he moves the car. Then I talk to Steve for a while, and then we do the whole straight up.

I have to give that a lesson. Yeah, and then Steve, no, then Ed comes back, and Steve, I can't remember where Steve went. Steve went somewhere. Oh, yeah, yeah, no, Ed took, Ed didn't take a leak or something. Then Steve went to move the car, and then Ed comes on and we talk about Ford Nation

or whatever was happening at the time. And I get Ed speak. So I did both Steve and Ed. You got to hear it. It was good. I'm very confused. So I have to hear it. You have to hear it.

I thought it was pretty creative, but he's a creative guy. Oh, yeah. So you're at. So this London, Ontario, Rogers 10 thing is not sports related. No. Well, so the first thing I did was Forest City Living, as I mentioned. Forest City? Forest City.

Yeah, because London's known as the Forest City. There's so many trees. Yeah. I didn't know that. Great city. So I did that. And then I did a show called Game On, which was a participatory sports show. And I did that with someone named Jeremy Parking, who's still at rogers in london great guy he does a lot of uh night stuff and yeah so it was a participatory

sports show so to make it funny we would try sports we've never tried so i did mma i did diving i did roller derby it was really fun and then he would do a sport the same week. And then the show would basically be a challenge. And this is where you got the bug for covering sports, essentially? Because I'm guessing, I don't know. I've never been in the media. But I guess at some point, you make a decision like, are you going to do news? Where do you want to go? And then at some point, you decided sports. I decided that in high school. I'd say early on in high school I kind of got the idea and then I emailed a friend of a friend knew Holly Horton she wouldn't I don't think remember this at all who was at TSN so I emailed her probably when I was in maybe grade 10 or something and we spoke on the phone and then I did this and just to get some advice and but I just thought it was so cool

because I watched her on TV and I was talking to her and I wanted to do that. And then Catherine Humphries, I was always a huge fan of on City. By the way, married to a tragically hit member. There you go. So it all ties up. Yeah. Please continue. And so I remember emailing her as well in high school and she responded. That one I might have just kind of blind emailed her where I just found her email like a creep online. I do that all the time. Don't tell me it's too creepy. I'm sure I probably did it with you.

No. So, yeah. So I knew early on and then I started investigating and I kind of went on from there. But Game On at Rogers was, it was just really fun. And it was so off the cuff that it was, it was a good crash course in television. So how do you end up at Sportsnet? That's kind of a big deal. Yeah.

So I'd interned at the fan a couple summers while I was in school. And I forget who I originally heard it from, but they were holding auditions and they weren't specific as to what the auditions were for. And I was in school, so I also just assumed this probably won't happen, but it's good to get experience. Maybe they'll know my name. Let's try it out. And the auditions in my fourth year of school and final year of school, I think they lasted, I think there were about three auditions over four or five months. So after every audition,

I didn't hear anything. And I thought, okay, we'll move on and eventually I got hired part-time right when I finished school to do sports updates on City News Channel which is no more so that was great because it was it was repetition and that's what you need to get better sure no absolutely so what do you when you intern at the fan what does that entail like I'm just naturally curious because that's a station I listen to. Sure, yeah. So interning at the fan, I remember I would cut a lot of clips. So if you're listening to primetime sports, you're cutting the interviews, you're helping put them on the web.

Coffee runs are part of it too. Were you friendly with Mr. Bob McCowan? You know what? I moved his car once, I remember, as an intern and I was terrified. Did you smash his car? No, but it was a very big car and I was very worried. But luckily nothing went wrong. I'm not surprised.

I just always envisioned him driving like a boat, like Kramer would drive. Another 90s reference. But I don't know Bob very well because my shift was usually during the day or late at night. Because Bob's a guy who's been, somehow he's been a little slippery eluding me because you know i would like to have the guy on this show but i can't don't tell him i moved his

car when i was an intern that might be my hook like i finally exacted revenge on on carolyn okay so yeah that's cool who else so who that's on who was on the air at 590 would you have would have been helpful to you during this internship? Oh, tons of guys. Yeah, tons of guys. Eric Smith, Paul Jones. And a lot of people I was interns with, too, are now at The Fan, which is neat. Like Rob Wong, he's at The Fan.

A lot of guys, a lot of behind-the-scenes guys were interns with me. Matt Brand was an intern with me. Kayla Harris, formerly of The Fan, she's a good friend of mine. She was an intern. Right, she was on The Blundell Show. Yes, yeah. Why is she not there anymore? She's doing fashion now. She's really liking it.

So she literally changed channels on that career. Yeah. Okay, cool. She's doing well. So yeah, there's a lot of good fan people and interns that kind of go up through the ranks. Did she realize there's a lot more money in fashion? I'm not sure.

I haven't asked her the specifics. All right. Okay. Cause you're in like, they put you in Vancouver. So, oh yeah. So in your story,

so you're interning at the fan, you keep auditioning for a job at Sportsnet. You don't hear back. You just move on with your life and schooling and stuff. But at some point you must get that call. Yes. I remember I was at Rogers TV and I got the call and they wanted me to come in for a meeting. And I think they said maybe a week or two from now. And I was too anxious. I just said, you know what, if you really, I could totally come in in a couple of days if you'd like and just

take the train from London to Toronto. And then, yeah, I remember they just sat me down and said they wanted to hire me part time. And I remember walking home to my parents because they're about a 40-minute walk from the office. And yeah, I was pretty emotional. And you're like walking on air. It's pretty surreal. You can't expect somebody at that stage of their development to wait two weeks for that. It was something like that. cruel and unusual but to be fair i think they were saying you're in school when you're done just come on in we can talk i thought i'll just come now yeah maybe we can talk right now so

you're doing part-time work at first and yes and then it kind of turned into reporting part-time reporting and then full-time reporting and then part-time anchoring. I think when Martine Geyer went on mat leave and then full-time anchoring when I moved to Vancouver two years ago, two and a bit years ago. Okay. So you're, so they asked you to relocate and they, like they pick up like moving expenses and all that. Yes. Yeah. So they send you, so I guess at that point in your career, you're happy to go to Vancouver, which is by the way, a cool city. But you're a GTA girl. Yeah, I was a little overwhelmed by the moment.

I'm not going to lie. I probably was overthinking it. But I was I guess I was about I was 23. I hadn't turned 24 yet. So the thought of moving across the country where I didn't know anyone scared me a little. But I also was a little worried that the opportunity would get the best of me because I wasn't anchoring full time. So thinking worst case scenario, I thought, what if the move doesn't go well? What if I screw this job up? But again, luckily everything worked out. I loved Vancouver. It was, it's amazing. And

you who likes to bike, I'd bike all the time. The seawall's right there. It's there it's part of the lifestyle yeah i haven't been since 98 which is a long time ago so it's a lot different okay because i remember yeah i loved it like i love just even the idea that there's like i could see mountains there there's an ocean here and it's like we don't we don't see mountains palm trees there's palm trees in canada i don't remember the palm trees yeah yeah it was great very laid-back lifestyle but very active lifestyle. So it suited me very well. I was there in the height of Ross Rabagliati mania in Whistler. So this was when I was there.

That's a while ago now. Yeah, okay. But they send you to Vancouver and you're co-anchoring the National Morning Edition of Sportsnet Central. Yes, with James Cebalski. So this is the gentleman we would call C-ball. C-ball. I call him C-ball. Sure.

Okay. I call him worse things. C-ball is fine. No, I'm kidding. And Sportsnet Central, that was Sportsnet Connected. Do you know when they changed that? I don't. It's been over a year and a half, I think, if I had to guess.

I remember there was a week where I was worried I would say it wrong on air, and then we were fine. And do you know why? Is it just that they thought it sounded... It was closer to, like, center? No, I think it's because they had Blue Jays Central. When they do other things, it was Soccer Central. So I think they thought, let's brand it the same,

so they're all called the same thing. makes sense yeah that makes sense so the pr release when you start this uh sports that central with james zbulski is uh delivering can't miss news paired with a healthy dose of humor so did you deliver can't miss news paired with a healthy dose of humor i think so i think you needed the news so you couldn't miss it. And I think the humor is, uh, good dependent on what your sense of humor is. I just like the PR phrasing of healthy dose of humor. Like the insinuation that you can have an unhealthy dose of humor. Like there could be too much, which wouldn't be good for you or too little, but this is the healthy dose. Which is kind of true. true yes because sometimes we probably would give too much humor and you struck the perfect balance sure you knew exactly how much humor yes to deliver yeah

it's part of the job that's why you're that's why you're the professional yeah it's excellent so how was your relationship with seaball oh it was great yeah he was like a big brother i was just texting with him yesterday he was very good and patient with me, including our other two main colleagues out there, Dan Chomiak and Craig Cheeseman, all of whom have been in the business a lot longer than I have. So they were very good in terms of helping me develop and find my way. And especially coming from a different city,

they were very welcoming. So I'll always be indebted to them. You're going to disappoint a lot of people because people like to hear about like, oh, there was great friction, like Seaball. Because somebody tells me, he made this, called you the mean girl in high school

and they thought you were offended by that. No. Because you had the healthy dose of humor. See? So when he called you the mean girl in high school. I don't remember him saying that. And you were never the mean girl in high school. That was unfounded by She-Ball.

No, I wasn't. But you know what? We had fun in terms of sometimes just making things up about each other. So I remember if he was gone from the desk, I'd say things like, he's off today auditioning for a Broadway musical, or along those lines. So I have two older brothers,

so I'm used to the teasing and that kind of humor, and I actually appreciate it. So it worked out well. Good, good, good. Sadly for Seaball in March, 2016. That's recent. Yeah. I wrote about this and so I still get comments. Like I guess people Google like, where's James Cebulski and they end up on my site. So I get lots of comments. So I feel very connected to this story. But Cebulski was let go in March 2016. There was a lot of like Rogers cuts. I guess he was a victim of like.

Yeah. So it was all part of that. But right now he's actually doing the official podcast of the CFL. So go check that out. Cool. With Davis Sanchez. Don Landry does a lot of writing for CFL.ca now. Yeah.

Former like fan 599 guy. He was at the fan. Yeah. Yeah. For years and years. He's been a guest on the show CFL.ca now. Yeah. Former fan 599 guy. He was at the fan. Yeah. Yeah, for years and years. He's been a guest on the show too. Oh, nice. But Zabulski has not, so maybe we need...

But he's in Vancouver. He is. Yeah, that's a long commute for him. He's going to have a long drive. That is long. That's an expensive commute. That's expensive. And I have a...

This caused a problem with a potential guest that I just have a black and white, no phoners now. My exception is Barack Obama. I will do a phoner with Obama. I would like to have him on if it's a phoner. Totally fair. Nobody else. It's his birthday, I believe. 55. 55. I saw Michelle tweet it. I saw it too. I saw it too. Yeah. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. I think he's listening, right? The greatest president Canada ever had is Barack Obama. I think this country

loves Barack Obama. I think so too. If you haven't, I'd highly suggest you read his memoir. It's been out for, I think, over 15 years. But Dreams from My Father. Yes. Yeah, it's very good. I think I'll reread it. After all this hoopla random after the

DNC. Yeah, and in my memory, which is longer than yours, I don't remember a sitting president ever this involved in the election after his two terms. So what I'm saying there is when W, he did two terms, and then was that John McCain? Who was it? No.

Yeah, John McCain. So when John McCain and Sarah Palin were going against Obama in 08, W was not actively involved. Like he wasn't doing the making the rounds. Yeah, I don't remember. This, and I heard Obama the other day talk about how like unqualified Donald Trump is.

Like he's actively, like I've never seen before, campaigning for Hillary. And I don't think a sitting president has ever done that. Well, and that speech at the DNC was something else. They were all good. I was hooked.

Yeah, I felt it was like a four-day miniseries, and I start tuning in around 8, and I stick with it until it ends, which is like 11.30. Yeah. And I was glad a couple of nights, like the Jays were off one night, and then I think they had a day game,

and I was really pleased. The night was free for DNC. Like I didn't have to be distracted by a jays game sounds like an electronic music festival edm that's right it was rogers cup week so i kind of i got home late and i only watched i think i missed the first 10 minutes of obama's speech so then i watched the first bit on youtube and hillary's i only caught the last 10 minutes did you see michelle's i did i watched that on youtube even uh yeah uh my daughter's name is michelle by the way but that's a coincidence i didn't know about michelle obama at the time but uh yeah every speech like just uh they were all great fantastic yeah and the quality difference and i realize i'm biased here because i for a number of reasons I don't like the Republican Party. But the quality difference, if you're just looking at production values and quality of speeches, was night and day between the RNC and the DNC.

And all those balloons. A lot of balloons. A lot of balloons. But Trump had more flags. Right. If you're going to vote based on number of American flags, you would vote for Donald Trump. That's true. And I hope no one votes just for flags.

Well said. Jays Chatter is a Twitter user who wants to know how the transition was. You already started talking about this, but you moved to Vancouver. And then at some point, they call you back to Toronto. So you go there, you settle in, and then they're saying, like you back to Toronto. So what, so you go there, you settle in and then they're saying like, come back. Like, what was that like? It was tough. I think like anyone, if you're making any move or transition, it's a little tough. It can be a little bumpy. It happened quite quickly. And I knew eventually one day

I would and wanted to come back to Toronto because that's where all my friends and family were, I would and wanted to come back to Toronto because that's where all my friends and family were are uh so emotionally it was kind of just trying to catch up with the move right and figuring out what's all happening so it was I'd say it was pretty tough I had about I moved in about three weeks and then it was nice to get back to work and see old co-workers and I'm very thankful and grateful for the opportunity I have at work but now that I'm home it's been what four months it's nice I'm settled it's good to see family so is this because okay so they they let Cebulski go and then they that was like the impetus for making this change no it was more a case of they were shutting down the Vancouver operation and just centralizing it

in Toronto because we were the only show not done from Toronto. And it was always produced and the control room was in Toronto. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Real quick, another question from Unionville Kid on Twitter, who also asked about the Vancouver thing, because it's within two years that you're sent out there and you're brought back.

But also, how was waking up to do 3 a.m. World Junior Highlights in 2012, 2013? That was Unionville's question. Unionville kid. That's a very good memory. He's obviously a big fan. Yeah. Well, and I think that was my first time on national TV. And that was me just voicing. So I was actually looking

back. I remember being quite nervous. Just, it's like anything. If you haven't done something, you're a little nervous. And then once you do it, okay, that's not as big a deal or it's not as scary as I thought. So I was wide awake because I was a little nervous and just wanted to make sure I did a good job. Like my, the first episode of this podcast, which I refused to listen to. Yeah. Because I had never done anything. Totally. And I hated my voice.

Yes. That's something you get over quickly. I did. I now am fine with my voice after 188 episodes. I'm like, this is what it is. So you're back in Toronto. Mm-hmm. And now it's, let me get this right, you co-anchor the National Late Night Early Morning version of Sportsnet Central.

With Carly Agro. Yeah, she's a fun time. I need to talk to you about Carly because I've had email communication with her. Yeah. Because I have a vision. I have the third microphone right here. Yeah. Uh-oh, you want us in the same room?

No. Oh, that sounds offensive. I do not want that. Never make that happen i want carly aggro yes and charlesy oh that would be very good this is i would i would tune if you could stream that live that would be very good is that what i have to do um even if i don't stream it live would you download and listen to that yes absolutely so that's what it takes to get carolyn to listen to my

Toronto mic. Have you ever listened? I have. I actually listened to Arash Madani's, which I know was last year. Two weeks ago? Truro Arash. I can't say it. Truro Arash. I'm Toronto mic, so my opening line to him was Truro

Arash. Who's in Rio right now. How come you're not in Rio? They just sent one reporter, with Truro Arash. Who's in Rio right now. How come you're not in Rio? They just sent one reporter. So it's Arash. He's the best. No, I got to say, you're a lovely person too. Arash was a sweetheart. Yeah, he's a very good guy.

He doesn't want people to know, but he's a good guy. There are a lot of... I think there's a correlation between the people who will accept the invitation to sit in my basement and field my questions for 90 minutes and sweethearts. So I think when you're the kind of person who would be a bit of a jerk or whatever, they say no, right? I'm not coming in your basement and talking to you because, because now that I've only, it's 188. So let's pretend, I don't know, 100 are famous people. Let's pretend. Almost to a T, they've all been such wonderful human beings. Is that your experience, like working with these people daily, that they're all pretty nice people?

Like there must be some assholes. And I'm not just saying this because there's a mic in front of my face. There really aren't many bad people. Like everyone I've come across has been very nice. Like I'd consider Arash a good friend. We'll play tennis with each other. It's nice. A lot of my coworkers have become friends and mentors

and people I can kind of rely on. So it's very nice. It's so much easier too when you get along with, like Carly and I right from the get-go got along really well. Yeah, and we have a good time. So if we're laughing in the office, then it's probably going to reflect well on the show.

See, I watch and listen to a lot of CBC. And so I'm quite familiar. I remember when Chelsea was at CBC Toronto. I think she's at Marketplace now. Yes, she is. I haven't met her actually. And Carly I know from Sportsnet

because I watch a lot of Blue Jays. So my television, when I turn it on, is often on Sportsnet. By the way, your Sportsnet 1 is confusing to me

because it's not the station I get on Channel 22. No. What's that one called? That's just Sportsnet. I had this convo with Jackie Redmond station I get on channel 22. No. What's that one called? That's just Sportsnet. I had this, I had this convo with Jackie Redmond. I'm not so bright.

I'm used to the old days when there was one, like one Sportsnet. Cause it's not, it's Sportsnet and then Sportsnet one. And then there's the regional channels. But you don't think it's confusing. And 360. That isn't like when you have,

Oh, I went and saw Rocky last night. Then I saw Rocky two. Like you don't have Rocky and then Rocky 1. That's true. You know what I mean? Like Sportsnet is Sportsnet 1. That's above my pay grade.

Over my head. Well, one day when you climb the ladder and you're like making these decisions, just consider that Toronto Mike found it confusing. Okay. That Sportsnet 1 was not Sportsnet. It's locked in my brain now. Thank you. I think Sportsnet 1 is not Sportsnet. It's locked in my brain now. Thank you. I think Sportsnet 1 is 21 on my TV.

Yeah, Jackie said the same thing. But on my TV, it's 502 or something. Like I go to 501 and I start climbing up for Sportsnet stuff. Like 501 is like 22. It's the same thing. And then 502 and then 503. And I don't know which one is 360. I don't even know what channels I have.

I just watch the same thing all the time. Do you get a discount because you work for Rogers? We do, yes. Is it a good discount? That's the only reason. I'm glad you brought that up.

It's the only reason I work at Sportsnet. Can you hook up a family member, Uncle Mikey? No, you can't. You have to use your address. Oh, yeah.

That's how they get you. Would you move in to my... No. Good. Thanks for the offer. I'm out of rooms and I was worried you'd say yes because I'm short a room. How many kids do you have? So I have four kids.

Wow. I didn't know about the fourth. Not that the fourth was a surprise. I hate it to come out that way. But my life... Okay. So I got married a second time and I promised her a child of her own, which was number three for me.

Okay. But we only agreed on one. And then, so yeah, wonderful. I have three kids. And you already had the house. Well, I bought the house, I think, when number three was on the way or something. So now it's fine. Everyone has a room.

My son's room is actually around the corner. My daughter's got her own room. Baby, now he's two years old, but Jarvis has his own room. Oh, I like that name. Thank you. My daughter named it because of the street Jarvis. There's a whole story behind it. We were going to see Selena Gomez.

It was a great story. Okay, so now baby number four, whose name is Morgan. She's four months now. So now, bottom line is, my wife looked me in the eyes and she's like i love jarvis like she loves her stepkids too like so i got three kids i'm full like i'm done she wants a second child of her own who am i who am i carolyn to deprive her of another child i said fine so no surprise here i i looked up. I got out my textbook. How do you make a baby? Did it. Baby four comes.

But baby four who's sleeping in a bassinet in our room right now very soon needs her to move into a room. What do I do? I am not a parent. So I have not experienced this but might be sharing rooms in the future.

Long story short is you cannot move in to save money on cable i have no i have no room for you all right so you're carly and you so carly aggro whose twin is charles c from cbc and the thing is uh cbc has very strict like uh rules with pr approving appearances on other stuff oh okay i think. I think this is Fallout from Amanda Lang, maybe? This is like a... I don't know. Anyway... So you're worried

that you can't get them? No, I know. Because Mike Wise, who anchors the 11 o'clock news for CBC, he got approved to come on.

He came on. And Matt Galloway, he got approved and came on. So I'm two for two. I'm confident I'd get approved. Oh, yeah.

But that's like the holdup. And of course, I think one of them's in Rio. Yes. Charles, yeah, because they had a going away party. So this is like a September thing I'm working on. Yeah, that'd be fun. So Carly's a good person. Yes, she's a very good person.

She's very animated. She has very good stories and opinions. And broad shoulders. Yes, which, yeah. But she's in on that. I can say that because she's in on the jokes. Oh, yeah, she just thinks it's ridiculous the amount of attention she gets.

It's true. Because they're honestly not that broad. I don't even notice the broad shoulders, but I do see her making jokes about it, so I figured it was like a thing. She's very good on social media because you get feedback and it's all dependent on how you take it in.

Do you need like thick skin to be on social media when you're on people's televisions? Yeah, I guess so. I've never been on TV, but if you're in their living rooms, literally, people feel, maybe they feel, I'm sure they feel they can talk to you and say things yes like you know they wouldn't say no I'm not gonna walk into some office building downtown and go up to Joe Schmo and say I hate your shirt or you're not doing a very good job but yeah that happens and I think when it first when I first started to ever get Twitter feedback, I mean, you're human. If someone says something mean for a split second, you kind of think, oh.

But then I really, to me, it's just kind of all a wash. So even some positive things are a wash. Negative things are a wash. I more get upset if, I think it was about a month ago and my brother saw some maybe inappropriate comment on my Facebook and then that bugged him and then that bugged him and then that bugged me. And Facebook is, you're less anonymous on Facebook typically. Yes. Because Twitter,

you can be like so super anonymous. You'll never know who the hell it is. Yeah. And you can't turn off comments on Facebook. Interesting. So people just see them. Yeah. Yeah. That would piss off your brother. Yeah. Okay. So you ever have to like, do you ever, you ever had a fear, like a security fear or anything? No. Never gone that far? No. If I did,

I would then do something about it. Gotcha. Gotcha. So what's a typical day like? Like what does it entail? Like you're working Sportsnet Central with Curly. Good question. Thank you.

So. That's why I get paid the big bucks. No, but because, because our show's in the morning, but we are on live at 1 a.m. Eastern because it's the 10 Pacific primetime show. Right.

So I sleep in until about 11.30 usually. I don't plan anything in my day before noon. Hence why I got here at 12.15. Sounds like teenage Mike. Yeah. And then, yeah, it's nice. You have the whole day to yourself. You can do errands.

Not many other people are around, but you find things to do. And then I get into work at around 8.30. And then you get in and the producer's in and there's a rundown all set of what's going to go on in the show. So you kind of talk it through with the producer, with Carly. Start writing scripts. You go to makeup. You come back. You're watching sports.

You write some more. And then, yeah, we go on at 1, if not earlier, if it's a postgame show. And then we're done about 2, 2.30. So I, on a good night, I go to bed at three. On a night like last night, I go to bed at four. Did they do a chemistry test before they couple you up with Carly? Like they just throw you together? Yeah. And hope it works. I'm surprised. You'd think they might do like some test runs or something to make sure you guys jive or whatever. Yeah. Cause it's all based, it's all personality based, right? It's like, if you get along with anyone, some people do, some people don't. Yeah. And if you don't have the right chemistry, it's, it's only a matter of time before that breaks down. It kind of builds to like the first

month of our show, you're kind of finding your legs. It's all about timing, especially in highlight shows, because you need to know the person pretty well and know their tendencies to know how to set them up, to know when to chime in with something. All right, here's my million-dollar question. So who and how is it decided, like how much time each sport gets and in what order? So that comes from the producer.

The producer sets the rundown. But before the producer sets the rundown, there's a seven o'clock meeting. So Ken Navonka's show and our show is part of that meeting, the producers. And they decide with the assignment desk and with the, I guess, executive producer, the boss, how it all filters in.

And then we can, I mean, we pick our moments too. If we feel strongly about something being moved in the show, then we'll push for that. But yeah, again, you have to pick your moments. Now, Elias, I hope I say that right. Elias on Twitter asks, have you or anyone at Rogers ever been told not to criticize the Blue Jays,

especially the, he says, the baseball management? But he means like you can't go at Shapiro. No. No, we've never been told. Now, I'm not, I don't think I'm too strong in my opinions on the show. I'm always pretty cautious. But I remember even when I was doing the show with Seaball, he was using Shapiro's name kind of as a, it's kind of like Newman in Seinfeld.

So instead of Jerry saying Newman, he was saying Shapiro. But I find he was playing it up and we kind of played it up, not showing our own opinions, but just showing almost how ridiculous it was, how much people disliked him at the time. Right. Right. when he got hired. Right. But no, I've never been told to be easier or harder on the Jays. But I always try and step back after I've written something and think, is this fair? Because I always think if they're watching, would I want to say it to their face? And, you know, Seaball did the Shapiro thing and he got fired.

So clearly you were smart. I'm just trying to cause some shit. Yeah, no relation. Ignore me. and you know Seaball did the Shapiro thing and he got fired so clearly you were smart I'm just trying to cause some shit yeah no relation ignore me I thought it was quite clever and Carly and I

even brought up this week how with trade deadline people are loving Shapiro and Atkins well the fear was we would be selling and we were not selling we were buying

so I think a lot of us breathed a big sigh of relief that we didn't you know sell off Edwin and Jose because we want it now. It feels like that window is now. Let's go for it now. Don't wait. So that was Elias on Twitter, the Blue Jay question. And my question is about CFL. So what would you say to critics who say you give less time to the CFL in light of the fact that TSN owns the broadcasting rights and bell now owns the Argos. Yeah.

Like, like, uh, and if you don't know, you don't know, but in these planning meetings is CFL getting less time because it's the competition that would benefit from CFL fandom. I've never witnessed a discussion where it's,

we're not putting CFL higher up because it's not our property. I've never witnessed a discussion where it's, we're not putting CFL higher up because it's not our property. I've never heard that conversation, but in the summer, especially at Sportsnet, when we do own the team, it's our meal ticket. The ratings are the highest of any ratings in the country for sports in the summer. We lead Jays because that's just what works. So that's the story there. But I remember in Vancouver, we'd be pushing to have CFL some nights higher. I think the biggest story should lead regardless of what it is or where it's airing. So if it is a crazy good CFL game,

I think that should lead. If it's a pennant race, that should lead. So that's kind of where I stand. And it shouldn't matter who has the broadcasting rights. Right. I agree. Okay. Now, the...

It's for the sport. You have to do a show for the sports fan. So you have to do it in their best interest. I agree. It's become, and this is, again, way above your pay grade, too, but it's murky for a fan nowadays because Argos are owned by this company, which owns TSN, and then the Blue Jays are owned by the other company. And then they both own the Leafs. Oh yeah, that's right. And they own all the other teams, basically. sort of strange and then tsn will talk about the cfl like toronto actually cares and uh sportsnet

might uh if there's an argo game it might get uh very little time near the end and then argos fans will say hey that's only because it's a bell property so it's all like yeah the optics are all sure now and i i found i found from living in vancouver there definitely is a Toronto bias. So I'm always careful at work. And I think it's fair if it's centered in Toronto and I mean, the Jays are Canada's only team, but it's easy if you're around people and all you're discussing is what's in your area, which I know is the biggest market. It's easy to forget, well, what does someone in Newfoundland want to see? What does someone in BC want to see? So that's where, when I look at a rundown, you just have to, I mean, you can't please everyone every single day,

but you have to try and be well-balanced. Right, right, right, right. Now let's talk about tennis for a little bit. Sure. So you're, and I know they sent you to Wimbledon, which was amazing. Yeah. Like, how do you become the tennis person?

I know Arash does a lot of tennis too. But now when I think of Rogers having to cover tennis, you're top of mind. Oh, thanks. Well, actually, I was an intern at the fan. And this was before Milos or Jeannie ever came along on the big stage. And I remember asking the boss at the fan at the time if I could just maybe blog about tennis because I

was a big tennis fan I was a recreational player I wasn't competitive but I played growing up and I was a ball kid at the Rogers Cup as a kid in my early teens so I was just I love tennis so I asked if I could do this blog and they kind of said sure like yeah go ahead and again I'm an intern and I think they just figured no one's really going to be reading this because Canadian tennis isn't really right there's only Daniel Nestor yeah and how many Daniel Nestor articles can I write that's right so I started doing that and then Jeannie and Milos came along and then I would kind of I'd be blogging and then I'd go on the radio especially late at night um with Jeff Samet at the time or

Roger Lajoie I'd go on and talk tennis even when I was a bit in university just because of my blogs and then it just kind of evolved from there and then I asked to be part of Roger's Cup broadcast at some point so I did the court side for a few years so yeah I kind of it kind of became me and Arash who do the tennis stories now, which I'm very grateful for. It's a lot of fun. Yeah. Now, the reason I reached out to you, so basically Milos makes the final of Wimbledon.

I'm treating this like a major event. Sure. I'm waking up the teenager. We're all like, we're going to have breakfast. Strawberries and cream? No, we had waffles. That's okay. But close enough. Same thing. Yeah. But we're all like we're gonna have breakfast and what is early strawberries and cream i know we we had waffles that's okay close enough same thing yeah but we're up like this guy trust me he's like you he wants uh to get up uh at 11 30 12 every day so he's up early everyone's up so we're all watching this and i'm on and it's what eight eight it's early it was at least yeah i think

the match started at nine eastern exactly exactly so uh we turn to tsn because tsn has the broadcasting rights for wimbledon and i'm watching tsn and it's a espn feed and it's uh breakfast at wimbledon okay So I need to know, how did that come about? ESPN was looking for a Canadian perspective on Miloš for Breakfast at Wimbledon on the final day. So they got my email and then sent me an email the night before. And I was very confused. And then they just asked,

would you mind coming on for a quick segment tomorrow with Hannah Storm? And I thought, are you kidding me? So I quickly sent my boss an email. I thought, oh, please, please tell me I can do this. And then I got an email quickly back and he said, no problem, go for it. They must've loved it.

Oh, yes. So I was, yeah, I was, I mean, Breakfast at Wimbledon for me as a tennis fan, that's something I watched growing up. So it was quite surreal. The night before, I was just making sure I kind of had an idea of what I'd talk about. I didn't know what they'd ask me, but I just wanted to get my thoughts in order, maybe even more so than on a usual day, just so I didn't completely mess it up. And then, I don't know, once I sat down and I met everyone, it just, there's a comfort being behind a desk. And then I realized, okay, just talk, keep it casual, keep it simple.

And it was a lot of fun. It was very surreal. But I don't think I acknowledged how crazy it was at the time because I didn't want to freak myself out. Well, I mean, I see you on there. And I don't know if it was right away or if it was later that day, but that's when I reached out. I'm like, so it's like, I don, I see you on there and I don't know if it was right away or if it was later that day, but that's when I reached out. I'm like, so it's like, I don't even know.

Like I've seen you on Sportsnet many times, but for some reason, for some reason. It's weird. Yeah. Like breakfast at Wimbledon, the ESPN feed. And then just before Milos' final at Wimbledon, it just felt big. Like it felt like me. It felt bigger. Yeah.

It hit me afterwards, which I think is good. And my family was watching and they were very excited. So they were texting right after and a lot of people reached out, which was very humbling. It was very nice. But yeah, that was definitely a career highlight. So thank you, Milos, for making the final.

Thank you, Milos. And let's make more finals, but more than a minute, because I have an insider whose name I shall protect who wrote me, and this is, I'll read what this, verbatim what the insider wrote. Uh-oh.

It's nothing bad for you. Nothing bad for you. No, it said, TSN was pissed and there's like, I gotta say, there's like 12 S's in the word pissed.

Oh, really? I've never seen so many S's in the word pissed. That she did the Ray and Itch Wimbledon interview with ESPN and not their own Mark Masters beyond pissed. Like as if the 12 S's in pissed wasn't sufficient.

Right. Beyond pissed. So what could you say about that? They asked you to come on. You got permission to do it. You did it, of course. But it is interesting that TSN with a lot of eyeballs on it have a Sportsnet personality on their screen.

Yeah. And I get how from TSN perspective, that would not be ideal. And I saw Mark, I get along really well with Mark. So I saw him after and he kind of asked, were you just on? And I explained it and I said,

I, I kind of said, sorry. And he said, don't be sorry. I mean, that's a great opportunity. And I just said,

I just want to make sure you're not affected negatively at all, but it was fine. It wasn't again, it was more, it was the bosses. It wasn't. So I was in the clear. it's not affected negatively at all. But it was fine. It wasn't, again, it was the bosses. It wasn't, so I was in the clear. Yeah, well, it's not your fault. No. Yeah. Okay, cool.

Yeah, I caused a bit of trouble, I think. But unintentionally. Like when I apologized because you were stuck in traffic. See, I felt that was on me. No, that's definitely me. And no one knows what we're talking about. Unless you started the construction. Yeah, I ordered some things.

Yeah. So. It's very Canadian of you to apologize. I was also on the phone. Look at all these. This is like deep throat. But I was on the phone with a colleague of yours. I guess a colleague. It works for Rogers Sports. It works for Rogers Media, who basically said,

get her on now because she'll be a star in the US soon. Yeah, right. So is this anything you would want to do? like become a star in the U.S.? I don't know. I think it's like anything. If an opportunity presented itself, like anything in life, I think you'd have to see where it takes you or what it is. But in no way, I'm very happy at Sportsnet,

and there's a lot of room to grow and move up. And I've been doing a lot of different things. So I'm very happy. And, but again, if an opportunity ever presents itself, I'll look into it, but I'm not running for the door. Well, as Mick Jagger once said, time is on your side. Lots of time. That's true.

Let's hope I age gracefully. Hey, Seinfeld. I know what this is. Oh, it's such a good show. It's a great show. It's the best show ever. Too good. Another game for me.

It never gets old. And you're going to be hearing that a lot because he's great. He is, yeah. So a little tennis talk here, just a little bit, while I have the tennis expert in my basement here. So originally you were going to come on after you got back from London. Not the London over across the ocean,

not the one you were at Rogers Panda Pond, right? But then there was too much Rogers Cup stuff going on. So first question is, okay, But then there was too much Rogers Cup stuff going on. So first question is, okay, so Milos loses that final to Andy Murray. So when do you think he will win his first major? What does your crystal ball tell you about Milos? That's a good question. He honestly is now in the running for the slams as we move forward.

The French is the most unlikely he's better on the hard courts and then grass so i'd say us and wimbledon are his best chance but he's now at the level where you kind of have three stages right now in the top 10 you have djokovic who is really hard if not almost impossible to beat but then he got beaten the third round at Wimbledon so he is human and then you have guy and Murray's up there too and then you have guys like Raonic you have guys like Varinka who has won slams you have guys who can get there but they need a little help on their side so they're right on the edge they're knocking on the door and then you have some other players who kind of come in and out and they're not quite there. So the positive is Milos is right there and he has

the game to win. It's just a matter of taking advantage of an opportunity and hoping that the draw opens up for you. So he's much more now than just a big serve. Yes. Yeah. He's more of an all-around player. And even in the past year and a half when people have said he's just a big serve. Yes. Yeah, he's more of an all-around player. And even in the past year and a half when people have said he's just a big serve, he has been more than that, but something changed when the calendar switched to 2016. I noticed he seems leaner. Like, I don't

know if he's... He just seems a little, like, leaner. I think he's filled out. Because it just seems like he might be... He seemed... I don't want to say... He didn't look chubby or anything, but he just didn't seem as like fit as somebody at that level of tennis probably should be. But I think he looks it now. He's a huge, I mean, he said at Wimbledon that Murray is the ultimate fitness guy on tour, as is Djokovic. But I think Milos is right there.

I mean, he's super into his preparation. So he's doing all the right things. He's focused on tennis. It's just a matter of time, as the cliche goes. It would be so exciting to have a Canadian... Can you imagine? That's what's surreal. Well, it's like when Mike Weir won the Masters.

It's just amazing. It's one of us, one of our own. Except unlike golf, I actually really like tennis. So it's more exciting for me. So we'll get it next time. Well. And I think a lot of casual tennis fans have been wondering why hasn't it come sooner? And when Jeannie quickly made that run two years ago and made the Wimbledon final, they thought, well, what the heck's Milos doing? But that's not, it takes time and it takes this build. And in tennis now it is getting older. And what, like, uh, I know you don't have the answer on

this one probably, but is Jeannie ever going to bounce back was that really just like a one-year uh apparition yeah i don't know if she'll ever be a wimbledon finalist maybe i'm wrong again but she is even at rogers cap she's starting to string some wins together she's back with her old coach she's definitely playing better now than she did last year she's not she's not as bad as you're playing better now than she did last year. She's not as bad as she was last year. You're playing better now than she was last year. You're probably. Yeah, no. No.

But she's actually in Rio. I noticed. Yeah, she looks to be having a good time. But Milos pulled out of Rio. And I guess just too much to lose. Is this just a business decision? I think in tennis, because I think it was John Isner who was very honest and said that Zika is not the reason that he's not going to Rio. The schedule

is. So the issue for golf and tennis is that their seasons don't lead up to the Olympics like many of the other sports. It's right in the middle of an 11- basically season. Right. So that's what makes it tricky. But I think for Milos, it was a number of things. And he's someone who's struggled a little bit to consistently stay healthy in his career. So he's thinking long-term. Gotcha.

Gotcha. Um, now other than Milos, who we all know about Milos Ranic and his rise, who are the other up and coming Canadian tennis people we should be? Yeah. A 15-old from Quebec, Felix Auger-Aliassime, who, along with Denis Shapovalov,

who we've struggled with his last name over the past couple of weeks. I'm just going to call him Felix, first of all. Yeah, Felix and Denis. Let's go with that. So the two of them won the U.S. Open Junior Doubles, so the boys' title last year. They were in the Wimbledon Doubles final. And Denis won the Wbles, so the boys' title last year. They were in the Wimbledon doubles final.

And Dennis won the Wimbledon Junior Boys' title this year. So they're good friends, which I think has really helped them along, admittedly. And yeah, I mean, they're 15. As I said, Felix is 15. Dennis is 17. So they're in good shape. They're playing in Granby in the Challenger right now.

And Pospisil. Anything is Pospisil. He just split with his coach at four years. He's had a rough year in singles. He is ranked a hundred or just outside the top 100. He's playing doubles with Nestor at the Olympics. That'll be fun to watch. Yeah.

I'm old enough to remember, uh, Nestor versus Edberg. Sure. This is, uh, were you even born? I was, because I'm the exact same age as Vasek and Milos. And they were two years old when, no. Yeah, two years old. I guess Milos was turning, was just one when Nestor went pro, which is insane.

Yeah, that is insane. And he's not old. That's the thing. But it tells you how much more we value a singles title than a doubles title because he never got his... If Milos wins one, it'll just skyrocket way past anything. And Nestor is

one of the greatest doubles players ever in tennis. I think he's one of the most underrated athletes in Canada. You. Yeah. I think he's one of the most underrated athletes in Canada. Yep. You might be right. DJ Skip on Twitter wants to know if you like French fries with ketchup or mayonnaise. Ketchup?

I've never had it with mayonnaise. Yeah. You know, that's a pulp. Is that a thing? It's a pulp fiction. If you ever saw Pulp Fiction. No, sorry. Where's my Pulp Fiction?

Okay. It's hanging on the wall behind you, but you can't see it from your angle. But there's like a whole scene about how in the Netherlands, like I say, in Holland, they use mayonnaise instead of ketchup. No, ketchup. Yeah. I actually don't use either on my French fry. I just call it like naked. I mean, I will if there's no ketchup. Thanks for clarifying just so you

know uh how and so let me see uh do you do any uh uh i mean other than tennis do you have any big names that you've interviewed like in your yeah um i'm trying to think of some of the coolest interviews serena and tennis has been very it's been very neat over the years to interview her during her prime. An interview to me that stands out, I think it was three years ago, and it was, it was a, I forget what they call it.

It was for a movie. What do they call it when you go to movies and they kind of rotate people into interviews? Do you know? Junction? Yeah. I almost have it, right? Yeah.

Not a junction junction but like uh junk junket junket wow okay anyway yeah you can edit that out right yeah um i can so it was a press junket for the movie 42 about uh jackie robinson and i interviewed matt camp when he was with the dodgers and he was sitting next to Don Newcomb. So you've got two very different generations and just talking to Don Newcomb about all he faced and the racism in his career and his relationship with Jackie Robinson was very enlightening. It was very interesting because you just realized you're talking to an ordinary man in unordinary circumstances. For sure. So that was very neat. I got to interview Harrison Ford with that junket. That was very cool.

The word on him is that he's not particularly personable. I thought he was very nice. Is that what I hear? He's dry? No, I thought he was very nice. No, nice, but not... He's dry, I guess was very nice. Is that what I hear? He's dry? No, I thought he was very nice. No, nice, but not, he's dry, I guess. But nice. Yeah, I guess he was, I don't know. We had an interesting chat.

I tried to veer off the obvious questions, right? That's going to be tough because they have like one by one you go in there. Oh, they're probably going to ask the exact same question. Yeah. Those have got to be the toughest interviews you'll ever do. It's not like. So you got to come up with something different. Right.

Yeah. And I didn't even know what the process was called. So that was strike one. I called it a junction. But in my head, I could hear the word. I knew what you were going for. Yeah. Junction.

It's like junction. But yeah, I've interviewed. I mean, Gibby, I always like to interview. John Gibbons. Dwayne Casey. I know this is Toronto people toronto people but no i gotta say uh i've had wilner on this show a couple of times oh he's great he was someone who was very good to me when i was an intern at the fan good to hear by the way another guy who i used to watch

on cable 10 way back in the day he had a show called let's talk sports and i would watch this on cable 10 like 100 years ago but he calls john gibbons gibby yes i don't think like if you're covering the team i don't know if you should go with the nicknames it's just to me that's there's got to be a line there i don't even like i know now that's a big discussion point like can you cheer on the team you're covering or whatever right but gibby to me to me and you know it depends on your role i guess but yeah because he your point that you should say Gibbons. Yeah, because he says, well, everyone calls him Gibby, so I call him Gibby. But I feel that if you want to be taken seriously as the guy covering the Jays objectively, that you don't call him Gibby, you call him Gibbons.

Yeah, I see your point. I can't really help to say Gibby. And Gibby is a likable guy. Yes. Even if you think he's not particularly a good manager, you still like the guy. Even if you think he's not particularly a good manager, you still like the guy. Yes. And I tend to

favor nice people. So he's someone who will ask, oh, how are you? How's work? How's this going? Right? It's not just all about him. And Aaron Davis once told me that he's Gibby's really handsome he's a good looking guy but this is just uh maybe young people like you don't see it because he's reminds you of

your dad or something i'm not gonna comment on that no comment but you can still call him gibby uh here's i hope this isn't crossing the line or something but they were they were filming a mini series nearby on the kennedys oh it's katie holmes and that right yes so katie holmes is playing uh jackie oh so uh katie holmes gets this gig but i actually have always thought you could play jackie i don't know if you've ever heard this before have you yeah i have yes i remember when i well and when i was little i had a shorter haircut so it was kind of right to my right to my shoulders maybe more like a bob and i'd always wear a hairband So I remember when I was at camp as a kid, the counselors would call me Jackie.

And one of our PAs, she always calls me Jax. So this is not an original thought by me. Yeah. I was just thinking, yeah, you got Katie Holmes, but if she doesn't work out... I'm sure I'm a terrible actress, but... But you don't know that for sure. And Katie Holmes might be a terrible actress too, even though I did like Dawson's Creek.

Great show. Do you believe in black holes? Like, do you have any opinion on black holes? Not really. I haven't thought about it too much. My dad though, he took aeronautical engineering. He wanted to be an astronaut. Wow. so he is um he kind of got us all there's a lot of math in that there is yeah i didn't get those genes i ask okay here's why i ask so but he's very you know what but after this discussion i will call him and see what he thinks let me know because um but this is something this is important to you you're missing context on this so it's not your fault that you're lost right now. It's my fault.

Terrible host. That's okay. So Jackie Redmond was on. And I asked her a question I had never asked anybody before, like near the end of our chat. I asked her, I said, what's your most controversial opinion? And I asked her, are you a flat earther or somebody? There's people out there and you find out,

oh, they believe the earth is flat or whatever. And she said, I don't believe in black holes so i'm like pardon like what do you mean you don't believe that oh she's like like because i don't i can't see black holes i don't believe they exist so what's she saying santa's not real oh no don't say that never say that i'm sure santa's real. But so I just, so obviously, you know, there's math to show black holes exist. Exactly. So I believe they do exist. Good.

I agree with you. Oh, okay. Yeah. I thought you meant, do you have a black hole? I thought, I don't know. No. Do you have any controversial opinions? Like, I don't think so.

You don't believe... No, that's great. You don't believe Elvis is still alive? No, I don't believe in any conspiracy theories. Sorry, that would make for a much juicier podcast. No, I don't always look for the juice. I look for the real talk. Speaking of the juice,

I have one more episode to go in the FX 10-part miniseries on the O.J. Simpson. Oh, see, I haven't watched any of those. And people at work, they watch the ESPN one. I haven't done that. I need to do that. Okay, well, the ESPN one,

which is a documentary, much better, in my opinion. Much better, in my opinion. But I'm going... So I watched that already, and it's fantastic. Five parts, I think. Incredible. You need'm going, so I watched that already and it's fantastic. Yeah. Five parts, I think.

I need to watch. Incredible. You need to watch that one. Is that on demand? I can't tell you if it's on demand, but yeah, it is tough to find

those 30 for 30s in Canada because like if you have Netflix, I don't know if you have Netflix. Yes, I do. In America, they get the 30 for 30s on Netflix. Yeah.

Oh. But in Canada, we don't. I didn't know that. Yeah. That's not fair. It isn't fair at all. And I don't know what the licensing deal is there. I'll find it.

It's good, though? Do you like the FX one? Not as much. And I think it's because I watched the ESPN one first. So there's nothing surprising me or whatever. But what I find interesting is the actors they've chosen to play these parts. Like, there's a couple of, uh,

characters, uh, Darden, for example, Chris Darden, the actor playing Darden has me convinced that Chris Darden is playing Chris Darden. Like it's so perfect. Oh really?

A few like that are just perfect. Good. Good casting. Yeah. There's some, some pretty amazing casting. The one that's bugging me a little bit is, uh,

David Schwimmer. Yeah. Is he on it? He's playing Robert, uh, Kardashian. So Robert Kardashian. So the Kardashian. Ross?

Yeah. I think I saw that on Twitter at some point. And there's a few that are a little off, but more or less they've been pretty bang on. Even Travolta, speaking of Pulp Fiction, does a pretty good job as Robert Shapiro. Yeah. And by the way, that's the other thing.

So I'm watching it and suddenly my brain thinks of Shapiro. It always thought of Shapiro as Shapiro, but now my brain thinks of Shapiro. It always thought of Shapiro as Shapiro, but now my brain thinks of Shapiro. And I had trouble saying Shapiro because I was so used to saying Shapiro as well. Yeah. But now you want to say Shapiro. Now you think Shapiro.

There's no going back. It's like Carolyn and Caroline. Right. And that's exactly what it's like. There's an egotistical response. Did you have a good time? I did. Thanks very much for having me.

I really appreciate it. I just wanted to ask who signed that Blue Jays poster? So that is from, do you know Blind Eric? Does this name ring a bell? So did you ever listen to the Dean Blundell show when it was on 102.1? No, I wasn't awake. No, I don't watch more of that stuff either. Do you ever listen to the radio stations uh the move

which used to be called flow yes like a throwback okay have you ever heard that station yep so that station and boom yes okay those stations are owned by a new cap okay and their imaging guy is named uh Derek Welsman and that Derek Welsman who And that Derek Welsman, who I know as Blind Derek, got that signed in like, I don't know, late 90s or something. It's got Roy Halliday on there and stuff. Cool. And he gave it to me

because he knew I'm a big Jays fan. That's nice of him. So that's why it's up there. That's very cool. Nice. Although that's like, between the old logo and the current logo,

the logos, like they weren't great. You know what I mean? This new logo is great. Yeah. And that made a huge difference, I think, in terms of making the Jays cool again. Absolutely. It's almost like they realized, hey, we had a really good thing,

and they just needed to like sharpen it up and modernize it a bit. Fantastic. By the way, are the Jays going to win the World Series this year? I think they'll get close. So we're making the playoffs. Yes. Knock on substitute wood. But I'm unbiased, right? You're allowed. I'm split on this. I'm unbiased about John Gibbons. You can call him Gibby if you're not covering him like Wilner does. If you're just doing the Sports Central, you can call him Gibby. How's that? Thank you. So Carolyn, this was an absolute pleasure. Thanks very much for having me. I very much appreciate it. And that, that brings us to the end of our 188th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike and Carolyn is at S N Carolyn. SN stands for sports net.

Yes. I'm pretty clever. I figured that out. And our friends at Great Lakes brewery are at Great Lakes beer. See you all next week. around and drink some Guinness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been?

Because everything is kind of rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold but the snow wants me to dance And your smile is We'll see you next time.