Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Caroline Szwed: Toronto Mike'd #431

Episode Date: February 8, 2019

Mike chats with Sportsnet's Caroline Szwed about her soccer career, hosting Plays of the Month, Misplays of the Month and Aftermath, and Cash.

Welcome to episode 431 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Propertyinthe6.com, ATM Canada, Palma Pasta, Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair. And our newest sponsor, Buckle. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me to kick... Actually, you're not here to kick out the jams. But joining me, I apologize, is Sportsnet's Caroline Shved. How did I do? Shved. That was so good. You know, I was expecting a little bit.

Some people have difficulties with that last name, but that was pretty good. Shved. I've been practicing all week to get that right. It's a very nice, strong Irish name, Shved. Super Irish. No, it's very, very Polish, as Polish as can be, I think. Yeah, both my parents are from Poland. So let me say to you, Dzień dobry.

Dzień dobry. Jak się masz? I you, Dzień dobry. Dzień dobry. Jak się masz? I only know Dzień dobry. Yes, that's a C. I caught what you did there and I tried to extend it. But yeah, I just asked how you're doing. So, so much to...

Like right off the bat, so you brought me a coffee. Oh, yes. So I already have warm feelings towards you because not every guest brings me a coffee. I'm so happy to have this. Oh, I'm glad you have it. And you're wearing... I want to talk about your jacket here.

Okay. I looked at this jacket and I saw Rowdy Roddy Piper. And then I looked closer and I saw it's actually Ronda Rousey. Yes. Is that how you say Rousey? Yeah, Ronda Rousey. So tell me, so Ronda's taken on the Rowdy Roddy Piper branding? Yep, it's just tribute to him.

And I'm a big fan of Ronda Rousey and all the WWE fans that follow Aftermath and myself, Sportsnet's Aftermath TV, would know that I love Ronda Rousey. And I just love what she's done in UFC and I love what she's continuing to do in WWE. And I think that she's a really good role model for women. And I actually got the chance to interview her at SummerSlam. And it was probably the best moment of my life. And that's what's interesting. So you're a big Ronda fan. I was a big Rowdy Roddy Piper fan.

He was my favorite. Which means we're basically best friends now, right? We're best friends. We're just like a 20-year gap there. That's okay, though. I was a big mid-80s wwf guy and rowdy was my guy he was my guy i thought he was the coolest and the piper's pit and everything so i but i had no idea somebody had come on come on board to like adopt his like uh imaging or branding and

that's cool yeah uh ronda rousey's debut she walked out in tribute to him and everyone loved it so and and yeah i i can't say anything else except for that i love her and i love what she's doing and uh that interview that i had with her was definitely career highlight is that the career highlight you know it's so funny no this is so great because i would say that if i were to walk out in WWE, this would be my go-to song. This is like perfect timing. Do you want to sing? Do you sing this song?

I'm a little tone-deaf, but I can totally sing the chorus. I'm not afraid to sing. I just don't know how many of your viewers would appreciate it. The strange coincidence is that I played this song yesterday on episode 430 because my guest was Stu Jeffries. And when he plays this song in Boom 97.3, he sings along to it on the air.

How's his singing? Better than mine. Probably not as good as yours. Oh, no, no, no. You don't want to hear this girl sing, but I can do it. Well, the part he hits, it's coming up. The bam, bam, bum, bum. Reach now.

Touching me. Touching you. Sweet Caroline. Bum, bum, bum. You want to hear a funny story? Yep. So WVU, West Virginia University, where I went to school, this is our school's theme song.

And West Virginia University is a big rival with the University of Pitt because we're about an hour away. So when it goes, sweet Caroline, the bum bum bum goes, eat shit Pitt. So it'll be like college game day. You'll have the ESPN panel in Morgantown and all the fans, we won't even be playing Pittsburgh and all the fans will start singing Sweet Caroline

and then they'll say, Eat Shit Pit. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that on your podcast. You can. And so what happens now, I'm sure that when you hear Sweet Caroline, you want to say that, right? I always say it.

I always, and I, you know, I like a few Pittsburgh professional teams, but it's tradition. I'm a mountaineer. So if you go to WVU, you cannot hear this song any other way than the West Virginia way. And did you always love this song? Because this is your song, right?

This is my song. You know, it's my go-to karaoke. I get extremely happy when people sing it. And it's just a feel-good song, you know? I amazing it's my go-to karaoke um i get extremely happy when people sing it and it's just a feel-good song you know i feel like everyone loves it it's at all the sports games boston sort of ruined it with the red socks but i yeah it's a sing-along but your name okay i'm guessing you're really a carolina faque right okay so my name in polish is carolina um which i really wish my parents named me carolina so my parents had my both my parents were born in poland and my brother was born in poland they had my brother over there my brother's name is very polish camille which in

north america camille is a girl girl name c-a-m-i-l-l-e uh but in poland it's k-a-m-i-l so when they came over to can, they had me eight years later and my brother goes, you cannot give her a Polish name because he was a little kid and people would call him Camel Sweat instead of Camille Shved. Yeah. So he was like, you cannot do that to her. But I'm super in touch with my culture and my upbringing. So I would have loved an extremely Polish last name or first name. My buddy lives across the street. I went to high school with him and his name is Przysiemski. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, I'm surprised that I don't have an S-K-I at the end of my last name. But my parents put me in Polish school every Saturday for eight years. We grew up watching the Polish news. Whereabouts did you grow up? Um, Oakville,

Oakville, Ontario. So initially, so I was born in Toronto and my parents lived Jane and Shepherd, I believe. Okay. And then, uh,

moved when I was about a year over to Oakville and that's where I grew up. All the Polish are closer to, uh, Jane and Bloor. Yeah. And then you get into Ron C's and everything. Yeah. Cause I went to closer to Jane and Bloor. Yeah. And then you get into Ronci's and everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I went to school at Jane and Bloor,

primary school, and they had the Polish school after the regular school. And like half the class would stay for like Polish school. Oh, yeah. Polish school. You know what I love about the Polish community

is everything that we do is around Polish people. So it's funny. Like we go to a Polish church. We have a Polish bank, a Polish dentist. You know what I mean? We're just such a community. And Sved, maybe it was shortened at some point. Maybe it was like a Svedski. Maybe it was Svedski. I don't know. I like that Svedski. We should just change it. It's funny because my dog, his name is Cash, but to make him Polish, I call him Kaczynski. So sometimes I'll call him Kaczynski.

Okay, there. I wanted to see how long it would take for you to bring up Cash. Oh, gosh. So seven minutes, 50 seconds. I have a question for you. Okay, there's a sponsor. He's a great guy. He's a real estate sales representative with PSR Brokerage.

His name is Brian, and he recorded a question for you. Okay. So this next voice belongs to Brian. great job of talking about the Galleria Mall redevelopment, which will include over 1,500 condos that PSR will be selling exclusively. I have a big meeting coming up next Tuesday, so feel free to call or text me at 416-873-0292 to be put on my VIP Toronto Mike listeners list for first access. Caroline, going through your Twitter timeline, I cannot help but notice all of your pictures

of your dog Cash. If you could give us the backstory on Cash, that would be great. And I also want to know what it was like to meet Gritty in person, who is my favorite mascot besides Yuppie. Tell us about Cash, because you're right. I also follow you on Twitter,

and it's dominated by Cash tweets. Yes. Okay. So hello, Brian. Thank you for your question. I can't talk enough about how happy even just bringing up Cash makes me. He's a wonderful animal and he's opened up my eyes to how much love and, you know, just absolute joy animals can bring to your life. And my backstory with cash is I lived in West Virginia for eight years. When I graduated there, I stayed for a little longer and I was working one day and on a whim, it was a Friday. I had all my work done and I left around 2 p.m. and I drove to Charleston. Now, Charleston, West Virginia is about three hours away from

Morgantown. And I'm like, you know what, I'm going to go to the shelter and I'm going to walk in and I'm going to adopt a senior dog. And I had to go through the puppy section and I was looking and all the puppies are so excited, you know, just like happy little guys and just barking and looking at you. And I saw Cash. Now, his name wasn't Cash at the time. It was Waylon. And he was in the crate and he was so sad. His nose was right up against the crate, like dried mucus on his nose, sad eyes, crusty ears, crusty eyes, everything. And I said, oh, like, what's this dog's name? And they said, Waylon. And they said, you know, he's about two months, six pounds, very, very sick. And I was like, well, I want him. And they're like,

he's, he needs a lot of attention. I'm like, I don't care. I want him. He's my dog. And there is this rule in that state. I believe it's cannot in Charleston where you can't take a dog without it being neutered or spayed because that's the whole purpose of not having these animals. Like, you know, they want to stop all these animals being on the streets. And I was like, we cannot neuter him. He's only two months old. I promise you in about five months, I will get him neutered once he's all healthy. I'm just not leaving with this dog. Like you, I'm not leaving without this dog. And they finally realized I was probably a crazy lady and gave me cash. And I had nothing to bring him home to. Like the first stop we made as soon as I got back to Morgantown was a crate, pet food, uh, you know, toys, blankets, whatever he may need.

How long ago is this? Oh, four years, four years this year. And, um, I have not looked back since he was really sick. He had like pneumonia, bronchitis, kennel cough, worms, everything like the, the poor guy was just so sick. And I remember one night he was in the crate because I tried to crate train him. That's what you're supposed to do, right? And he was coughing and sneezing. And I'm like, oh my God, this dog's not going to make it. So I took him out of the crate and I let him sleep with me at night. And what he would do is he would nuzzle his head on my neck and sleep with me, I guess for warmth and love. And I really would do is he would nuzzle his head on my neck and sleep with me, I guess, for warmth and love. And I really truly think that he thinks that I'm like his actual dog

mom, like I'm actually a dog because that's where our bond started. And he was on antibiotics for a long period of time, close to four to five months. And since the antibiotics were so strong, it stopped the growth of his teeth. So his teeth got stuck in his gums and some grew out black. So what happened was he would stop eating and drinking water because the infection in his mouth from his rotting teeth started to really hurt him. So the vet was like, we need to pull all of his teeth for him to live. So then I got Cash's teeth extracted. And now he's happy. But you know, like everyone's like, oh, poor guy, you know.

And I did feel so sorry for him. But I look at him and I think of him as such a little champion. He had no shot and he got through everything. And the biggest question I get is, oh, my God, if he has no teeth, what does he eat? And regular food. I tried pre-soaking his kibbles and he wouldn't touch it. And I'm like, that's my little champion. That's like my little Rocky. He eats regular food. He eats, he eats apples. He eats everything. And he's just, and that's why his tongue hangs out all the time.

He's just so cute. Now. Okay. I saw you. So you did tweet once. Uh, I took this one down. I liked it. It was on the crazy lady outside any Starbucks hanging out with dogs while their owners get coffee. So you just, you just naturally love like dogs, I guess. You know what? I, I think I was an animal in a past life because you're an animal in this life. Yeah.

I just, I just, I don't know. I can really, if I, if someone leaves their dog outside of Starbucks to go get a coffee and their dog is so sad that the owners separated for them for a second. I think of cash because cash would lose his mind. So I just sit out there with them petting them until

their owner comes back outside just so they know that they're okay and they're not alone. So that's quite the cash story. And all I'm thinking about is how much cash does cash cost you? Like what are the vet bills like? Mike, great question. Okay. So I called him Cash because he has one white paw. Okay. So my biggest goal in life is to open an animal shelter for animals that need a home and that need to be rescued. So I said, well, in order for her to do that, you need money. So I'm like, Cash has one white paw, which is very lucky. And I'm going to call him Cash. So I one day win the lottery. And then it's going to be called the House of Cash, named after my little guy. If anything, I spend all my money on this dog. And I, you know, like I've now won the lottery. Yeah, but there's no, yeah, there's no OHIP for

dogs. Like, so when I can imagine just antibiotics and all this stuff and pulling teeth, you're in thousands of bucks. It was, his uh his extraction of his teeth cost me two grand but here's the thing for me when you adopt an animal or you get an animal from a breeder you go into that knowing that animal is your responsibility so whatever you need to do to make it more comfortable or prolong its life you should do so for me you know paying two thousand dollars for a surgery that will help him live a long, happy life that I will pay off in time was a no brainer for me. Plus I love that dog from the first day I got him. I, to me, people are always like, Oh, it's a good thing that you

rescued cash, but he's done so much for me in so many ways. And I've seen those billboards you had erected in the city, the cash day billboards. You did that, right? Like I would bike by these cash day. No, no, no, no, no, no, but I got some bad Intel there. I could, I see them on my bike ride. So cash day. And I think, Oh, Caroline, spend some more bucks. One day. Don't worry. Cash will take over the world one day. Okay. Good for cash. Where's cash right now? Cash is at home. He, he, everyone asks, you know, how, how does he do when you go to work? He sleeps all day. this guy is a great dog he just loves to snooze and then when i come home i take him for a nice walk i go and throw the ball with him uh but he's pretty lazy he's he is um you know it's funny he has so many qualities that

i have like my mom and i were laughing about this the other day we walk insanely fast like if mike if you and i were walking down the street you would hate me because no i walk really fast and everybody tells you you'd love cash and i we walk so fast we both have really bad cartilage in our knees um we both have anxiety we both have we're very stressed and we have anxiety you have anxiety i do because of all the vet bills you know what no cash never bring cash is the opposite of causing me anxiety but What makes you anxious? And now I'm curious, is this environmental stress or is this something innate? No, it's something that I think I've always had. Ever since I was, I'd say 10 and I got into,

no, even younger when I was in Polish school, I put an insane amount of pressure on myself to execute everything with perfectionism. And if I don't reach 10 out of 10 or 12 out of 10, I'm not happy. So everything I do in my life has to be perfect. Now I'm really working on myself because I understand that you can't be perfect all the time, but it's just this pressure to constantly do excellent at everything that I do. You're a perfectionist. I am to, to a fault, but it's also, um, it's also what makes me, me. And it's probably why, you know, I've been given

the opportunity to do some of the things that I have. Is it inappropriate for me to ask, uh, age? Like, I'm just now curious. Like, so you're, you're, you're very young in your career, right? 27. I don't know if that's young. I feel like now I don't're you're very young in your career right 27 i don't know if that's young i feel like now i don't you know i depends it's not young if you're like still in high school but like if you're uh you know if you do you live on your own i do live on my own okay so you live on your own you have a dog and is your who's paying is your mom paying these vet bills are you no that's all me. So that's something that I really pride myself on is I pay, you know, my parents are the most amazing people on this earth. And

if I ever needed anything that they would 100% help me with it. But I'm 27 and I'm a little bit of an old soul. So I have the mentality where it's like, okay, my parents did a lot for me growing up. When I was 17, I left for West Virginia and I've been on my own since. So now it's like, I'm an adult. I pay for my own bills. I figure everything out. Um, but I do have that cushion and that, you know, safety blanket knowing that if one day, you know, stuff hits the, you know, the fan and, and I you can swear remember i know i felt bad i need to know uh if shit hits the fan you know i'm i'm uh i'm okay because i have a really good loving family but you have a good support system the best yes that's always good to know so but you live on your own and you live in toronto toronto yes like real toronto like 416 uh west

end okay but it's still trying yes uh which Which neighborhood? Can I ask that? Yeah, DuPont. So near the Galleria Mall? Oh my God, I'm the worst Torontonian. Okay, how close to Dufferin are you on DuPont? I don't think too far. Oh, you don't know. I don't know. Is it like, wait, are you...

I'm newly Torontonian. Okay, give me a big intersection then. DuPont and DuPont. Lansdowne and DuPont. Okay, do you know how... I'll stop the presses. I'm sorry. No, don't apologize.

Lansdowne and DuPont. Okay. Do you know how... I'll stop the presses. I'm sorry. No, don't apologize. Lansdowne and DuPont is so close to the Galleria Mall, which is at Dufferin and DuPont. This is one... I mean, the subway runs on Bloor, not DuPont, but that's one subway stop.

So I know you're new to Toronto. I'm here to help you. I mean, you're new to this by the time. You are ridiculously close to the Galleria Mall. Okay. Which means nothing except that we just, Brian just talked about the development at the Galleria Mall.

And I worked there for five years. Oh, great. You know what? No, I need to do a better job of getting out in Toronto and exploring. I grew up in Oakville. I have a place in Oakville. So that's where I was actually for quite some time.

And I've recently moved to Toronto. But as soon as this horrible weather starts clearing up, I will do my best to just get out there with Cash and walk and explore the area. Yeah. Be careful though. There's some drug dealing happening in your neighborhood. I just want you to be careful. Always. My eyes are... That's the thing. You know what? Anywhere you go, you just got to be aware and smart and safe, which I always am. And Cash would howl at anyone that came anywhere near me. But he's got no teeth.

He's got no teeth. But Mike, let me tell you, there are like German shepherds who are afraid of Cash because Cash is a 35 pound toothless dog, but acts like he is an absolute Rottweiler sometimes. I'm glad to hear the Germans

are now afraid of the Polish. Oh my goodness. This is good. This is good. Now your episode, not episode, you are here on the 8th. Yes. And the 8th, 8th was a significant number to you. Huge number. This is your number. You wore number 8. Yes, I wore number 8. My birthday is on the 18th. There's a lot of 8s in my life. And 8 was always a lucky number for me. It's a soccer number that I grew up with. I played with eight on the national team. I went to the World Cup wearing number eight and I played at West Virginia with number eight. So for me, that's like a big number in my life and consider it to be a lucky number. That's why you're here today. Now,

all that we're going to dive into very shortly. One other thing I noticed is your nickname is Mess. Yeah, Messy. So this is funny. When I was growing up, I went through a phase where before I went to bed, I would like OCD or, and this was at like four or five years old, I would organize my room and clean it perfectly. Okay. But then I went through a phase shortly after where I would go to bed and my room was extremely messy and it drove my parents nuts. So one day my dad was like, and my dad's the funniest guy ever. He was like, Caroline, if you don't start cleaning up your room, I'm going to call you messy for the rest

of your life. And I was like, okay, I don't really care. Yeah. And I didn't really think he was being serious and sure thing he was. And from that day on, so since like probably I was five or six, my dad and my whole family has been calling me messy or mess for short form. So nothing to do with Lionel Messi. No, everyone thinks that. No, no, no, no. But it's just like, and that's honestly, that's what my family calls me. It's rarely... They rarely call me Caroline. It's really Carolina, mess, messy. That's really it.

Valentine's Day is coming up. Yes. Is Cash your Valentine? So here's the thing. People are like, oh, Cash is your boyfriend, blah, blah. No, it's not like that. It's weird.

I wasn't suggesting that Cash is your boyfriend. That's what people will comment on my Instagram. But to me, Cash is like my first born child. He's like my little fur baby. So what I'm going to do, and this was actually inspired by Shane Corson's son, Dylan Corson. He gave an amount of money to the Toronto Humane Society, I believe, to buy Valentine's Day treats for their animals. So what I'm going to do for Valentine's Day is donate some money to the Toronto Humane Society so all the animals in there can feel some love. And if no one out there has a Valentine's Day date like me, I think that that's just such a nice way to spread the love. Well, here's an idea. Now, a couple of things at play here. One is that if

you want a Valentine's Day treat for like a human animal, there are these amazing heart-shaped raviolis that you can buy from Palma Pasta. Oh. And I just now have remembered our exchange. So tell me, okay, diet-wise, this is where it gets not awkward, but interesting. Okay, so I took a note

that you drink celery juice every morning. Yes. You do that, right? But you told, so I want to hear about that, but I also want to hear, like you can't eat, you don't eat dairy or gluten? So, okay. So here's the thing. I'm Polish. So we're like natural carnivores. We eat meat every

meal. So there's nothing, when I hear people eat meat or when I used to eat meat, there's nothing wrong with that. And I'm not one of those people who would take a stand against people who eat meat. But recently I've been drinking celery juice and I've cut out meat and dairy and gluten from my diet only because I've been feeling mentally and emotionally a little drained. And when I've been eating like crap, I've been feeling like crap. So I really wanted to take this time to completely detox my body. And I can't tell you how much it's been working alongside a lot of the workouts I've been doing to the point where I'm not craving meat and I'm not craving things like cheese that I love. So I feel good. You know,

I think about sometimes the animals that, you know, that I love. But then again, you can't even really think about that. It's the way the world goes, but it's not like a forever diet. It's more of like a lifestyle. And I can't say that if it's Thanksgiving dinner and there's turkey stuffing in front of me, I won't eat the turkey stuffing. So it's just really a lifestyle thing. Well, here's the awkward part. I can't think of a worst gift for you than somebody who's not eating dairy and is not eating gluten. Maybe the worst thing I could give you is a wonderful lasagna from Palma Pasta. So it's there if you want it. If you leave it here, my family of six will eat it. No pressure. You can do what you want there. You've already given me a coffee. You could give me a lasagna here.

But this is, for those who aren't gluten-free and are still eating dairy, this is the greatest food on the planet. Okay, the lasagna from Palma Pasta. So Palma Pasta, you said you're from Oakville. Your parents are in Oakville now.

Yep. So they have a location in Oakville. They also have locations in Mississauga. You can go to from Oakville. Your parents are in Oakville now. Yep. So they have a location in Oakville. They also have locations in Mississauga. You can go to palmapasta.com to find out exactly where they are. But they are Mississauga's best fresh pasta and Italian food. So thank you, Palmapasta. Again, sorry for the worst gift I could give you. No.

Also, now I'm worried too. There's gluten in beer, right? You know, I'm not a big drinker. So these are terrible gifts i'm giving you caroline but no i mike seriously it's the thought that counts and if you would have asked me two months ago about eating this meat lasagna i would have probably ate the entire thing on my own and i would have given i could have got you a vegetarian no it's okay don't even worry about it but the great lakes let me just thank the sponsor great lakes brewery because

they're a local in they're a fiercely independent craft brewery located here in Etobicoke. 99.9% of all Great Lakes beer remains here in Ontario. GLB, it's brewed for you, Ontario, but not for you, Caroline. I'm sorry. I'm like your worst guest. No, are you kidding me? First of all, no, because someone else will enjoy this fresh craft beer. I'm going to enjoy that lasagna.

You're actually the best guest. I'm sorry. Every guest gave me a lasagna. I'm telling you, this is all great. So don't you worry about it. But that diet though, that sounds really restrictive. Like, so what are you going to have for dinner tonight? Like, just give me ideas. Are you going to have beans? Is that it? So you know what? It's really not that hard when you have recipes to guide you and actually make your food taste good. So like the other day I made meatless tacos and instead of meat, I put lentils together with some walnuts and then all these spices on lettuce wraps and, um, you know, with some vegetables and it was actually so good. And this is coming from a girl who was in university and ate McDonald's like five days a week. Okay. So I love my food. I love pizza.

I love, um, you know, tacos. I'm like a big pasta person, but cutting some of that stuff out right now, I think especially the gluten has done wonders for me. Also, you can't afford that stuff when you're paying all the vet bills. Let's be very honest here. You know, like knock on wood, cash has been super healthy. And if anything, it's just been the occasional, like, okay, he needs these shots, which all animals do do and like his occasional nail clipping or the heartworm pill do you do heartworm i do everything for him is his tongue hangs out all the time so just imagine him sniffing everything on the ground and his tongue is dragging so it freaks me out that he's collecting all these germs and honestly if the dog sneezes once or coughs i'm like oh my god he needs

medication so but he But he's great. Knock on wood, he's been healthy, so healthy. When you first arrived here today, your phone was going off. And I said, is there breaking news? Because you work for Sportsnet. Maybe there's something breaking. And you said your friends were telling you or you guys were chatting about the new Ariana Grande album, right? So you're a big fan of pop music?

Yes. You know, I love all music, except for I would say heavy metal. But I've been loving what Ariana Grande has been doing recently, you know, just promoting that self-care is important. And sometimes maybe women need to take a step back and not be in a relationship and work on themselves and love themselves before they can enter that world. And, you know, I love doing those deep dives, trying to understand what songs mean and all the hidden secrets in songs. So her latest album, which was just released this morning, I think is pretty good. Like a midnight drop?

Yeah, it was a midnight drop. Exciting. Now, 10 years ago, one decade ago, you were a teenager. Yeah, crazy. I mean, the music you love is like a 16-year-old. That sticks with you forever, right? Am I right? Yeah. You want to hear what I listen to?

After I play this song, I want to hear it. So hold on to that one because I'm going to tell you about a song. I'm going to play it for you. We're going to talk about it. On this exact day, Caroline, 10 years ago. I'm excited. The number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 was this. Kelly Clarkson. Very good. I know my songs.

Very good. Here, let's let it play a bit and then we'll just talk about what you were listening to at this time. Anyone but me Said you'd never come back But here you are again Cause we belong together now Forever united here somehow You got a piece of me All right, Caroline, My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson. It's a good one. So what kind of jam, is this the kind of jam you would listen to a decade ago? You know what, I love Kelly Clarkson.

That's a song that if it came on the radio and I was in the mood to hear it, I would probably roll my windows down and turn the music up. But I'm like one of those souls that loves like a Sum 41, Radiohead, The Fray when they released their first album, Goo Goo Dolls. I loved all that stuff. So like emo pop or emo rock kind of, you know, like Radiohead is my absolute definition. Wow. That's great.

I love Radiohead too. Yeah. Exit music is like my fave and High and Dry. So those songs, no matter what mood I'm in, when those songs come on, I'm just like, stop what you're doing and listen.

Listen and feel because those are such good, you know, like it, for me when I hear those songs, I'm like, I gotta just appreciate it. At the end of this episode,

we'll kick out a jam and I teased it on Twitter that no one's gonna guess. No one's gonna guess. So we'll play your jam at the end of this episode and it's not by Radiohead. But I do want to say that Remember the Time is brought to you by Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair.

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any regular price watch battery installation. That's a deal you can't get anywhere else. So drop by. Somebody tweeted at me that they dropped by the Richmond Hill location

and got to meet Milan. Milan actually has a question for you coming up. Oh, okay. He was very excited when you were coming on because he's a big time wrestling fan. Okay, great.

So it's coming soon. But yes, thank you, Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair for your support. Kelly Clarkson, I heard this, she won that American Idol. She finished first. She sure did. And I read that she didn't want to finish first

because the winner of that first season of American Idol was contractually obligated to star in a like a romantic comedy or some kind of a bad movie which happened

by the way I want to be on like all the Hallmark movies that's like my goal did you ever see I think it was called Kelly and Justin or

something you know oh I did i did i think that it's in my mind they're on the beach yes yes okay so i did okay i haven't seen it but by all accounts this is a terrible movie but if you're the right age and i'm doing the math you were two years old at the time no just kidding but if you're the right age that's the kind of crap you would love oh my god i still watch that um uh hallmark channel is my favorite channel around the holidays valentine's day is coming up so i'm already like set my pvr for all those movies they're so feel good there's

uh there's one with vanessa hudgens on netflix right now um and i don't know they're just light okay but caroline you're being manipulated uh they are they are it's a paint by numbers formula to extract this kind of emotion from you and it's not sincere and it's not authentic. You are being played like a piano. I guess. I'm just, you know, my favorite line that my friends make fun of me for is I love love. So whenever I watch movies or, you know, see a cute couple or hear cute songs, it just, you know, makes me happy. So those movies make me happy as cheesy as some can be and as cheesy as some of the moments can be. I enjoy watching it. It's like a little guilty pleasure of mine. Let's take you back. You live, eat, breathe soccer. At least you used to. But soccer,

that's your game. So when did you realize you were good enough to get a scholarship? Oh, man. You know, it was crazy. So when I was young, my parents put me in gymnastics. And I think this is where my anxiety and stress started because I didn't want to do it anymore. It wasn't fun for me. I remember once I had a really big competition coming up and I hid the tickets to the competition hoping that I wouldn't have to go. And I knew that was the start of me having to get out of it at a very young age. And my parents are so understanding.

So they're just like, yes, you know, if you don't want to do it, don't do it. But you need to be in some kind of, you know, curricular activity, whether it's sport, you know, creative arts, whatever it may be. So my dad was training for marathons at this time. And I would always go with him because I was attached to my dad. And I just would like to hang out with him. So he would run laps and I would watch him, which is weird now that I say that, but, uh, I love my dad. So one day when he took me to a track, there was a soccer game going on inside the track on a field. And I'm like, that's the sport I want to play. My dad was so happy because he played soccer growing up. And my mom was like, oh, you know, okay. And I started at the age of 10. And by the age of 14,

I was on the provincial team. So it was just, you know, it was just, I feel like it was in my blood. I was born. You had to have been born some innate talent there. Yeah. My dad was a very good soccer player. So that helped. What's his name? Marek. Marek in Polish. Yeah. Yeah. That is a very Polish name. Very Polish. It's a middle name of my late...

You just reminded me. My buddy, Mike Kick. That's his middle name. He passed away. I'm sorry. I know. But okay. Good souls though with that name, right?

It's a good Polish name. Yeah. It's a good Polish name. So I trained so hard. It's funny now that I work. i was talking to my parents about this the other day i really have a lot of appreciation for everything they did to for me driving me to all these practices late night you know we lived in uh oakville and they would drive me to the hangar or the docks for 9 p.m practice and we'd be back in oakville for midnight for me to go to

school the next day and you know my parents to parents to go to work, which is insane. But all those practices helped me get to the provincial team, which then led to the junior national team, uh, you know, was super fortunate enough to represent Canada at the U 17 world cup in New Zealand, which was, which is amazing, unbelievable. Um, and then that is, so when we were in camps training for the world cup, there was one camp, And then that is, so when we were in camps training for the World Cup, there was one camp we went to Alabama. It was so hot there, such a hard camp. Some of the universities or college scouts in the US came down to watch us. And I was recruited there by West Virginia University and that's where I was offered a full ride. That's amazing. Okay, so a couple of things I need to mention because you're being a little humble here is that you received two consecutive nominations in 2007 and 2008 as Canadian Player of the Year. That's when you were with the under-17 team?

Which is amazing to be nominated for such a prestigious award. Thank you. Yeah, you know, that stuff to me doesn't... It's tough because soccer is such a team award. Thank you. Yeah. You know, um, that stuff to me doesn't, uh, it's tough cause soccer is such a team sport, right? There's 11 players on your team. So what I do is thanks to the people around me as well. So I try not to pay attention too much to that, especially the position that I played, you know, um, I never really scored goals. If anything, I would assist and link the back line with the forward line. I just always, and I think this is a common theme in my life, I just put my head down and work.

And as long as my mind is happy with what I've done in my last game or practice or time in the studio, then that's what makes me happy. Now, West Virginia University, this is a nationally ranked team. This is a real deal. Let me just, a few more accolades while you were there. So you got Big East Rookie and Most Valuable Player Recognitions and First Team All Big 12 Academic Honors. Yeah, that was a big one for me.

They're all big ones to me, but I'd be happy. I'm happy if my kid scores a goal like in house league. Like that's when I just, let's celebrate tonight. Okay. But then you graduated in 2014 with your BA in English

and then public relations, okay, and your MA in journalism. Okay. So you got a free ride to go to school at West Virginia University. You had a successful career. So why are you not playing now? Like,

why don't you play soccer anymore? So it was the worst time of my life. So junior year is when I received those MVP recognition, my third year. And season starts in collegiate soccer end of July, early August. And I felt like my knee was really hurting me. Okay. But I was like, oh, it's just because we are literally training two to three times every day, five to six days a week. Okay. That's what you do for five years. And in September, I remember we were playing Seton Hall and I turned a girl and I felt something crack off or break off in my knee. And I was just like, oh, it's probably my meniscus because my knee started locking. But I was like,

easy fix. See, it's funny. Athletes, in your mind, you've already diagnosed yourself and you're like, okay, that's like a two-week recovery and I could play on a torn meniscus for the rest of the season and be okay. But we got an MRI after and my meniscus was, I think, partially torn, but the cartilage in my knee was wearing down and breaking off. So I didn't really understand at the time what that meant. So I kept playing. Now, the season usually ends around December. As the season went on, I could barely do things like bend down and pick up my socks, drive my car because it's my right knee. My knee would kill me, you know, little things. So I'd be taking so many Advils before each game. I remember one day before we

played Georgetown, I could barely walk, but you just kind of, your adrenaline kind of starts going and you find certain times in the game where you can like take a breather and just suck it up for the rest of the time. By the end of season, when the surgeons went in to do a quick scope, my knee was so bad. I had a big hole in my knee. My cartilage was almost gone. During that scope, they took off, they took out the little piece of cartilage that I had left just in case this next surgery would happen. They needed my consent for it, but they said, we need to grow your cartilage in a lab. Take off your kneecap, re-implant that cartilage behind your kneecap, seal it with like pigskin, and then put your kneecap back on because you cannot play like this. Like this is a done deal for you. This is like, you won't be able to

function. So I'm like, yeah, do it. But here's the thing, that surgery, it's a year and a half recovery. I woke up out of surgery in a machine bending my knees. So just imagine you have, I have a huge scar down my leg. My kneecap was just taken off. So my leg looks like a balloon and I'm in a machine. Okay. Just bending my knee back and forth. I have never been in so much pain in my entire life. I was in that machine for eight weeks, eight hours a day. So at some point I had to be in it at night because I was stressing that I was missing so much school. And that for me, school is so important to me. Education was so important to me. And after two weeks, that machine would have to go up five degrees in terms of bending because that kept my blood flowing and that made my cartilage heal faster. So at some point my knee was doing like full bending and full straightening extensions. And that's really hard out of right out of a

surgery. So the pain was horrible. It was just a terrible time in my life. But when I slowly started to progress, I felt really good, but I can really resonate with athletes in this respect because when you're in rehab after any kind of injury, little things like a leg lift or calf raises are so difficult. And that's hard for an athlete because that's stuff that we don't even think about. We are literally doing the hardest, you know, lifts or practices every single day of our lives that when we're put into a position where we have to do, you know, I couldn't lift my leg for like a good month. And that to me was devastating. So that was a very tough learning lesson for me, but it made me stronger in a lot of ways in my life. And I eventually came back, came back really strong, was doing, you know, spinning classes

three times a week, underwater treadmill, doing everything I could that when I could finally touch the ball, I was like, I could hit the ground running. So I came back ready in the spring. So now this is going on a year and a half. I registered my senior year. So what that means is I couldn't play my senior year, but I would get it back. But I still went to school. Everything was still paid for. I was still on the team. I would just stay an extra year. And I wasn't supposed to play in the spring. I ended up playing every spring game.

Well, why did you do that? Well, it was a thing where it's like I was feeling good. My coaches knew I was feeling good. And it was like, Shved, do you want to play? So I was like, of course I want to play. And it was that kind of moment where it's like, I wish I had someone to hold me back. Because your doctor said don't't play. Yeah. My doctor said, don't play. You said, I know more than my dog. Uh, you know what? It, it's tough because it wasn't me assuming that I

know more than my doctor. It was me saying, I haven't played something that brings me so much. To me, soccer was every essence of my being and I haven't played in a year and a half. So you took away what my entire life for a year and a half. And now I finally feel good. Probably the best I've ever felt in the best shape that I've ever been in. And I have the opportunity to play. So what happened was, is I played 15 minutes, the first game, and then, you know, that goes to 25 minutes, the next. And then by the end of spring, I was playing a full 90, which was a terrible idea and uh i went home for a week in the summer came back and was in uh pre-season and blew out my knee again oh and that's where this yeah and what happened was is a piece of my cartilage didn't heal properly and it flapped up and i was at the pig part? I don't know about this pig part. This is probably why I've been eating only plant-based. There's pig in me.

But it was devastating. I remember in preseason, like trying to do everything and being like, this is in your head, this is in your head and trying to play through balls and take a shot and just run little things like dribbling the ball. And I couldn't do it. And it was devastating to me. I ended up not playing the rest of preseason, getting cortisone shots in my knee, doing everything I could. And then I, the, the surgeons were like, you gotta, you, they, they went in for a third, you know, like another scope. And they're just like, you need to, you need to hang up the cleats now or else you'll be walking with a cane for the rest of your life. That's no good. No, it was. And I found that out on my senior day. So your senior day in the U.S. when you play collegiate sports is your last home

game in your last year. And I came out and I've never been more distraught in my life. So your career was over. Your soccer career was over. But you got your degrees. Yes. Which were all paid for. Yes. And then you came back here. Am I right? Yes. No, that's right. And, um, that was one, that's one thing, you know, I'm, I'm proud of my, uh, soccer accomplishments, but for me, the things that I did when I was going through those tough times, like when I was in that machine, I'm like, okay, what can I do to get better? I clearly cannot do anything athletically. So when I was in that machine, I'm like, okay, what can I do to get better? I clearly cannot do anything athletically. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to set a goal to get a 4.0 in the

classroom. And that semester and every semester after that, I got straight A's because that's where I devoted all my time and energy because I couldn't do anything else. And you're a perfectionist. So if you can't dominate on the pitch, then you need to dominate somewhere. You need to control something. I get this personality type.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's why you're not doing gluten and dairy anymore. It's another thing you can control. Caroline, this is a free therapy. I know. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. So yeah, that was a big deal for me. And that's how I ended up getting into my master's program. i ended up fast tracking my my two-year program to finish it in a year and a little bit because i wanted to make sure it was under scholarship because i didn't want to have any uh student loans to pay off later on in life so you need that for the vet bill i need that exactly for cash you see how god has a plan uh so that to me, my academic accomplishments to me is what stands out the most because it's such an important part of an athlete's career. Because if you're someone

like me who could have played after collegiate soccer, but can't and unexpectedly had a career ending injury, you have something to fall back on. And I think that's so important. And I heard this quote, and it's like, if you're not learning, you're dying. And I truly agree with that. You need to constantly be educating yourself. And these degrees, okay, so public relations and journalism, that sets you up for a career in media,

in sports media, right? Because you're a sports fan. So I got into two master's programs at WVU, and it was sports management and journalism. And I remember a friend saying, oh, I got into two master's programs at WVU and it was sports management and journalism. And I remember a friend saying, Oh, you know, it's like one in a million to do, to get into the sports industry, to get on TV. And I said, Oh, I totally know, you know, but, and that's when I was like, Oh, maybe I should do sports management. But I'm like, I will kick myself if I don't try, you know, like, um, I don't want to live a life saying

like, what if I decide to go and study TV broadcast and journalism? And it's not easy. I mean, I started out doing color commentary for men's and women's soccer games at WVU and then eventually moved back home and got a job eventually at CBC Sports and then CBC. Sorry, I'm running through this. No, no, don't apologize.

This is all about you, but I'm going to, I hate this expression, but I don't know a better one. I'm going to put a pin in that. Okay. So we got you, we got your soccer career. It was like a comet. It was so bright, but here for such a brief period of time. Yeah, it was, it's still hard for me because it was my life. But here's the thing is what got me through it is people go through worse things in their life. They are losing loved ones. They are sick. You know, they're going through something devastating in life. And to me, my soccer industry industry in injury was devastating. But if the worst thing that

could happen to me in this part of my life, this moment in my life is a knee injury that has me stop like, you know, playing the game that I've learned to play day in and day out. Life will go on. And I need to understand that that's a learning curve. And there's something else that I'm meant to do. And I actually really appreciate that journey because when you're an athlete, that's what you think you are. You think you're your sport. Like someone asked me 10 years ago, Caroline, who are you? I'd say, oh, I'm a soccer player. Now, someone who asks, if someone were to ask me, who are you? I'd say, you know, a 27-year-old first-generation Canadian who comes from two really awesome Polish immigrants, who has an amazing dog, you know, who loves dad jokes every now and then. And what I do for a living is

secondary. You need to co-host this podcast with me because I need someone to laugh at my dad jokes. I love dad jokes. So it helped me understand that what you do in your life isn't who you are. And I think that that's so important, getting out of that bubble and understanding that there's so much more to you than what you do. Now, a lot of your fans had questions for you. And so I need, we're going to do this rapid fire because this is the soccer part. I also need to just quickly say how much how awesome they are god like they they're just so great and so supportive so to anyone who's listening thanks guys every day just you know whether it's asking about cash or work or my day or just

supporting it just truly like i feel very fortunate and lucky to have all of those those people behind me well i think it's a lot of it is your personality comes through. Like even we've known each other for like an hour now. And you have a very bubbly, fun personality. Like it's very like... And all these guys think that because you're nice, they think you're flirting with them. So they're very...

Yeah. Because guys can't tell the difference. Yeah. That's what it is. Don't mistake my kindness for weakness or flirting. It's just i'm a yeah i'm a bubbly personality um i i'm just happy you know it's rare rare that i come into work or anywhere like sad well let's bang off these uh yeah let's do it ones okay so freed ross freed

ross uh wants to hear a little bit more about your experience with the national team okay and i'm curious like let's say you never got injured. Was there a possibility eventually of playing, for example, for our national women's team? Like, was this the goal? That's a great question. So actually, before I found, before I blew out my knee, like the last time,

I had some of the Canadian national team coaches come down to West Virginia to talk to me to try and get me into camps before the Rio Olympics. And I made it very clear saying, if I go into these camps, I'm about 60% ready. And I don't want to go into a camp 60% ready because I don't want you guys to see me at 60%. I want you guys to see me at 95 to a hundred. Um, but they were like, listen, we understand your situation. We understand what's going on. Come in. So in my mind, I was like, I'm going to blow out my senior year. I'm going to go out with a bang. I'm ready. And then right after that, I'm going straight into the national team and hopefully make that squad for the Olympics.

That was my goal. And that's why having my knee, you know, not last was so hard on me because that was, I set that goal. And for someone with my mindset and like the way that I'm wired, I felt like I failed, you know, it wasn't, Hey, you know, it's a knee injury that happens. That's what stopped you. I felt like I failed in some capacity. Um, so that's what I, you know, if, if I'm, I'm sure if I wasn't injured, I would try to keep playing and hopefully the cards, you know, would, would be there that I would be on the national team. But I also try not to think about that as much anymore. So I'm here doing what I love to on the other side of things, which is actually quite funny. Tim Monteith wants to know if you could change

anything about soccer, what would it be? Tim, great question. I would say, okay, so after watching the last world cup, I could, I think Neymar is a fantastic player. If I saw that guy dive one more time, um, I was really getting frustrated because here's the criticism with soccer. They dive. It's, it's such a pansy sport for babies. It's so easy. No, guys, it's not. These athletes are running for 90 minutes straight. Have you ever seen a fat soccer player? Yeah, I know. Look at how much Michael Bradley runs nonstop. That guy plays 90 minutes day and day out for Toronto FC and the US national team. He's an absolute robot. I think I played, ran over 10 kilometers every Friday and Sunday when I played for West Virginia University. It's not an easy sport, not to mention

it's the only sport in the world that you play with your feet. So if you guys think it's easy, go and try doing some skills on the pitch and then try and hit like a banger in the net. It's not easy. But when you get guys like Neymar who are flopping unnecessarily, it gives these people the reason to say that. And I don't blame that critique at that point because it is hard to watch as a soccer fan who lives for the sport. It was hard for me to watch. So I think that the FIFA needs to implement some kind of rule that you're going to not even get fined because these guys make so much money that they don't care about a fine, but maybe miss a couple of games. Um, I don't know something that would really resonate with them because there needs to be a stop to the flopping and the diving because it ruins that part

of the game. And I really want people to start seeing and appreciating the sport for what it is. Good answer. Good answer. Um, Mal, Malifera, I don't want to butcher that name maliferous uh wants to know ac milan or liverpool this was uh this is an inside joke yeah this is i mean people know that listen i i appreciate liverpool my dad's a huge liverpool fan uh i i love clop i love some of the guys on the team but the milan fan inside of me will never be able to cheer for liverpool because we had a really tough go in one of the Champions League finals. And this is a hilarious story. We were up.

So AC Milan was up 3-0 at halftime on Liverpool. So I call my dad, okay? I'm at home watching the game and I call my dad. I'm like, oh my God, you guys are toast. There is no way Liverpool comes back in a champions league final with four goals absolutely not i'm gonna tell you right now like sorry and i'm just gonna keep eating my food and i'm happy as that game goes on second half liverpool scores three freaking goals okay i'm crapping myself okay i'm a huge fan and I remember my dad calls me and he goes, mess, why aren't you

calling me and keeping me posted? Because he knew something had to have been going on. And I'm like, oh my God, it's three, three. And he's like, no way. So then it goes into penalty kicks and Shevchenko never misses a penalty kick. And he, he, he missed the penalty kick and the poll, the goalkeeper for Liverpool is Polish. His name was Jerzy Dudek or Jerzy Dudek as Polish people would say. And that was the best moment for my dad and like the most heartbreaking moment for me. So that, that day, that moment, that game really resonates with me because my dad still to this day has not, like when he talks to people, he will still bring it up about, you know, how awesome it was for me to be so happy.

And then within like 45 minutes, completely be torn down. That's the worst when you, the peaks and valleys. Oh man, I know. And my dad never lets me forget it. It just reminds me of the game seven against the Bruins with four to one,

you have 10 minutes left and you're sort of, that's just, you're so high. Like I still remember how high I jumped when, was it Fratton or whoever scored the fourth goal? Yeah, the fourth goal. Anyway, we won't talk about that. So great. Now Marcus says, Ronaldo or Messi? Oh, you know what? I hate this debate because to me, they're such different players. Like they play different positions. Their athletic build is completely different. Their style is different. To me, Cristiano Ronaldo is such a powerful player where he can run down the

sideline and cross a ball or hit a ball from distance. Still very skillful, but he's more of that energy horse for me where Messi's on the field. He's so light and skillful and smart and can thread the ball on the ground, whereas I see Ronaldo as more powerful. So to me, it's such a different type of player. It's like Orr versus Gretzky. Yes. You can't compare those two. To me, personally, you cannot compare them.

I see Messi do things, and one day I'm like, oh, my God, he's the best player in the world. Then I see Ronaldo do things, and I'm like, it's just crazy. And I kind of love it because they push each other. You know there's got to be that little competitive, friendly edge between them. So to me, you can't compare them, but both world-class players. By the way, that Mal Furious, I think that's how you say it actually,

pointed out that I'm now a soccer expert because I had Stephen Caldwell on the show. pointed out that I'm now a soccer expert because I had Stephen Caldwell on the show. Stephen. And I mean, I did have to bring somebody in because I don't speak soccer fluently. I'm trying to fake it with you. No, it's great. You're doing a great job. Oh, thanks so much. I'm just reading other people's questions. Welcome to the soccer world.

Do you know Ashley Dawking? So, you know what? She gave me a warning about this because she knew that you'd bring it up. She said that she would beat me in soccer well okay let's play let's play the clip and i did listen to it she comes off fine so uh there's no shame in this but let's listen to docking talking about you by the way who would win somebody asked me this on twitter i didn't even take a note of who but somebody wants to know who's better at soccer i might have been that guy named steven uh who's better at soccer. It might've been that guy named Steven. Uh, who's better at soccer. You are Caroline Shvev? Probably Caroline, but if I'm not mistaken, she has knee issues. So I might be able to take advantage of that. Oh yeah. Somebody,

she was doing this thing of Norm Powell and he mentioned her scar. She's got, yeah. I think she, I don't, I don't know Caroline. I've met her, um, once or twice just around Sportsnet, but, uh, maybe that would be my advantage is that maybe her lateral movement isn't as good as mine was. She's smart. So is she right? Even in your current condition, because Ashley played for Seneca College in Canada, which is rather different than getting a full scholarship at West Virginia there. So could she beat you now? Oh, she probably for sure could. You know what? I think that's awesome. I think Ashley's hilarious for saying that. Here's the thing.

What I'm suggesting is that Ashley and I join forces and we take on the entire Raptors team together. That's what I'm thinking here. That was great, that clip with you and Norm Powell, by the way. Thank you. It was great. Now, we're going to get now, we're done with the soccer, if that's okay. That's fine.

Now, let me just celebrate a couple of other sponsors of this show that are fueling the Real Talk. So Paytm, so this is an app where it's designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. So I use the Paytm app to pay all of my bills. There's no surcharge or extra charge, but they reward you for bill payments, which you have to do anyways, and they make it easy to put everything on your credit card that gets you the points that you want to collect. Like, they're fantastic. So if you go to paytm.ca, download the app, and then you set it up. When you make your first bill payment, use the promo code TRONOMIKE, and they give you $10 in Paytm cash.

And you could take that $10, and you could use it towards a reward, like, I don't know, Tim Horton's gift card, Starbucks gift card, whatever, or you can apply that ten dollars to another bill so it's free money just sitting there use the promo code toronto mike when you make that first bill payment and you drove here caroline uh do you own that car or did you steal it no that's my car. And it has like at least 10 stickers of dog paws on it with like rescue mom stickers. So that is my white Jetta. It's as basic as you can get. Well, it looks like a Rolls Royce behind my car, but that's another story.

When you need servicing done on the Jetta, if you go to buckle.co, this is the newest sponsor of Toronto Mic, buckle.co is spelled B-u-k-l.co and if you go there you just enter your info in your car like your make model year and what service you need and you get instant quotes from shops in your area and then you can book the appointment through this interface and then just all you have to do caroline is bring your car in to get serviced and then you drive away. So easy. You're automatically charged through the service.

It's seamless. I love efficiencies. That's great. Efficiencies. We're all looking for efficiencies in this world. Buckle.co. B-U-K-L dot C-O. Okay, Caroline, you mentioned CBC

and I stuck a pin in it. Yes. So when you get back here after this, you got all those many free degrees from U.S. universities, you come back here after this you got all those those many free degrees from u.s universities you come back home and you mentioned cbc so what were you doing at cbc there so at cbc sports i was an ap so an associate producer so everything behind the camera essentially um i would write stories for the website uh create social media content, run some of the social media accounts. And I worked primarily 4pm to midnight. That was my shift. I had the night shift.

And then from CBC Sports, that's when I auditioned for the Toronto FC digital host role. And it was crazy. So my dad and I have been season ticket holders since day one. So we're big fans. I'm not even going to hide it. I'm a complete homer for Toronto FC. Why hide it? And that for me was an amazing experience because that year when I got on board with TFC, not only did I learn a lot about being an on-camera presence and letting your personality show and having fun being on camera and doing what you do. I also got to experience Toronto FC win absolutely everything possible in MLS and set records and be around athletes that I idolize. Michael Bradley for me,

it was a true honor to meet him. I don't even think he understands. I remember the first time I met him at the TFC training facility and I, and I, I like had a verbal diary. I was like, Oh my God, your last game against, uh, uh, last season, uh, was the best game I've ever seen you play. And it was the best passing I've ever seen you play. And I'm so sorry about that penalty kick, but you're just so awesome. And he's probably like, who is this crazy girl? But I just have so much respect for him and what he does in his position because he does so much work defensively and covers so much ground and is the absolute general of that team. So being on TFC was unbelievable. And while I was there, I was offered a full-time position at CBC Music doing the same thing I do for sports, but full-time. So I took that. Um, and I met a lot of great people at CBC music.

Um, Monica Platek actually is, was my boss. I have a question for you about Monica. I love her. It was about, uh, I got to find it.

Give me a second here. Cause I stuck it at the end. We are convinced that somewhere down our Polish lineage, we are sisters, um, or related or something because we are two peas in a pod by the way i have uh like i i have uh when you brought me the coffee i said i had warm feelings towards you at that point but i have warm feelings because that's monica with a k who

yes so my first born child who is now 17 years old he was a timbit and they played the intermission of a leafs oilers game and And so while this is exciting, right? Because you get your kid is playing on, it was the ACC back then. And of course the in-house, what do you call that? In-arena host. In-arena host was Monica with a K. So the YouTube clip I have of the game

has her kind of doing some fun little play-by-play while my little boy played hockey. She's awesome. And she's the OG. She is the epitome of what a woman in this industry should be. Not only is she, you know, she does her work extremely well. She's so professional and she helps women. You know, there's this weird stereotype that women are against each other. And it's not true like monica helped me get better at certain things in my career and always supported me until this day you know asks me if there's anything that i need and is constantly rooting for me and it's genuine

but is she rooting for you because of your polish lineage maybe no no she's great every every woman that i talk to that is friends with Monica says the exact same thing. Even the Ukrainians? Even the Ukrainians, I promise. She's one of those people. Why do you guys not love each other? I get upset about this because the Ukrainian, the Bloor Street Village, Bloor West Village, I should say,

has the Ukrainian festival. Is that what they call it? But the Ukrainian festival a weekend in the summer. Very well attended. But at the same weekend, there's the Polish festival on Ron C's. And it's, there's no, there's no,

I have no doubt this is not a coincidence. There's a rivalry. I sense it. I, like I said, I went to school near Jane of Bloor.

There was a rivalry, I sense, between the Ukrainians and the Polish. It's probably soccer fans, soccer fans, or whose food's better. But that's a toss up for me.

I could eat Ukrainian food. I could eat Polish food. I could eat Polish food. I have no problem. I try to be friends with everyone. So you love everybody regardless of origin and heritage. Honestly, I really do. I really do.

I didn't like that. Okay. So Monica, I found the question. The gentleman's name is Andrew Sheehy who sent in. He wants to know, how excited are you to see Monica with a K's,

that's what I have to call her, second child? I'm so, okay, so. So second case? That's what I have to call her. Second child. I'm so, okay, so. So second child, there's a first child? There's a first child, her beautiful little girl. And I love her and her little girl loves dogs. So it's so funny. You know, I always ask when they're getting a dog,

but Monica is such a perfect family. And I've never known Monica pregnant. So I'm so excited to, you excited to see her welcome this child. Well, how pregnant is Monica? I assume this is public information. Yeah, she's close to being due. I think she'll be on mat leave pretty soon and I'm just excited to see if it's a boy or a girl.

She has a girl, so I want her to have a boy. Oh, she doesn't know. Yeah, she doesn't know. I always wanted to know, but everyone's different. I feel like I wouldn't want to know but i'm the type of person i am i would probably find out knowing if you know then you sort of can like no i don't know i always i had the name before they popped out and i was like already talking to them and like i don't know that's kind of weird but you already started i don't know i felt you develop that relationship

yeah it feels like it starts earlier i I'm talking like I have kids. I have no idea. Well, again, time is on your side. And you have cash. Cash. That's true. But, okay, so where am I? So, Monica, you're excited about her baby.

Okay. Yes. So, you mentioned her. But, I will say this. You are the ideal dream host for something like Red Alert, right? Or even, you mentioned that dream season of 2017. You're doing halftime updates, post-game recaps. You're introducing the starting lineups.

Like, to me, because you have the pedigree, if you will. You played at a very high level soccer. You are a TFC fanatic, legit, authentic from day one, as you pointed out. And you are an excellent communicator. And you are, I don't know, is this an attractive package for presenting? You have everything for this. No, but seriously, you are the ideal. So I'm not surprised that you had that role. And then I'm glad CBC gave you a gig, but why are you no longer with CBC? Tell me how you end up at Sportsnet. Well, you know, SportsNet had the audition for the role that I have now. And I went in for a couple auditions. And then it ended up meeting with the team,

like another interview, except off camera. And then from there, I got the role. And it was... It has been the most amazing time of my life. Prior to Sportsnet, I've never read off of a prompter. I'd never been in a studio. So I've learned so much. But everyone is so kind with their feedback. But I just want to get across that there are so many people who took time out of their day and continue to take time out of their day to be in the studio with me and coach me because there's so many things people don't think about. There's, you know, you have to have

a good pitch when you're talking, but you have to have energy. So your energy has to be high, but keeping your pitch low and you have to smile, you know, so you, these are all the things I don't know about. So I'm glad you're teaching me. These are things that people don't think about, you know, energy, pitch, smile, looking relaxed. um, you know, not sounding, even though I have a script memorized, not sounding like the scripts memorized, you know, it's things that you really have to work on. Right. And I have a team, the team that I work with at sports night is so unbelievable. Do you want to do any shout outs? I don't know if I want to put them on the spot. They know, they know, they know who they who they are. And my love for them is

tremendous. And I just every day, I'm just like, you know, I watched where I was a year ago. And I still have so much growth and learning to do. Don't get me wrong. But just seeing your progress is such a nice, fulfilling feeling because I'm like, wow, without, you know, these people, this would have never happened. And I remember going into, you know, one of my boss's offices and just being like, thank you. Like, wow. Like, thank you so much because this, a lot, like a lot of it is, you know, me on my own time practicing and, and, and understanding and going with it. But it's just like in sport, like if you've got a good coach, like to me, Popovich, Greg Popovich, such a good coach. If you've got a good coach that can mold you and continuously try to develop you, that's what I've been applying to my life at SportsNet. And it's been like the most amazing experience.

Now, I've had dozens of SportsNet people on this program. Ashley Dawking, although she told me she's actually freelance but i feel like that's going to change soon but i don't have anything to announce or anything but i just have a feeling something's going to happen there but okay back to you uh this is the i can call this the jackie redmond spot right like you got the jackie redmond yeah a lot of people say well because it uh looks like it because uh she left and you took her roles. I can call it the jacket. Did you ever like and they're not literally big.

I think you'd probably bigger shoes than Jackie but figuratively. Jackie's so cute and small. But did you feel like she's been on the show as well. She doesn't believe in black holes. And I guess I just feel like if you're going to to dispute something

that has been accepted as a scientific fact, you need to be a scientist yourself and point to some modeling or some data that shows me that, oh, they don't exist. But she just decided not to believe in black holes. I found that to be an interesting decision. I'll have to listen to hear her explanation there. But I digress. Jackie is wonderful.

So did you feel like you had big shoes to fill when you took the Jackie Redmond spot? You know, I never think about it that way. For example, Aftermath, we've had amazing hosts from Renee Young to Jackie Redmond. And now I'm on the show and we've been so lucky to have them. And I'm just having fun with it and trying to put my own spin on my own shows, which are Aftermath, Plays of the month, misplays of the month, you know, the Leafs on Sportsnet, vintage, whatever it may be. I'm just trying to check all my boxes of what I need to do and my personality then will shine through. So I don't really, of course they're big shoes to fill. Renee Young and Jackie Redmond are incredible at what they do.

I'm just trying to now put a little bit of me into it too. Well, you've got to be Shved. Which I like to say. I'm going to confess. I do enjoy saying the word Shved. It's a fun name. A lot of my teammates, no one called me Caroline. Everyone called me Shved.

A lot of people called me Shved. Probably because it's so fun to say it. I enjoy Shved. Once you of people. Probably because it's so fun to say it. It's easy, right? Right, right. I enjoy it. Shved. Once you accept that that Z goes into the W. But you know who? So Caroline, not Caroline, you're Caroline, in case you forgot. Jackie Redmond co-hosts a podcast with Sofia Jurstukovic, who's also of Polish heritage. Yes. She's been on the show several times. Yes. I swear, I always say everyone has a little bit of Polish in them, even if they don't know it. I feel like everyone does,

but yeah, they're doing great things. And I, I always appreciate and love seeing women in the industry doing more and excelling. And I feel like they're, they're doing something really cool right now with their podcast and Jack and self when they were doing their Instagram videos as well.

So it, I love seeing that. And Renee young, oh my gosh, I could go on and on and on about her, what she's doing with WWE and being the first woman full-time on commentary and just the way she holds herself in her career and her personal life and everything. She's just awesome, what she stands for. Okay, so you're doing Plays of the Month, Miss Plays of the Month,

and some wrestling shows like Aftermath. And this can introduce the wrestling component of the program. I have a bunch of wrestling questions. But first, Mike Jackson. Mike Jackson. He's so great. He's got to go by Mike because he can't be Michael Jackson. There's a Michael Jackson.

Mike Jackson's so supportive. So thanks, Mike. He says, you hear about how musicians are over the moon excited the first time they hear their song on the radio. So he wants to know what it was like for you the first time you saw yourself on television. I remember it was so sweet. This was when I was still living at my place in Oakville. And my parents came over to my place and they surprised me because they wanted to see the debut. I think it was Misplays that aired first in the middle of January.

And they brought over food and I was just nervous in like a good way, you know, like it's like nervous, excited, but I'm very, I was very quiet because I was just trying to digest everything. And I wanted to make sure that, you know, my parents, that for me was the biggest thing. I wanted my parents to like it and enjoy it because I can't speak enough about how much they've done for me. And they are the reason why I am who I am and why I am where I am. Without them, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. You love your parents so much. They're just incredible. Their story, who they are as human beings, what they do is just incredible. So I grew up with

that type of culture and surrounding. And I truly believe if I didn't have that, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. So I just wanted to make sure. And it's so sweet. They don't miss an episode of plays or misplays, or they watch every Tuesday, 7.30 p.m. on SN360 Aftermath. And they will literally put their schedule around it. And my mom said the other day that my dad said, wow, I still can't believe mess is on TV. And it's very sweet and it's humbling. And that's what makes me happy.

So you're now, I'm assuming, because you're now in people's living rooms that you're being recognized in the wild. So people come up to you and say, oh, you're the woman from Sportsnet or are you getting a lot of that? They say, hey, you're Caroline. You know what? Not always, but when people do,

I really appreciate it. Like if anyone's listening, to me, it isn't a nuisance or creepy to me. It's so welcoming and loving when someone comes like the other day, I was at a Rogers moment skate at the Scotiabank arena. And a couple of people came up to me and talked to me and wanted a photo and there's nothing I appreciate more hearing, Hey, we love aftermath TV, or, you know, we love Aftermath TV or, you know, we love that joke on Miss Place and talking to people and, you know, just meeting them. And that to me is probably my favorite part of the job. Or when I get to go and do something where I meet people and work with contest winners and hear their stories

and meet people from Edmonton or Winnipeg or, you know, other areas of Toronto, because I've made friends. Like last year I was actually in Winnipeg and a mom and I still follow each other on social media and we keep in touch. And, you know, I made a couple of friends from San Jose that live in Toronto. And now I'm like, we're friends where we're, you know, I'm friends with their family and it's just nice. That to me is the most heartwarming part of the job. So I always appreciate that. Let people know you are approachable. Like if you're at a Starbucks or something, don't be shy. Please say hi.

Please say hi. But only if you have good things to say. And I want to say that I've been very fortunate. Of course, you get the person and you always will in life who, and everyone's entitled to their own opinion. So I don't even take it personally, but they'll have something to say.

And that's like, you know, every now and then. But for the most part, I'm very lucky because people support me and people really support my dog, which actually is the most, is the best part of it all is people have really taken cash in. And they know that cash won't bite them. I think that's part of the allure. Well, he's a little, uh, once he knows that he doesn't have to be on guard with you, like if you were to first meet you, he would be like, okay, don't touch me necessarily. But if you let him walk around you and sniff you

and he sees that you're not a threat, he'll be sitting beside you for the rest of the day. Michael Coffey. Oh, Mr. Coffey. All these mics. There's a Mike Jackson, a Michael Coffey. You're on Toronto Mike right now. Yeah.

He says, okay, asking for a friend. Does Caroline Shved think she would have such a great life if she never met Caitlin Coffey? So funny story. Caitlin is Mike's daughter and I grew up with Caitlin. We literally lived down the street from each other, went to the same schools. And I spent a lot of time at Caitlin's house and the coffees are great. This really made me happy seeing that tweet from Mr. Coffey because I haven't talked to him in years. Right. He wanted to know how your parents are doing. Yes. Oh, and Mr. Coffee, my parents are doing really well. Uh, they say hello. Um, and it would be nice if we,

cause I used to live on a street called Oliver place in Oakville. So it'd be nice if the whole Oliver place, uh, and the coffees lived very close to there, uh, you know, met up and we did a little bit of a reunion because everyone had kids around the same age. And it was that time, we were all playing manhunt until when the streetlights went on is when we all knew we had to go back home, but we were literally always outside, chalk on the driveway, playing manhunt, riding our bikes, playing soccer, playing hockey, whatever it may be. It was such a community of kids. And that's why nowadays I don't really understand how kids, I mean, video games are like literally

the biggest deal right now. So I totally get it. But for me, when I was younger, video games didn't even cross my mind because we were like manhunt until 7 p.m. until the lights go on. That's great. Now, Sean Ryder,

I just want to say hi to Sean Ryder because I stole his question. He wanted to know how it feels to be following in the footsteps of Jackie Redmond as host of Aftermath. So let me just go to Sean Hammond's question because he says he watches you on Aftermath. You are filling large shoes. See, I stole Sean's question too.

From your predecessors, how did you get into wrestling and what are your favorite matches? Okay, maybe just before I play Milan's wrestling question, how did you get into wrestling? Because, okay, here's my thoughts on this, and I don't mean any disrespect here, but the, and I think we might have had a Twitter exchange about this at some point,

but like you're a soccer player, and soccer is a sport, and although there's a great deal of athleticism required to be a professional wrestler, and you need to there's no one's taking away the skill required it is a predetermined outcome which disqualifies it from being a sport like you have to give it like some kind of a sports entertainment moniker or something like that it just seems interesting to me like you go all in on this which is essentially like

a sort of like a soap opera with great athletes so here's the thing wwe is sports entertainment right it has that entertainment factor but yes the outcome's predetermined that's where the entertainment comes into hand what they do in the ring is purely sport the rest really athletic the the wrestling the judo, that's sport. When you watch NXT and you see Ricochet do three flips over the top rope onto the ground, I played very high level soccer. If you asked me to do that,

I would probably break my neck. So that is my biggest pet peeve because also they work over 300 days a year. They're constantly on the road. They are constantly in the gym and they are doing things in the ring that does quality. You have Ronda Rousey, Olympic medalist. You have Kurt Angle, also Olympic medalist. These people are doing wrestling and judo in the ring which is a sport

well if i may if i may yes you're using the word sport i believe as a synonym for the word athlete like i think i believe and you'll correct me if i'm wrong here but i just realized right now that the uh the uh rowdy rowdy piper stuff reminds me of the Don Cherry jacket. Stylish icon. Okay. So no doubt you're a hundred percent right that these are athletes. You need to be a skilled athlete, but athlete does not equal sport. Sport.

It cannot be a sport if the outcomes are predetermined. Okay. So then how about in Canada right now where you have, you know, I don't know if it's U11 or U13 in soccer, they don't keep score. So the predetermined outcome is going to be, it's going to be a nil-nil draw and there's no winner. You know that going into the game. What is the point of playing, right? But the idea is that you eventually evolve beyond that level because you age yeah but that's first of

all i think that that's the craziest rule in the entire world uh i don't even want to get started on that but soccer is still a sport and but soccer yes but uh because again like uh you age out of that and then their score being kept and there's a winner and a loser but you don't know who wins or loses until you play the game. I'm not even, I guess I, uh, am surprised that you use, you call it a sport because they're athletic.

Well, I call it a sport because what they do in the ring is a sport. It is wrestling. It is judo. You know, it, it, um,

okay, let me ask you this. Is ice capades a sport to me like okay here's the thing and honestly i want to make this show i want to literally make like take your coffee back no never this is great i love this stuff i want to make like an average joe's versus superstar challenge or something in the ring where you take someone off the street mike you'll be our first contestant and they are going to have to do what a WWE superstar does I think you're using the word sport when you mean

athlete I do think it is a sport but I don't think WWE I don't think WWE is sports entertainment I think what they are doing in the ring

is a sport I think the they are doing in the ring is a sport. I think the match, the storytelling and the match between an AJ Styles and a Shinsuke Nakamura, that is... It is athletic. Let me ask you this. Ice capades. Just work with me on this one. Work with me.

I thought about this when I saw your tweet. She doesn't mean that, does she? Let me just ask you this specific question. The ice capades okay let's say i'm gonna take my daughter my two-year-old daughter i take her to see snow white on ice okay let's say that this is they're doing jumps and turns and these are these are excellent athletes performing figure skating techniques that i could sure not do and very few of us can do. They may have been former Olympians,

for example, in the role of Snow White or whatnot. Is the ice capades a sport? It's sports entertainment. It's, and that's what WWE is. But WWE is not saying, Hey,

we're sport. WWE is saying, welcome to the world of sports entertainment. And that's where you get best of both worlds. You get a storyline, you get the sport of wrestling and judo you get um I love this little soap opera because it is Monday Night Raw is great it's like you're watching Days of Our Lives mixed in with crazy heavy wrestling right to me I still consider that I consider them athletes 100% you're right in saying that. I do. And I consider what they do

in the ring a sport. Everything else, the storylines, the outcome, the fact that they cut live promos on live television is unbelievable. And you know what the fact, what makes it even more impressive is that they're executing these storylines these athletic moves this match it's all been it's all been rehearsed it's all been practiced which i understand that that's a critique of of everyone who doesn't understand but that to me that to me is unbelievable to do that on live television sometimes sometimes i get uh a little nervous going into the studio and it's not live. Can you imagine going on Monday Night Raw? That's the number one trending thing every Monday

and having to cut a Becky Lynch live promo that lasts like eight minutes long and execute it the way she does. But I think you're 100% right. This is not easy. It takes a lot of effort and work and practice and you need to be a great athlete and a great entertainer and there's great skill set involved.

But once you tell me that you know, like first of all, you're faking a lot of it, right? How about all the sports that are rigged? You can't do that because you'd have to point to a sport that you know is rigged. Go ahead, do it.

Juventus was relegated to a sport that you know is rigged. Go ahead, do it. Oh, okay, Juventus. Juventus was relegated to Serie B because they literally were rigging all their games. Sometimes I watch World Cup games and I'm questioning what FIFA does. So to me, you can't really... But we know wrestling. We know. Okay, let me just... There's a documentary.

It's excellent. You might have seen it. Brett the Hitman Hart. It's called Wrestling with we know. Okay, let me just, there's a documentary. It's excellent. You might have seen it. Bret the Hitman Hart. It's called Wrestling with Shadows. Okay, so I've watched this many times because I enjoyed this documentary because there's a look behind the curtain and I like to see how the sausage is made.

This is what I like. So that's a lot of why this podcast exists, actually. So, and he talks in this, about how he basically brags, and rightly so, that he never has ever hurt anyone with these maneuvers he does. He's got it down where he can body slam you and do this and

do that and it looks like it hurts like hell because he shows. And also the Ric Flair documentary I just saw too where he was known for making it look like he was being tortured to death. You've got to sell that it hurts like hell but it actually doesn't hurt at all because of how highly skilled you are.

And these athletes have got this down to an art. So I guess what I think is strange is you're choosing that hill to die on that WWE wrestling is a sport when it is

athletes entertaining. I think the way that WWE markets themselves and has branded themselves as sports entertainment is absolutely the best way to look at it. It's two worlds colliding and that's exactly what the superstars give you. And I think that when you can understand the definition of sports entertainment, you will understand to appreciate what the WWE has done and what these superstars do. Because they are, to me, they're much more than an athlete. They are athlete actor. And that's exactly why The Rock is so successful in his career right now. He is the absolute total

package and they don't get enough credit for what they do, in my opinion. Let's hear from Milan. Hey Toronto Mike, it's Milan from Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair. Hello Caroline, it was a pleasure meeting you

at the WWE panel during the Fan Expo last year. You do a great job hosting Aftermath. Two part question. One, is it your future ambition to one day join the WWE as a broadcaster following the footsteps of previous Sportsnet legends, Renee Young, Arda Okal, and Mauro Ranallo? And two, at this year's WrestleMania, if you were Vince McMahon,

would you do a triple threat with Ronda Rousey, Becky, and Charlotte as rumored or leave it as Ronda versus Becky? Thanks, Toronto Mike. Oh, Milan. Whoa, what questions? Oh, thank you so much. First of all, it was a pleasure meeting you and thank you so much for the question. First question, do I aspire to work in WWE? You know, here's my answer to anyone who asks me what I'm doing next.

I'm someone, and you might not be surprised hearing this, who has like my next 10 years mapped out, okay? What I want, what I would like to accomplish. Oh, I want to hear this. Mike, I have learned to take a step back and be like, whatever happens in 10 years happens because sometimes I've planned for my life to go a certain direction and went complete opposite. Okay.

So I've been taking everything day by day, especially when it comes to my career. There are still so many things that I have to learn and that I have to work on before I can think about what's happening next. Plus, I'm extremely happy right now in that process. So I try not to think about what's next. I absolutely love WWE. I love Aftermath. The Aftermath quite possibly might be my favorite part of my job. So we'll see what the future holds. But right now, I'm taking it day by day. I'm just appreciating the journey and whatever comes my way, I promise to keep all you guys posted. So there's no specific goal. Like for example, you don't have any,

I want to be like the next Ron McLean or you don't have any... Ron McLean's amazing. So for me, no, you know, I'm Caroline Shved so whatever happens with my life and my career um in the next 10 years 5 to 10 years um I will I'll go with that when it happens but right now I'm just I'm just really um grateful it's been a year on air you know uh I've I've I've learned a lot but there's still a lot I a lot that I have to learn. And all I know is that I want to stay in this industry. I, I love what I do. Uh, I was just saying to my producer of plays and misplays the other day, it was three weeks since I've been in the studio. Cause I've been on the road or whatever. And I truly missed being in the studio.

I was like, Oh my God, I missed it here. I miss doing this. I miss talking to the camera. I can't wait for, you know, the people who watch Plays and Misplays to see this episode. It truly brings me a lot of happiness. So I would love to stay in this industry doing what I'm doing. I'm just not quite sure what the future holds, but I've learned to be okay with that because sometimes not knowing and waiting is a good thing. Now, I have a question. Do you consider yourself, Caroline Sped, do you consider yourself, I just like saying your last name. It's okay.

Do you consider yourself a presenter or a journalist? And do you differentiate between them? So I think a little bit of both. Hosting a show, like plays or misplays, you're essentially presenting because the plays, it's not a live show, right? The plays didn't just happen. These are plays that we've accumulated

over the course of a month. Aftermath, it's not a live show, but it feels like it's live. We record at 12 p.m. on Tuesday and it airs at 7.30 p.m. But it's just one big conversation. We have points to hit in the show, but nothing is scripted.

This is just us talking. You're not reading off a teleprompter. I'm not reading off a teleprompter. Sort of like me. I have points I want to hit, but there's nothing scripted. I make sure, you know, I listen to podcasts. I watch Monday Night Raw. I watch Tuesday Smackdown Live. So I'm reading articles. I'm staying in the world of WWE. And then the points that I like that I hear, you know, the opinions that I've made myself, I talk about. And Jimmy, Anthony, and Nug are just so great. They make the job so fun that sometimes we're like, we wish the show was an hour long. You know, we have so much to talk about.

And then, you know, there's other sides where I go and interview athletes. So that's where your journalistic hat comes on because you have to research, you know. Like Norm Powell. Like Norm Powell, you know, exactly. research, you know, like Norm Powell, like Norm Powell, you know, exactly. Um, Patty Marlowe, you know, when, when I talked to him, Morgan Riley, uh, Gardner, or, you know, half of the other Raptors, you've got to do the research yourself. You come up with the content plan yourself and you try and hit points that maybe some other people haven't, or try and add your own little flair on things. And so I think it's a little bit of both with what i do cool oh and oh yeah you have to get back is that a

wrestlemania question because uh i can tie it in with gully blanchard uh gully blanchard two-part question but uh we can get to the first part later which is uh your favorite toronto sports memory but the second part was what are you most looking forward to at wrestlemania so yeah do your wrestlemania uh spiel here so wrestle WrestleMania last year, I got to cover in New Orleans. It was probably the coolest thing of my, you know, TFC winning the cup. And this was an unbelievable experience. You have 80,000 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for like eight hours, just hardcore fans cheering and appreciating the product and just engaging with every single thing that's happening in that ring. And to me, that's incredible because I'm at a

soccer game and the game's 90 minutes, 90 plus minutes. And that's awesome. But to think if there was a soccer game for eight hours, if people would actually be that engaged for an eight hour time, so it's, it's hard to tell if they would be WWE does such a good job of the entertainment factor. And that was a very cool experience for me because you know, what people don't see is that the fact that, you know, you wake up at 3am one morning to be ready for interviews at four, four, and then you you're, you're interviewing from 4am to 11pm that day. And it's a long day, but this is where my sports world comes in. You know, I've had long practices. I've had long stretches of hard

workouts. But when it's game time, it's fun, you know, and you've got to get yourself through it and be on. And then at the end of the day, when you get back, you're like, oh, my God, that was so cool. You know, talking to these superstars and having fun. Like, this is why I love WWEs. Those interviews are different than what you would hear from, let's say, you know, talking to someone in the NBA or the NHL because they're living their character in that interview. So when I talk to The Miz, he is The Miz that you see on television. And he doesn't take it easy on you. And I love that. So it kind of, you kind of makes you go outside the box a little bit and you can have fun with the interview.

So this WrestleMania, if I'm fortunate enough to go, I'm just really, really excited to embrace all of the same things. And it's going to be a cold one because it's outdoors in New York. But I'm so excited. Like I said, it is the coolest part of my job. And every time I talk to these superstars, it's just fun. It's a lot of fun. It's like you're working and you're having fun to the point that you forget you're working. It's like you're talking like you're friends,

which is great. Now, Milan mentioned some... Yes, a triple threat. Yeah. Tell me about that. Okay. So Milan, great question. I love Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair. And I think that when they are all up against each other, and I want to throw in Asuka's name as well, it is so great. All of them are just exceptional superstars in terms of their wrestling IQ and their storytelling and just who they are as women, plus they're absolute beasts, super entertaining. I would love for it to just be Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch, but I do think Charlotte Flair will interrupt. And I can't say, cause I'm not a huge fan of triple threat matches quite like the rest of the aftermath panel, but I do think that Charlotte will elevate that match. If she decides

to come in, I think it will, there's no way it could get worse. It would only just make it better. Um, but I do want it to be a clean, a clean fight in, in some regard, but I'm not opposed to seeing Charlotte Flair cause she was last year. If you're watching aftermath TV, she was my, uh, female superstar of the year cause she just brings everyone to another level and, and, and she's just, she's not one person I'd want to mess with, that's for sure. I have a real talk question for you. Okay.

What are your thoughts on the WWE continuing to do shows in Saudi Arabia where women are not allowed to wrestle or even appear on the show? And do you think potentially that's a little hypocritical? Because you just mentioned all these female superstars that they're promoting. And I mean, there's an alleged murder of a journalist and some human rights

major human rights issues over in saudi arabia like so would you think that's hypocritical that they keep doing shows there oh man you know i try not to talk too much about politics but i think it says a lot and if i'm not mistaken renee young was there on commentary um i think that says a lot about the direction that wwe taking things in, quite like they are doing the women's evolution on their brand. I think they're setting a lot of examples worldwide and some things take time. It's not going to happen overnight, but I think what they're doing means more than what they're doing in just WWE. are doing means more than what they're doing in just WWE. It's going to be a global push because they have such influence, not just in America, not just in Canada. It's a global phenomenon. And I think that they are doing what they need to do as an industry and as a product. But I think that these things take time. And like I said, if I'm not mistaken, I believe Renee Young is there and she's been such a pillar of change for the women's industry in WWE that I feel like things are slowly getting there. But I try not to talk too much about politics because it's tough.

That's a tough one. I knew when I was asking it. That's why I had to preface it with the real talk because that's a sensitive little situation. It's a sensitive situation that people were quite outspoken about. But, you know, it's the way, unfortunately, the way things are sometimes. And like I said, hopefully change happens. Sometimes it takes a little longer for that change to happen,

but change also needs to happen. People are afraid of change, but in this situation, it needs to happen. And I'm really hoping that with everything that WWE is doing in terms of women and, um, their careers and who they are and what they stand for is perceived outside of the WWE world too. It's, it's for global change. And I think, like I said, I can't talk enough about how awesome I think Renee is. Now, one more tough question before it gets lighter again. This question is about your work on Aftermath, which, of course, you know, Rogers, of course, is a rights holder, right?

I just wonder, is there any mandate that you've got to show the WWE in a positive light because of this relationship between Rogers and the WWE? Is it fair to say Aftermath is not a... It's not like the reporters on TSN. This show puts a positive light, shines a positive light on the WWE.

Well, we work with WWE, right? Like a partner, right? And two of our panelists, Jimmy Corderas and Anthony Corelli, worked in WWE. Anthony Corelli was known as Santino Morella, a former WWE superstar. And Jimmy Corderas was an, uh, was a ref and he is so well respected. It's incredible when you bring Jimmy Corderas around the wrestling community. Um, he is respected by all the superstars and the community of fans. And it's so well-deserved

because he's an amazing human being. I call him my TV dad. And same with Anthony Corelli. He's great. So we have our take on WWE. We have our take on Monday Night Raw, on SmackDown Live, on the pay-per-views. We have things called wins and fails, right? Things that we love, things that we don't love. By no means would we bash the product because we love things that we don't love we by no means would we bash the product because we personally love the product like why would we we love watching wwe nug who is amazing watches every single thing possible so we love what they do but we could you like if you had a strong opinion on them doing shows in saudi arabia in the current climate with a woman there could you could you express that Aftermath or would you not because they are partners?

I mean, we could. It's just if we choose to have our opinions out there. To me, our show is based around what is happening in Raw, SmackDown, and on the pay-per-views. Our show isn't based around what's happening around the world. So it would be quite weird for us to go on Aftermath

and all of a sudden give a CNN report about the political side of WWE. What we're there to do is talk about the superstars, the matches, and what has been brought to the table. So it's just understanding the genre of the show and what we're there to do. Now the seat's going to cool down. Okay.

I can't, I can't do a full, I have to hit some hard hitting questions. I got to get you on the hot seat for a couple. I'm still a fuming over here over the WWE as a sport concept, but I'm just kidding. We agree to disagree. I'm telling you when I get that show started, you'll be our number one contestant. Thank you.

You're welcome. Gully Blanchard wanted to know your favorite Toronto sports memory. It's got to be when Toronto FC won the Cup. Oh, man. Like I said, I was so fortunate to be a part of that experience on the inside. And being on the field when all that confetti went off and fireworks and music and being around the, you know, the, the guys that I idolize, um, was, was amazing. You know, I love soccer,

so I never got to experience something like that as a player and doing it from the other side was incredible. And, um, for me, I kind of, I could resonate a lot with what they were feeling and I felt that to some extent. And then having my parents there too, uh, I tried to get them in, you know, wherever I could so they could experience it too. It was just, it was the best moment. And, uh, that's why I, like I forever, them winning the trouble that year was just every part of that season was my highlight. It was magic. It was magic. Yeah. Mike Cohen wants to know, do you have a favorite pro wrestling podcast? I listen to Going In Raw quite often. And I think that those guys have really great insight and they break down a lot of things. And I tend to have the same opinion about them, but they also do deep dives on things that I may not know about and bring attention to.

So that's a podcast that I listen to quite frequently and that I really, really like. So that's a nice little shout out to Going In Raw. Bill Feeney, do you have a first hockey memory? So when my dad immigrated to Canada, his boat... Long story, but he literally came here legally straight off a boat and he had no idea where it was going and it ended up in Montreal. So he, when he got to Montreal, had no money and no one had no language, lived in a park homeless for a couple of months and eventually heard, you know, I guess someone speaking some Polish and us Polish people,

super social, we all love each other. The helped him out had his own company hired my dad three years later mom and brother could come over to Canada so they lived in Montreal and they were obviously really big Habs fans and I was never in Montreal as a kid because I was born in Toronto but as they shifted to Toronto and I was born I grew up watching Gary Roberts, Matt Sundin, you know, Curtis Joseph, Cabriolet, Brian McCabe. That team was unbelievable for me. And those were some exciting years for Toronto Maple Leafs fans. Yes.

To the point, to the point, Mike, where I would write GR7 on my hand and go to school with it, like Gary Roberts 7, because I loved him. He was my favorite player. I'll bet he doesn't eat lasagna either. Yeah, maybe not. Maybe you take your beers though. So that was a great time for me. I remember my dad and my cousin Daniel and I, we would always watch. We would go to Monaghan's for some wings and watch every single game. Staying up late was never an issue when it was the Leafs game. And that was a really fun time because my dad and I are very much soccer people, but the Leafs were so exciting.

Those Pat Quinn years were really strong. Yes, Pat Quinn, right, exactly. So it was just a really fun team to watch. And now watching this team now with the Leafs, I kind of, it's different. And of course, no team's ever going to be the same. team to watch. And now watching this team now with the Leafs, I kind of, it's different. Um, and of course no team's ever going to be the same. Uh, it's different, but I'm getting that same excitement back because what these young kids are doing and with, you know, Patty Marlowe too, who I adore, uh, is, is really quite something. So that, that was my favorite

hockey memory growing up. Very cool. Yeah. Uh, Steve Conforti. Yeah. Steve, Steve's one of the friends that I met in San Jose that actually lives in Toronto. So cool. Yeah. He says, uh, who's someone you'd love to interview? Maybe somebody you haven't interviewed yet, but you'd love to interview. This is tough. Um, so Ronda Rousey was my favorite interview up until that moment. I would have said her. Uh, and it was nice cause actually when I made an announcement on Monday Night Raw, when they were here in Toronto, I saw her backstage and she gave me a really big hug. And I was like, Oh, this is so great. Best day ever. But I don't know, you know, I think I would want to talk to someone in the music industry. Like right now, like I, you know, fangirled over Ariana Grande. Uh, I just watched,

um, Bohemian Rhapsody being able to talk to like Freddie Mercury, I think would be incredible. I'm really excited to see this. You need a Ouija board. Yeah, I know. Don't that stuff freaks me out.

I believe in that stuff. Oh, do you? Yes. That explains the wrestling as a sport. That was funny though. Um, you know,

the, I enjoy a lot of things like that. Watching Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper do their movie together. I would really love to talk to someone in the music industry

but maybe Freddie Mercury because that movie took me like three days to get over. I was Googling everything about Queen and my parents were huge Queen fans

so I grew up listening to them and he seemed like he definitely went too soon so I'd like to pick his brain. Googling everything about Queen. And my parents were huge Queen fans. So I grew up listening to them. And he seemed like he definitely went too soon. So I'd like to pick his brain. Way too soon. Way too soon. You know, the movie shows the dark sides and, you know, the not so nice sides of him.

But he was in a creative genius. And I think to the core, a very good person. And I can't say because I don't know him but based on what his fellow you know queen well he loved his cats the way you love cats so I understand honestly I always say if there's an animal person who loves their cats or dogs or whatever it may

be they're a good person so are you ready to kick out your jam yeah I sure am let's do it no one's going to get this. Huh. Sing it to me, Caroline. No one wants to hear me sing. I feel like I'm going to ruin it for everyone.

You can only make it better. I can hardly believe my eyes There's a big limousine hold up And Alice is dry I don't know why she's leaving Or where she's gonna go I guess she's got her reasons But I just don't know why she's leaving I don't know where she's gonna go I guess she's got her reasons But I just don't wanna know

Cause for 24 years I've been living next door to Alice Nobody guessed this No one Tell me why you love Living Next Door to Alice by Smokey First of all, it's the best sing-along song it's so happy i mean the song's a little sad because he's clearly in love with alice and she's leaving

um but it makes me happy and fun you know fun little story being polish um we had all these polish cds growing up and my dad would always play them for some reason this song was on one of them okay and when i heard it I was so happy and my dad would and I would sing to it and we would always play it in the car um and it was funny because the other day when you asked me what my favorite song was the first thing that came to my mind was this song Alice and it's I call my mom and I said mom uh Mike asked me what my favorite song was and she goes tell me Alice came to your mind I said, Mom, Mike asked me what my favorite song was. And she goes, Tell Me Alice came to your mind. I said it was the first thing that came.

So it's such a family, like, good song. And it makes me happy. Like, hearing it now makes me want to sing along and have a good time. And it was, like, the weirdest thing is when my parents dropped me off in West Virginia when I was 17, I was young. Like, that's a young age to be just dropped off at university. And especially when you're really close with your family. When my mom was, when we were driving down on the radio randomly,

this song came on and I just started crying. I just started crying, but it's just like, I feel like it's meant to be in my life and it's meant to, to be my song. It makes no sense, but I think it's just one of those songs no but it's the magic of music is it brings you back yeah like uh it's like a i always call it a

time machine like i kick out the jams of people they come back a second time i did this yesterday when i played uh sweet caroline for stew jeffries is people come back and they tell me their 10 we play their 10 favorite songs of all time and then they tell me after each song they tell me their 10, we play their 10 favorite songs of all time and then they tell me, after each song, they tell me why they love that song or whatever, and it's all about these stories, like stories from childhood

or this reminds me of summers at the cottage or this reminds me of road trips with my dad or whatever it is. That makes complete sense to me. Yeah, no, and that's one of these songs for me. It makes me so happy and it's family for me.

This song, if I heard it, every time I would think about family. Earlier in this episode, I mentioned my Polish buddy Przysiemski. Przysiemski. Przysiemski's wife's name is Alice. Oh, sweet. And she is also born in Poland. Oh, see, full circle, eh? It's the way the universe works.

My high school, Michael Power, I would guess 40% of the high school was of Polish origin. Oh, yeah. So I consider myself an honorary. You are. You're an honorary Polish person. Honorary Polish.

Caroline, that was amazing. Thank you. Oh, my gosh. Are you kidding? Thank you so much. This was a lot of fun. I'm sorry I didn't take your lasagna or your...

No, I can't emphasize this enough. It is the best thing you could have done because everyone listening who loves Italian food knows to go to Palma Pasta. I'm going to eat... That's going to feed my family tonight. Oh, I hope you guys have a good dinner. It's amazing.

How many kids do you have? Two? Four. Four kids? Oh my goodness. Ages? From 17... My 14-year-old daughter's upstairs

because she took a day off. What's her name? Michelle. Well yeah what are the names? I like hearing names. So the 17 year old boy is James the 14 year old girl is Michelle. Okay. The 4 year old boy is Jarvis and the 2 year old girl is Morgan. Oh I love that.

Wow. So how's it being a dad of 4? Now here tables turn. Now let me put my journalist again. Okay, go ahead. What did you want to know? I like talking about these kids because all four of those kids, and they run the gamut from like teenager who's driving and stuff

to like baby who's still like craps your pants once in a while. That's the gap there. And I would say all four of them are extremely, I'm very biased, but I believe them to be very likable people, like sweet people, kind people. They're very smart from what I can tell. You know, the 17-year-old, his grades are very high. And he was like, I saw him studying last night.

They're all, it's just amazing. Like, I'm so proud of those four kids. They're my caches. Oh, I love hearing that. And that's true. It matters about how nice someone is and their heart and, you know, their brain. So I love hearing that. You raised them really well, and I can understand.

So far. It's early, though. Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree there, Mike. First you brought me a coffee, and then you said that. And you're not mad at me for the wrestling? No, never. Or the hard-hitting Saudi Arabia questions. Absolutely not.

This is, I mean, everyone has their own opinion and I love talking to people about it. I'm just also a strong opinionated person so I can't change mine. Well, I hope now that we have this rapport and we've done this A to Z, next time you come back, we can just argue about stuff and kick out jams and just

have a good time. And then I'll find some info on you too and then we'll put you in the hot seat. I'll try to find something at Palma Pasta that's gluten-free and dairy-free because I know it's out there. Hey, Palma Pasta, call it the Shved. The Shved. Call it the Shved with some dairy-free, gluten-free

pasta. I might be your only buyer of the Shved. Well, there is gluten-free pasta. But there's no gluten-free and dairy-free lasagna because you need the cheese in the lasagna. Well, they've got Daiya cheese or Daiya, whatever you call it. Let me see if they can introduce a Shved.

Yeah, they should put a little Shved on the menu. Okay, great. And that brings us to the end of our 430th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Caroline is at Caroline underscore Shved. Yep. Look at me.

So good. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Propertyinthe6.com is at Raptors Devotee. We did that whole episode and never talked about the Raptor trade yesterday. I know. I'm a big fan of what the Raptors are doing right now

and I'm really excited for the run that they're going to be on. Because we're going for it. You know what? Change is good. You know, it's tough seeing a player that you love leave. Sebastian Jovinko has left Toronto FC too, but change is important as well. And high risk, high reward. So that's what I'll say quickly

about that. I love it. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair is at Fast Time WJR. And PayTM is at PayTM Canada.. Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair is at Fast Time WJR. And Paytm is at Paytm Canada. See you all next week. Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow

Warms me today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is Rosy and gray Well, I've kissed you in France And I've kissed you in Spain

And I've kissed you in...