Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Clint "Bubba" O'Neil: Toronto Mike'd #222

Episode Date: March 2, 2017

Mike chats with Clint "Bubba" O'Neil about his years at Sportsnet, working with Hebsy at CHCH, the bankruptcy debacle and being black in Canadian sports media.

Welcome to episode 222 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. And Chef's Plate, delivering delicious and locally sourced farm fresh ingredients in refrigerated kits directly to your door. sourced farm fresh ingredients and refrigerated kits directly to your door. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is CHCH personality Clint Bubba O'Neill. Welcome Bubba. You got a like a real smooth thing going on. I like that beat. Very cool. Very, very cool. An original composition for this podcast.

It blew me away. I thought that was just some beat that you took and you kind of fell in love with it. But I'm like, that's pre-produced for Mike. That's outstanding. I got to give props to Ill Vibe again. I don't think I've mentioned it in a while, but Ill Vibe is a local rapper producer who put that together for me.

So thank you, Illy. And I know, you know what? Here, I got to talk to you right off the top about Bubba. producer who put that together for me so thank you illy and i know you know what here i gotta talk to you right off the top about bubba okay now i realize this is baba o'reilly b-a-b-a okay but cut me some slack i couldn't find a good bubba song i like this though this is like part of my childhood kind of and it's like it's um it's great for like epic entrances and stuff you know what i mean like it's just killer, man. My high school day,

that's when The Who did their supposed last concert. I remember that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we rushed there. I got tickets. I was there at Maple Leaf Gardens. An outstanding show. Only to be disappointed

that there would be many more shows to be played. Don't you hate that? Like, when you think you're at the final of something, and it's like, this will never happen again, and then it happens again, and you're like, someone else is now at the final.

I hate that trick. As an old partner of mine, which I'm sure we'll talk about, said, once you retire once, you should always stay retired.

Tell that to Ann Romer. Bubba, okay. So, I, um, you're the first, I'm not sure, you might be the first Bubba I've met. Is're the first... I'm not sure. You might be the first Bubba I've met. Is that possible? It could be.

I was wondering if we broke the color barrier here on Mike's podcast, but I guess not. You mean you thought you were my first black guest? Is that what you're saying? I was curious. I was like, okay. Okay, let me tell you. Dwight Drummond. Okay.

Maestro Fresh West. Whoa. Matt Galloway. Okay. Amber Giro. Hey, the newscaster. Right. I don't like keep a list. I don't see colors, Bubba. I just know off the top of my head because I'm staring at Maestro right now. And I remember, I'm sure, I'm sure there's been more. Well, I'm at the bottom of that list, but that's, that's okay. That, that I've also,

that and the fact that I'm a 905-er. Oh, that's full, yeah. You're a Hamilton guy. I mean, I love Hamilton, but this is not Hamilton Mike. This is Toronto Mike, so you should be honored you got the invitation. Born in Toronto, raised pretty much in Oakville. All right, we'll get to that, because you're a Burlington guy. Is that, or no, am I?

Well, actually a bit of both, quite honestly, currently living in Burlington, but grew up in Burlington guy? Is that, or no, am I? Well, a bit of both. Actually, a bit of both, quite honestly. Currently living in Burlington, but grew up in Burlington and Oakville. Just a moment, Bubba. Hold on. Here it comes. Don't raise your eye. It's only Teenage Wasteland. Oh, it's crazy good. Hey, how many kids growing up thought this song was called Teenage Wasteland?

I think everyone did. Not me. I'm telling you, I pay attention to detail. I'm the annoying guy who corrected everybody who called this Teenage Wasteland. Excuse me, this song is actually called Bubba O'Reilly. Well, you are a real fan. Okay, Bubba. I googled it.

In American usage, Bubba is a relationship nickname formed from brother and given to boys, especially eldest male siblings, to indicate their role in a family. For some boys and men, Bubba is used so pervasively that it replaces the given name. The nickname may also be used outside the family by friends as a term of endearment. That's a good thing, is it not? No, it's a great thing. So is it Bubba?

Are you Bubba because that's how brother was said in a kid kind of tone? How does Bubba come to be? Oddly enough, it was started back in grade. I was playing high school football at Assumption High School in Burlington. And the captain of the team by the name of Pat O'Neill, started back in grade, I was playing high school football at Assumption High School in Burlington, and the captain of the team by the name of Pat O'Neill, which was sharing my last name, but he had two L's, I had one, and he was like, you're like my little baby Bubba, and that stuck. He was one of the older guys on the team, one of the captains, like I said, and that just stuck, and to this day, I don't know how it just continued to go on and on. And that was a grade 11. So we're talking

many moons ago and it's, there's had, there's been different variations. It's bubs or Bubba, but over the years it's a, but you know what, enough to the point that when I got on air at CHCH and, um, on a full-time basis and my boss, the news director, Mike Catrice, asked me, hey, one last question. This was after I was hired. Do you mind if we keep Bubba? And I was kind of blown away by the whole thing because I thought they'd want me to be professional. And hi, I'm Clint Warren O'Neill. And that wasn't the case. And he said, I said, sure. I mean, O'Neill. And that wasn't the case. And he said, I said, sure. I mean, I've been called that since grade 11. So you feel that works for you guys? And he said, I love it. As you said, it's endearing. People like it. People notice it. It's hip. It's cool. Let's go with it. So I was like, okay.

So you're Bubba. And it's okay we all call you Bubba. Because Clint is a cool name. Don't get me wrong. Clint is a cool name. But Bubba is better. I like Bubba. It's definitely, I mean, to the point that when I'm with my mom and I hear Clint, I know I'm in trouble. So I won't call you Clint because you're not in trouble here, my friend. A few other famous Bubbas. I'm just going to point out a few. There's Bubba Watson, the golfer. There's Bubba Smith from the former football player and Police Academy actor. Hightower, that's Bubba Smith, right? Bubba Sparks

with three X's, who I believe raps. He's like a DJ. Yes, he is. He's a rapper. And Bubba the Love Sponge, who is like the people up here might not know, but I think he's a DJ in the south of the US, and I think he had, uh, he's a DJ in the South of the U S and, I think he's been in some controversy here and there and one more.

And it's this guy. And I'll just play a clip here. Anyway, like I was saying, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it,

bake it, saute it. There's, um, shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp. Shrimp soup, shrimp stew. There's a lot of shrimp, Bubba. That is, of course, Bubba from Forrest Gump. I love shrimp. It's my favorite shellfish. a lot of shrimp, Bubba. That is, of course, Bubba from Forrest Gump. I love shrimp.

It's my favorite shellfish. What kinds of shrimp do you like? Can you run down the list for me? I'm just kidding. Just kidding. All right. So, Bubba, welcome. Everyone listening, I need you to go to patreon.com slash torontomike and pledge what you can.

Let's get some Jesse Brown numbers up there. Come on. I'm trailing. I'm losing the fight bubba uh so you know some people give a dollar some people don't want to do it on patreon and they email me the money uh whatever you could do to help this going because as bubba will attest we have a professional looking studio here yeah you know it's a i'm blown away here you got a nice little setup here comfortable i wish i had a place like this in my home where I can just come on, bring some people on

or even just do some production work at home just in my free time. This is a great little setup. You know, you could do this. I could tell you what to buy. You could put it together. My buddy Andrew Stokely could give you some advice on... I would rather just have someone come over and set it up for me. Alright, you know what? I'll pass on Stokely's

address for you. Please do. Beer. That beer in front of you, it's going home with you today. Oh, tasty. Thank you. Great Lakes Brewery. They're celebrating 30 years. 30 years of Great Lakes. The craft beer thing is just an explosion.

I know. And since they're 30 years old, they're ahead of that explosion. They were there already. So as an assortment, please enjoy responsibly. I don't have to tell you that. Absolutely. Thank you very much. I will do so. And that's not all, Bubba. Chef's Plate, the aforementioned meal planning service, they're going to send you a couple of meals to whatever address you give me. And it can be your

home, office, whatever. It's in a refrigerated kit, so it can last a long time without you sticking that in the fridge. And you can use their easy-to-follow recipes and put it together. I've done it. It's easy to do. I recommend everyone out there gives it a go. Use the promo code TRONOMIKE

to get your two plates, your first two plates for free. Go to chefsplate.com. Sounds like a wonderful thing for a busy sportscaster like myself that works odd hours. You work odd hours, so you don't have time to measure. You have to go shopping, then measure it all. Yeah, I try to do a lot of that on the weekend and try to pre-plan some meals and whatever.

Then there's every once in a while where you're like, I don't feel like cooking. And that's when you order pizza. Perfect. I know. I have a Wednesday ritual that's evolved where me and the two youngest walk over to the local pizzeria and pick up a medium pepperoni walk-in special that I think I've done a few Wednesdays in a row. So I know what that's like. And, you know, pizza's good and chef's plate is better. So we'll give you a couple there. Hey, you mentioned Hamilton.

So is this where it all begins for you? So you became sort of a recognized television personality by covering high school and university and college sports in Hamilton. So that was on cable television. Take me back to those days and how it all began for you. Well, you know what? At that time, I was going to Mohawk College and had an opportunity to do some television work on Cogeco Cable.

I had a schoolmate of mine, Steve Foxcroft, who's famous of the Fox 40 whistle. And we did a high school show. And we always said when we were in class that we always admired the high school model in the United States where 10,000 people show up for a high school football game. And we said, you know, and both of us played high school football and high school sports. And I'm like, wouldn't it be nice that kids could get that kind of attention? So we focused on doing a sports show and that included things like hits of the week, players of the week. We ended up doing a game of the week. So that could be football, that could be hockey, that could be girls basketball.

And all of a sudden, the community in Oakville and Burlington started to, and parts of Hamilton started to, I mean, hey, anytime your sport's being covered, has coverage, people are going to have some attention. And of course, you're talking about parents, the grandparents, the uncles, the aunts, and on top of the kids. So then we started doing all kinds of crazy things, showing up at the school and then making appearances. Then it went even crazier with the high school football games. We started doing what we called Bubba's Bets and Fox's Picks for high school football. We started putting point spreads on games.

Is that legal? I don't know. I don't know if it was legal or whatever, but we were getting away with it and people were falling in love with it. And all of a sudden, these games that only had about 50 people started having 1,000. Then they did a Friday night. They started doing Friday night games of the week. And both entire schools would show up to these things. So it became a Friday night. They started doing Friday night games of the week. And you'd have both entire schools would show up to these things. So it became a big deal. Wow. You know, you mentioned Mohawk College.

I did the Ride to Conquer Cancer. And that is where, so when you ride from here, we ride from like Ontario Place, that's where we camp overnight before we come back is Mohawk College. So that ascent up the escarpment there, I guess. Yeah, and it's tough because you've just done like 120k, which I don't normally do. And you're tired at that point, and then you realize, oh, there's the hill.

Okay, let's do it. But that's my, sorry, that's all I got at Mohawk College, but you threw it out there. So with the terrible twosome, is this the show you did with Steve Foxcroft? Yeah, we did that, and crazy things started to happen, and then all of a sudden, from that,

that's 1999-ish, I guess, and all of a sudden, we have a second sports, or I guess a third sports network in Sportsnet. And I sent out my demo tape, and I applied and got rejected the first time when they first opened, when they first debuted. And six months later, they called me. And I started working there as a broadcast associate, getting paid $75 a night. Nice.

And at that time, that's when they weren't at Mount Pleasant and Bloor at the time. They were up at the CTV buildings at McCowan and the 401. So here I am driving from Oakville to Scarborough in a Park Avenue, Buick Park Avenue that used up a lot of gas, making $75 a night. Wow. But this is kind of how it works, right? You got to work for almost nothing for a while. And it sounds terrible that you're expected to do that. It doesn't seem quite fair. But it seems like if you don't do that, you're usually left on the outside looking in. You've got to pay your dues. And this is an industry where you do pay your dues.

And the ones that don't, I've always noticed this too, the ones that fast track to the top real quick, they don't hang out there very long. And I don't know if it's because they don't appreciate it or they get used up real quick. that's because they don't appreciate it or they get used up real quick. But by the time, you know, it seems to flip-flop, you know, 10 years later where the people that actually put the time in, whether you had to go, you did cable TV, you know, at home or you travel to North Bay or Sudbury or out of province, those are the ones that still have longevity. Kevin Frankish on the last episode remarked that now kids expect to start,

like start at the top in the big smoke, where back in the day it was expected you'd go off to, I don't know, Thunder Bay or whatever, and put in your reps and make your mistakes there, get better, and then you'd kind of come in. It's almost like that's the minor leagues, and then you're ready for prime time. But isn't that kind of kids in some ways today, in some ways, that there's that sense of... Sense of entitlement, Bubba? Is that what you're saying? I'm trying to maybe be nice by saying that. And also, I think that some companies, you know, with the sports nets and the TSNs, they've kind

of, there's been a shift in the industry. And I think that you've probably talked about this, where, you know what, sometimes they're looking for just the cheapest and maybe not the most experienced or the best. So some of these kids slip in at lower-level jobs at these stations. And then you're stuck, right? Because the incremental cost of living increases every year. It takes a while to get what, yeah, it's tough. And that's not, it's not only that industry. All industries, they often say to get what you deserve,

you've got to jump to a competitor. That's the only way you kind of get your 25% increase or something exciting like that. Is that why no one works anywhere for the same place for 10, 15 years any longer? It's true. I've been at the same job for about five and a half years. And it's really,

it's almost like what's wrong with you that you're still there like five and a half years later because everybody's jumping every two years. It's definitely a different mentality. And I mean, our parents' generation, it was like you had one job for life right it was like you know you clocked in and then you got a gold watch you had your pension at the same place it was just the formula it's changed so when you came to uh sportsnet that's after you were already covering uh hamilton ticat games right for kojiko cable yeah i was kind of working at both places again trying to make ends meet.

And at that time, that was before TSN broadcast all CFL games like they do now. So the Tiger Cats, who were a bad team at that time, they were only on the schedule, on the TSN schedule maybe three or four times. And then the Cable deal worked out. And along with Steve Foxcroft, who was doing the play by the color,

I did the play by play. So I got lots of really good professional football experience, along with the stuff that I started to do at Sportsnet. And Scott Moore gave me some opportunities that, quite honestly, no one else got. And I started to develop myself as a broadcaster. Okay, now give me the scoop, man. Those wild early days of Sportsnet. You weren't on the air, right? What were you doing at Sportsnet?

I started out as a broadcast associate, and then Scott, he kind of, at that time, because Sportsnet wasn't as big, wasn't as corporate, I think Scott Moore had more time to talk to the individual kids that were working there. Sure. And I think he ended up knowing that I was an on-air guy. He knew of my on-air stuff that was going on in Oakville and Burlington that I was still doing kind of part-time here and there. And I think he ended up knowing that I was an on-air guy. He knew of my on-air stuff that was going on in Oakville and Burlington that I was still doing kind of part-time here and there.

And he gave me some opportunities and they ended up doing a contract because remember at that time, Sportsnet was owned by CTV. So there was an extension with Newsnet, if you call it now, which is CTV News Channel, I think is what it's called now, that 24-hour service. Right. So from 55 of the hour to about, I think it was about a four-minute segment, they would throw to Sportsnet to do these sports updates. So it was a whole new thing created, and Scott brought me aboard to do these hits. So here I am, pretty new, and I'm doing these hits nationally with an editor, and we had highlights, and blah, blah, blah, and pushing people to Sportsnet for the bigger update at Sports Central, blah, blah, blah. And then it extended into NBA games and NHL games where I was the halftime or the in-between period update host. I was the halftime or the in-between period update host.

I mean, still to this day, one of the biggest things I can think about that really still I can always say is that Jim Hewson, wherever he was, I mean, whatever game he was doing, you know, let's go to the Sportsnet studios for Bubba O'Neal for the updates. I mean, and here, me, me. And that was a big thrill for me at that time. And now he's got, yeah, he's the, I guess he's the premier guy. He gets the Stanley Cup final.

So that tells you you're in as the big guy because even as badly as I want Bob Cole to be called, I noticed it's still Jim Hewson. No disrespect to Jim Hewson, but he's no Bob Cole, but that's okay to say that. I mean, Bob's got his fans, absolutely. And there's good reasons why. He also has those who

hate him, I noticed, which is a whole different story, but some people like to hate the great ones for whatever reason. So I got some great opportunities, and I started to develop my resume that way, and I still thank Scott Moore for identifying that here's this kid that,

as he said, I mean, I always remember sitting down with him, he said, you mean, I always remember sitting down with him, he said, you know, our network is very ivory. Oh, yeah. It hasn't changed much. We'll get to that, but it hasn't changed much. So maybe I was the token black, but I was going to take the opportunity. Hey, if they need a token black guy,

it might as well be Bubba, right? That's exactly the way I view it. And it was an opportunity and was also an opportunity for me to get to know the the on air talent at that time because I was kind of part of them. Right. So I kind of had a little bit of an in. Well, give me some some of the names of some, who I would consider a mentor in the business. Jody Vance had just come in. Martine Geyer a little bit later. But these are all the people in the end.

Sean McCormick, who had a great little run there, too. But those are all the people there that all of a sudden I got to know. And then Hebbshire came in there for one crazy year. And I got to know all these individuals. So if I ever had a question, oh, I'm missing one of the more important ones. And Darren Drager, who was at Sportsnet before. He's at TSN now. So it gave me an opportunity to talk to these guys.

And just, if not talk to them and ask them questions, just look at the way they worked. And each person did it differently, but it gave me a good opportunity to watch them on a daily basis. I'm still stuck on this fact that the Ticats were on Kojico Cable. I'm telling you,

how would I know? But that's amazing, right? That's where high school football belongs. Absolutely. Not CFL football, but it's a great opportunity for you. Absolutely. My goodness. And the Ticats really like the extra coverage there because for Kojiko, I will say this,

they blew it up because I would do high school games with them too, and it would be a three-camera shoot or whatever. They went out and did like eight cameras, two production trucks. It was a big deal and we ended up doing about i for maybe four seasons we ended up doing about three or four games a year always a one pre-season game the home pre-season game and usually about three regular season games well

those uh toronto listeners who never get west of high park and there are some of those listening okay so i need to tell them what kojiko cable is okay right so this is the equivalent to our rogers cable 10 that's right right because there's no rogers there right in halted region or wherever So I need to tell them what Kogico Cable is. So this is the equivalent to our Rogers Cable 10? That's right. Right. Because there's no Rogers there, right? In Halton Region or wherever? Halton Region, Niagara.

It's all Kogico from there on. How did that happen? You have an origin of telecom? He's looking at me like, this is out of my jurisdiction. You know, apparently, and I would learn this much later in my stay there, that they were really big in Quebec. And they're the dominant cable company in Quebec, more so than Rogers. So they have this little pocket here in southern Ontario, which is, I guess, a mint of gold for them, which I'm sure Rogers would like to buy for them. And they maintain it.

And like I said, it goes from probably about Fort Erie right through to Oakville. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So you cats who don't get west of Hyde Park, yeah, if you ever go even, once you get west of, I guess west of Mississauga, I guess, is that what,

oh, Mississauga, yeah, so Oakville and then west of there. Yeah, so from Oakville on. And I believe Kojiko also, they maybe have some little pockets in Kingston and Peterborough.

But there's some small pockets. But can you imagine Rogers Cable 10 with an Argos game? To me, nowadays, TSN, how many millions do they report tuning in for a Ticats game on the big network? Absolutely. They put together some

good numbers, and there was one game in particular that they simulcast. I remember this. It was a wonderful game against the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, and it was simulcast into Saskatchewan. So we're being here. Wow. And that's, as I've been told,

my first wife was a Saskatchewan native. I can tell you, I know this. That is the biggest thing in Saskatchewan, the Rough Riders. This is everything. This would be like what the Packers are to Wisconsin. This is huge. It's a community team.

And the best thing for me was going on the internet at the time and looking at the viewer response from what not so much the people in Hamilton were saying, because we built up a good little fan base and people appreciated that the games were on TV. But what the people in Saskatchewan and Regina

had to say, and they really enjoyed our broadcast and I tried to do my best to not, because all the games that I did, that I called, I did it from a Hamilton perspective. But knowing that this game was going into another province, I tried to be an Al Michaels. I tried to be equal. I tried to be balanced.

So let me get this straight. When Saskatchewan scores a touchdown, you can't do the, oh, rats, Saskatchewan scores. It's got to be more of like, Saskatchewan, into the end zone, touchdown. You got to show a little enthusiasm. Well, they won the game on a last-second field goal by Paul McCallum, and I went nuts. Good. No, good for you.

That's very cool. So you're at Sportsnet for some wild, crazy days, but you make the move to Hamilton, where you are today, right? And we got some stuff we got to talk about with this station. And you mentioned the one year of Hebsey at Rogers Sportsnet, which I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't remember

that Hebsey was at Sportsnet. And he did the dinner supper hour show across the four regions, which probably wasn't the best show for Hebsey because Hebsey's a highlight guy hebsey's an excitable guy and i think he would tell you this that he didn't enjoy his experience there as much as he probably could have because it was that show because it's the six o'clock show is a setup show let's go to ottawa ian mendez mendez has got the pre-senators report or whatever so it's being more of a traffic cop than telling the highlights and having fun,

like what Hempshire was all about. Well, he's been on this show a few times, and he keeps complaining about this Bubba guy he had to work with, so I don't know what that has anything to do with it. But tell me how you end up making the move to the hilarious house of Fridenstein in Hamilton. I'm at Sportsnet, and I'm full-time at the time.

Again, I'm producing, and I'm still doing some on-air stuff. I get a phone call. Now, I was doing weekends. I was working six days a week. At the time, as a producer at Sportsnet, you were working four 10-hour shifts, which I would tell anyone, you should work. That's the best. Sounds good.

Three days off is great. But two days, I was working. I had just gotten into CHCH for a couple of years doing their weekend sportscast on the news. So I had a little bit of an in there, and they really liked my work. And then one day I'm lying in bed, 10.30 in the morning, and the phone rings. I pick up the phone, and it is my news director. And then he tells me, well, we have the owners of the station online as well too.

Do you mind if we do a conference call? And I'm like, okay. All I'm thinking about is what did I say? What did I do? Who did I libel? What did I mean? I'm sweating in bed right now.

Well, here, do they call you Clint or Bubba? No, they call me Bubba. That's a good sign. But still, I still thought I was in trouble. Yeah, sure. Who calls at 10.30 and asks, here, do they call you Clint or Bubba? No, they call me Bubba. That's a good sign. But still, I still thought I was in trouble. Yeah, sure. Who calls at 10.30 and asks, here's the owners?

No, it's late. So they basically cornered me and said, if you did a sports show, if you had to do any sports show in the world, what would you do? What would be your dream sports show? And I snapped back with the answer because it really was simple in my mind. I said, I would do a show. I would do a copy of a show because no one has an original idea any longer. I said, I would copy PTI. I said, to me, it's, it's the most wonderful show because it's everything that a sports fan wants to do. It's water cooler conversation, me versus you, a debate style. You need two people that know sports. Not just one type of sport.

They have to be a sports fan. Right. And they have to have good chemistry between the two people. It's a low-cost show to put together because you don't need a lot of props. It's two people in boxes with a menu. So I'm thinking in terms of production cost, it's not going to cost you a lot of money. And you know what? We can easily get

cover viz from anywhere. And they said, okay. Interesting. They went and looked at the show I guess the same day on PTI and TSN and said, we could do this. Phoned me back the next day and said, let's do it. Amazing.

And we talked money. That was easy. And by then, I was announcing my resignation. Actually, I had, well, they told me who I'd be working with, which was a big thrill because I'd had my one year with Hempshire. Now, mind you, I'm much younger than him, too. So I remember fondly those days of him and Jim Taddy at Sportsline. Of course, yeah.

And I'm thinking to myself, in my opinion, and I don't know what anyone else thinks, that is, to this date, the greatest duo of sportscasters. And you could have put them in Sportsnet, you could have put them in TSN, you could have put them in Sportsline. There's still no one better. Because to me, and still to this day, that was appointment viewing. Yes, Guy.

Didn't we all run to the TV at the time? You're preaching to the choir on this one. And the first episode of Hebsey, the number I can't remember, but the first episode of Toronto Mic'd with Hebsey, we deep dive into this sucker. Appointment viewing for me, absolutely. There was nothing else like it. They were great.

They were great. With apologies to Jay and Dan, and I should do a quick aside to say that I had a Twitter conversation with Jay yesterday. Jay, they're coming on in the fall. Fantastic. Yeah, and everyone knows by now that they announced yesterday that

they're coming back to TSN. Surprise, surprise! So they'll come over and um and i'm between you and me i'm sick of the white guests i'm not gonna i'm not gonna lie okay but jay and dan are gonna come over in the fall okay and maybe that'll be it but uh yeah apologies to jay and dan uh hebsey and tatty were the best they were spectacular personality they brought life to the sport. They had fun within each other. They didn't take themselves too seriously.

They didn't take the sports too seriously. It was great. I mean, and for that run. And the Hep C Awards. The Hep C Awards, which were, I mean, at the time, no. I mean, when I think about it, and obviously I've gotten to know Mark along the line and along the years, and, you know, seeing footage that we would never, ever see.

Remember, it's just so easy to get footage now. Yeah, you have to go back to those days. It's hard to get all that footage that he had and actually craft it together, and then his snappiness and just his one-liners. That was a huge part of the allure in the appointment viewing. There was nothing else like it, you know? And I can see why

these shows have lost their luster in 2017. We're all a click away from on-demand highlights of this nation. I mean, we're in an age now where, like, literally, I missed,

I saw there was a hockey game that was on really late. Austin Matthews scored. I happened to be excited when Austin Matthews scored, but I missed the goal. Within seconds, on my Twitter feed, I was clicking and watching a replay of the goal.

Like, if you had told young Mike this, it was the future. But Sportsline, fantastic. So I got some questions, though. So you rip off, with all due respect, you rip off a part in the interruption. Absolutely. Was there any, like, lawyers saying, hey, we can't do it?

Was there any consideration that maybe we can't actually completely rip off this intellectual property or no? Well, we made it look slightly different. But I don't know if you, you know what, but I don't think really you can patent that concept. And I think, you know, if you look through all over, there's copycat shows like PTI all over the place right now. I should disclose I'm not a lawyer. So maybe you're right. I feel comfortable saying that because I don't think you can actually, I think you can copy that concept. I mean, we didn't call it PTI.

We ended up with the Sportsline name, which was still floating around. And here it was, was an old Sportsline face in a different type of Sportsline 2.0, if you want to call it. Well, that begs another question, which is, so you were somehow, you were able to call it Sportsline. So is that another example of like, we'll just do it until somebody complains? No, I actually believe the station had the rights to it.

They actually, it was floating around with Global because remember, Global owned CHCH for a very long time. Right. And then somehow there was still a relationship since Channel Zero, who are the owners of CHCH right now. I believe they actually purchased the name, and I guess Global had nothing to do with it. They probably got it at a very low cost and said, let's do it. Hey, it's got some equity with guys, old farts like us. There's some big time brand equity there.

Why reinvent the wheel? We, you know, and then, so even though the format's part of the interruption, the name is Sportsline, even though it's a very different show, but Hebsey's there. So talk to me about, you have your battles with Hebsey during the sports, sorry, the Sportsline 2.0, because it does get confusing, because you don't look like Jim Taddy. No, no, no.

But I did throw in a couple of yes guys. Yes guy. You know, I'm going to be honest with you. I would consider Mark a mentor for me. I will think that there is no one else that I learned more good things from, and that goes from good grammar to presentation to reading to research. I owe a lot to that guy. We had six years, and I would tell you if there wasn't the bankruptcy that CHCH had, we would still be on the air right now. We had six amazing years.

We built an audience. We got great response. I think people at the beginning thought, whoa, this isn't Sportsline. But you know what? I was okay with that because who needs another highlight show? But I do believe that people

still love the discussion shows. And we built an audience. And I could tell we were building an audience because we would do these little trivia contests. Sometimes we had prizes. Sometimes we didn't. And the response that we would get off either Twitter or emailing and the wide variety of the province that we were getting them from. We were getting them from Kingston and Ottawa.

We had a small little pocket of people from Montreal that were watching every single day. Nice. And it was part of my mandate, too, was not just to focus on Hamilton sports. And I know that annoyed Hamilton people because I think that's what they were expecting. But to me, the longevity of that and the reality of having fun with that just wasn't there.

We needed to be big league. And we talked everything. And when I looked at PTI, I said, look, they focus a lot on the big four sports, maybe a little bit of hockey, and a lot of college sports. Well, the NCAA doesn't resonate too much here, nor does the CIS or, quote, now U Sports. But we could replace that with hockey because we're big in hockey here. And we did that.

And I knew Hebsey was a big hockey fan. And then, of course, there's that budding basketball group that were growing at the time. And we would go hard with the Raptors as well too. And I know that from working at Sportsnet, those NBA highlights are generally in the last third of the show. So if we were going to do some good NBA topics, because we knew the young guys really,

really respect basketball and they love basketball and the culture and the clothes and the stars, that we would get those NBA topics high in the show. And we started to build a really cool audience. No, very good. So you have six good years of Sportsline, doing your best Jim Taddy impression for Mark Hemsher. And let's talk about, you alluded to it,

but let's talk about this CHCH bankruptcy. I don't know what the technical terms are, but let's remind people. Now, the day after, I think, Hebsey came over, I was talking with David Schultz. I think it was episode 150. And he crashed Schultz's party to update us on what happened.

And he, I guess there's two lists. There's the list of people that were going to stay at CHCH. I don't know. You'll give me the details in a second. But there was another list of people who were being let go, and I'm not talking about packaged out or just

go away. That's a whole story that I'm sure is still stuck. But Hepsi was on that list of people who had to go away, but he got in the wrong room or something. He had a great story, which he can tell. But please, I'll shut up for a minute so we can hear

from you, somebody on the inside. what the heck happened at chch this it's a it's friday december the 11th i actually had a day off so i'm with a gal pal of mine enjoying lunch wings maybe a couple of pops and my producer my assistant producer who was filling in for me that day, Robin, gives me a text. And I'm like, oh, what? Like, come on. Like, figure it out. Like, I don't even want to look at this text. Anyway, so he's like, well, the show is not on today.

I'm like, what do you mean the show's not on today? So I pick up the phone and I call him. And I'm like, what's going on, dude? Like, what do you mean the show's not on? He says, the news is not on either. I'm like, what's going on, dude? Like, what do you mean the show's not on? He says, the news is not on either. I'm like, what are you talking about? He says, I don't know, Bubz, but people are doing shots in the newsroom right now.

People are drinking beers in the newsroom right now. I'm like, what? He goes, I think the end is near. You hear those words. It's ominous. And your stomach just drops. So then I said, well, I don't know. He says, go look

at your bank account because people have deposits of money in your bank account. So of course, with modern technology, I look at my Blackberry, I look at my bank account, and all of a sudden there's like $15,000 entered in my bank. I'm like, whoa! What is this? What's going on here?

And apparently everyone got some type of little payout. Is that like vacation day, whatever? But at that point, we don't know what this is all about, right? So we think there's some clerical error. It was payday. Who knows what to think, right? So I'm thinking to myself, well, maybe HR should know about this or whatever the case is.

Then quickly an email comes on the BlackBerry from the union saying, do not touch the money. And I'm like, what does the union have to do with this? I'm not putting one and two together. Robin calls me back and says, there's a meeting at 4 o'clock, you need to come. Okay. So I pull into the parking lot and there is,

and again, because there's the morning show and there's an afternoon show and there's, you know, sports line, but I pull in the parking lot and there's cars that I don't normally see because it's the morning show shift or whatever. And it's jammed. Like people are just parking everywhere. Right. Uh, I'm one of the last people to get there because this meeting's at four o'clock.

I get there, it's 3.55. And I walk in with my pass. There's 18 security guards there. I go upstairs because CHH is a three-level building. So I go from the first level to the second level where the newsroom is, and everyone is centered in the newsroom. And I'm like, what is going on here? So at the time, they were all watching this little tiny

screen that was at the assignment desk where at four o'clock, ownership did a taped message saying the station is now going to be structure changes and there will be no news tonight. There will be no news or anything on the weekends, whatever, blah, blah, blah. But we'll be back on Monday. So everyone's in shock. So then as soon as I get to the crowd of people, I'm starting to hear people crying and I'm like, this is not good.

No. So the news director says, if I call your name, I'm going to tell you to go to either Studio A or Studio B. So people are being separated or whatever. Hebzer is nowhere to be found. He's in the sports line office. Apparently there was an email sent out for everyone to meet in the newsroom, and I don't know why Hebsey didn't bother to show up.

Right, right. So anyway, people are being farmed. Now the Studio A is downstairs because we're on the second floor and the studio b is in the third floor my name gets called i get studio b so i go upstairs i'm starting to notice that more people are going to studio a still don't know what's going on still whatever blah blah blah i go up there and uh i pass by the the sports line office and i say hey like like i think hebshire just kind of started to walk out. So he follows the crowd and follows me and we go upstairs.

Right. He has no clue of what has actually happened. Because what actually happened, had he been in the newsroom where he was supposed to be, they would have told him to go downstairs. He would have been told to go to Studio A. Gotcha. So he follows me. We go upstairs and it's like, what's going on? Now, Heptra's been through these kind of things before.

I think he could feel it was going on, that this wasn't a good situation. But he's thinking he's part of the situation. One owner's downstairs gassing people, giving them their pink slips, whacking them. And upstairs, there's another owner saying that we're going forward. You are the people that we've chosen to go

forward, whatever, blah, blah, blah. So there's the owner and the news director. And all of a sudden within this meeting, the two stopped the meeting and said, we're going to have to take a quick break, guys. The owner and the news director are... So we're kind of..., everybody's in stunned silence. No one knows what's going on.

Like, this is unbelievable. The station's over. What is going on? You feel, in a little bit, you feel kind of relieved because you're like, oh, they want us. They still want me, like, to be here. But you're still going, what's going on? Everyone else downstairs is getting fired.

We can figure that out. And all of a sudden, the news director, after up to hebzer and says mark can i see you for a second and all of a sudden they two walk up they go out of the room and about five minutes later mike the catrice the news director comes back hebzerster doesn't come back. And the meeting resumes. I didn't know what to think at the time until later, until I found out that the whole story that he had gone to the wrong room. Gone to the wrong room.

And then everyone else, but after a while we're like, where's Hebster by the way? Because like he should be here for this. And there was no answers given to us until we actually saw Hebster and gave us the update, which was just a sad, sad thing.

Now, please, the detail I'm curious about is, you guys, were you basically let go but offered new positions in the company? Yes, we were all fired. So that's why you had the $15,000 or whatever, because you were fired. Yeah, we were technically all fired and the company went bankrupt.

And I remember they had like a numbered company that kind of rose from the ashes, which by way, I'm not a lawyer. I've already disclosed this, but this doesn't pass my sniff test, okay? So this company dissolves. Another company rises from the ashes. We're going to do the same thing, rehiring a bunch of you back. I'm going to guess your salaries shrunk. Yes, we were all.

We were all. We were all were all. We were all. We were all. Absolutely. We were all. I'm not getting paid the same thing I was before. But, I mean, it was still to me, okay, first of all, is it still market value? Yeah, for sure.

But you weren't going to be severed fairly. So, to me, you might as well take the smaller salary and look. If should you want to leave, you could then look for a job while you're making something, which would be less stressful than looking for a job while you're making nothing. Absolutely. That's my thoughts on that. Absolutely. And why was I going to turn down

a job, right? I mean, I want to work. I realized that my job would not be being the producer and co-host of Sportsline, but they wanted me to be the anchor on the 6 o'clock and 11 o'clock news for sports. So I had done that previously before on the weekends, so I was comfortable with the format.

Would it be my dream job? No, because my dream job was doing, I mean, hey, after time, after a couple of years of doing Sportsline, I started to figure out I am the only person in the entire country that is hosting and producing a television sports show. I started to do some research. The only one that had that honor. And to have that creative control, work with a legendary figure, work at a kind of legendary station. I mean, one of the long running... Hilarious House of Freidenstein. Exactly. The longest running independent TV station in the country.

Our show is getting shown all over the province. People on Bell Express View can see us all over the country. It was a dream job for me. And I'll probably never have that opportunity to produce and host a show ever again, because the reality, it just doesn't happen.

So I wouldn't be able to do that job any longer, but I still would have a job, like you said, still be able to do that, maybe see what's going on around with other places, maybe go back to school. You can always send out resumes while you're doing it. Exactly. Like Dixon style, right?

This is a Nick Dixon model, whatever. Take the smaller salary, keep working, and apply for CP24. Exactly. And for him, and I've always said this about Nick, Nick is a fantastic guy, a spectacular news anchor, and I really could see him being a Kevin Newman. I could see him being in the seat of Elisa Laflamme.

He's got that talent. He's got that drive. He's got that new sense. But he was never going to get that job, even if CHCH never closed their doors. He was never going to get that job, even if CHCH never closed their doors. He was never going to get that job on a national basis being at CHCH. So being in the talent pool where he is right now, he's going to get noticed, and I guarantee you he'll be in one of those seats

one of these days. Cool. Now, I've got to ask you, not only are you doing sports, is it true that you are doing weather? Come on, tell me here. Okay, so they offer you a percentage of your previous salary. They sell it like, hey, you're the chosen one. Hey, you're getting... Hep C's not getting an offer to come back, but you are.

Liz West isn't coming back, but you are. And then they say, okay, you're a sports guy. I can do that for a while or whatever. And then they're like, hey, can you read the weather? But you're not a meteorologist, are you, Bubba? No, and many you say, I can do that for a while or whatever. And then they're like, hey, can you read the weather? But you're not a meteorologist, are you, Bubba? No, and many aren't. I will say that. But I am so far away from being a weather person, so I am now a sports and weather personality.

Do you have to swallow a little pride to give us the weather on the news? Is there anything there that you feel like, hey, I'm better than this because I'm a the news. Is there anything there that you feel like, hey, I'm better than this because I'm a sports guy? Is there anything there? You know what? I'm going to be honest with you, and I'll probably get fired now, but there is a mix of that feeling.

They can't fire you. They're hardly paying you. Come on. You're safe. But there's a mix of that feeling in me because I'm not, and I think of all the wonderful weather people that we had at the station,

Matt Hayes, legendary in the area. And I think of all the wonderful weather people that we had at the station, Matt Hayes, legendary in the area. And I think of all the people, even not at CHCH, that are meteorologists, Brian Wood, who does the weather at our station, who's spectacular, you know, and he's told me before, I can't imagine them throwing me in the sports scene and doing the sports job like you with the innuendos and the words and the words and the knowledge and the stats because he's not a sports guy. Well, I don't know what a polar vortex

is or what a warm front. I mean, I've learned a little bit. I've learned basics in which I think I can speak properly enough. It's my job to do that and at least give some knowledge to the people. But if that's part of the job, I guess I have to do it. Now, I had Adam Stiles on this show. Adam Stiles works for City TV. And he's got like accreditations. Am I saying that word right? Accreditations.

Right. Thank you. I thought it was accreditations. No, accreditations. He's got like letters after his name and stuff and degrees. And I think he takes great pride in that, you know, he's not a guy who reads a piece of paper about what the highs and lows are. He has models and science is involved and a lot of meteorology stuff. I think he'd be very upset that people like you are reading the weather.

Well, I would hope he would be upset at the company and not me and realize that it's a means to an end and it's become part of my job. And let's be honest. I mean, you've got so many media people, whether it be sports news or weather for that matter, on your program here. And I think we can all agree that the model of television and television news is changing., here's a perfect example. When Mark Hebbshire was in television, you could be a broadcaster. Harvey Kirk could be a broadcaster. He didn't have to produce. He didn't have to shoot.

He didn't have to tweet. No, he didn't have to tweet. His job was to go on air and perform. That was his one single job. Now you have to do three jobs, sometimes even four, to maintain the same job that you have. Right. And they see me as a resource that's there already for the news,

for the 11 o'clock, because I only do the weather on the 11 o'clock. I'm there already for the news for the 11 o'clock because I only do the weather on the 11 o'clock. I'm there already. Why pay someone else to come in for a four or five minute or a three, four minute segment when Bubz can just do it? He's got great personality. And it was

pitched to me that, okay, you don't have to be Brian. You don't have to be like that. Just read the weather. Just read the script. I guess there's a teleprompter or whatever. There's no teleprompter. See how ignorant I am? No, but that's the crazy thing. I have no teleprompter.

So I've had to force myself to learn. That's amazing. And at least it's – I don't like to watch myself on TV, but I've had to watch myself here to listen to myself and what words, what jargon. I watch other weather casts. What are they saying? What are they doing? How are they presenting it?

And I'll keep it simple. I'm going to give you the temperature. I'm going to tell you if it's going to snow or rain or not, the percentages of it happening. If there's a special weather statement from Environment Canada, I'll let you know and give you the minor details. I cannot be like

a meteorologist, nor should I be expected to be, but I get the job done, I think. Well, good on you for being versatile. I think that they ask you to do it and out of your comfort zone, you do it. Whether it should be done is a whole different topic, but like you said, don't blame bubs.

That's the organization. That's really it. It's a job. That's a mandate now. You mentioned Environment Canada. And I have a bookmark of their... It's the 24-hour from them. They do the 24-hour for Toronto.

And I swear by it because it's super accurate. They'll be like, 80% chance of rain starts at 1 p.m. This is amazing. And I told Adam Stiles that I don't think he was as happy because he's got those letters after his name. So, you know, he takes pride in his models. If I'm Bums, I pop over. Hey, it's 6

degrees. It'll drop down to minus 1 overnight. Tomorrow will be partly sunny and a high of 10. Peace! You know, I... Right? That's kind of what I do sometimes I'll do it if you can do it my sports job is my sports job

but I'm going to tell you this learning this weather thing and getting the estimated times of when it's going to rain or the percentages of it, I'm telling you when I'm bang on I feel real good about myself why not, when you're wrong it's not your fault that's how that works.

Hey, before we leave Hebsey here, Hebsey is doing a podcast now with Liz West based on a show that they had on CHCH. They had to change the name, though, because there was copyright issues. But I was wondering in my heart, in my head, that since we all want Hebsey to do something sports-related, have you ever talked to Hebsey about a sports podcast?

I would love to do that. I think that would be a great thing. But due to the commitments that I have at CHCH, there's just not enough time in the day to do it. And I think Hebsey's the kind of guy that would want it produced for him. So that's where I would probably come in. And I just don't have the time to produce. I'm just wondering a lot.

Because now that he's on my podcasting turf, come in and I just don't have the time to produce. I'm just wondering if, because now that he's on my podcasting turf, so he's on my turf now, but we'd all love to see a sports line podcast. Oh, for sure. I mean, hey, that guy has knowledge that that's really impressive. I mean... Great stories.

I mean, great stories. I once had him over just tell me, like, tell me a handful of stories about that time you were in Dominican Republic, George Bell, the time that you picked a fight with Dave Steeb. Give me these hot-headed, hepsy stories. Yeah, Mike Milbury insulting him. There's so many stories. Now, mind you, working with him for six years, I might have heard them three or four times. But they were great stories nonetheless of a sportscaster.

And from one sportscaster to another that was doing the business in a different time. And for me, that was the best part of knowing what the sportscasting job was like, you know, when it was Marsden and guys, Stevenson and guys like that, you know, and Dick Beddoes at our station at CHCH, what the job was like because Hemsher was there watching it and how much it's changed today. Bubba, you off the top, and I wasn't going to disclose this, but you did. You're a black man. I just feel like that is irrelevant. I am a black man. I think it's irrelevant.

But in this context, it is not irrelevant because I am curious. When Greg Brady was on last week, he came on the show. Love Greg. And I met, you know, he's doing the morning show again at 590. He's great. Fantastic. And he's doing it with Elliot Price and he's doing it with Hugh Burrell. And those are like three older white dudes.

He's not old. He's about my vintage. But he's a white guy. There's three white guys. I'll ignore that you're ringing right now. Sorry. It's okay. That's awful. The good thing about these mics is you got to be right on them, which means that I bet you people can't even hear that. Brutal.

That's okay. I should be fined. No, you can't be because what's his name? Alan Cross took a phone call during his episode. That's awful. Your phone ringing is excused. All right. Now, can you tell me about your experience being black in Canadian sports media?

You mentioned off the top, it's a rarity. Can you elaborate on that? You know, every once in a while, I have to slap myself in the face about it and just think about it because I think even at this point right now, how many black males are there telling sports right now, sitting at a desk, anchoring sports right now in this country? Can you count? In that position?

Because I can think, of course, I can see there's like Paul Jones doing Raptors, but that's more of a calling. And I'm thinking there's a couple of guys on the panel for the CFL, but... But those are panel guys. There's one in Sportsnet, a young guy that they've just acquired. TSN doesn't have any. I mean, they have Nabil, and they have some

colors, we'll quote. Non-white people. Some colors, is what we call them. I'm not calling them that. But they really are not. And that is shocking to me. And I've had a lot of young kids, some of them black and of different races and creeds, and said, like, what's going on in the industry here? And I can't answer for many of the people that hire out there.

There's Jason Portwondo, who was at Sportsnet, and he was eventually let go. Richard Provanche, who was hired the very first year of Sportsnet. He lasted one year. Jermaine Franklin, I guess, is a reporter for TSN. I'm struggling to think of a... They had Paul Jones, Mark Jones probably, at TSN for one year or one year before he went to ESPN.

Just not a lot of guys out there. And how do I feel about it? I'm kind of surprised. I can't believe I'm the only one that's passionate about sports that is able to sit at the desk and entertain people and give them their highlights and their news. It's disappointing to me.

So is it sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy then? Because if there's a lack of role models that you can relate to, a lot of people say, for example, when Tiger Woods won the Masters, I realized I could do that too because I see myself reflected there and so it's very key that you have groundbreakers to be the role models for the next generation and stuff and it sounds like uh there's a lack of uh and we're talking about black males forget black females in the sports because at least black males you say well there's amber david amber's doing a hockey in canada and you can point to some examples of color, but woman, yeah,

every woman I'm thinking of in my head that does sports is a white woman for what that's worth. And a lot of blondes. For whatever that reason is. Jackie Redmond, Carolyn Cameron, and who's our friend on TSN there?

Popular. There's a Lindsay Hamilton. She's a brunette. I'm not sure of the blonde, but definitely the white skin, for sure. But yeah, I'm telling you now, there's a girl that I've met in the business that I really think, I think if there's going to be the first black female sportscaster

on a national basis, she is at, I think, CP24 right now. Her name is Kayla Williams. Okay, okay. She took over for Jill Colton, who was booted and then went south She is at, I think, CP24 right now. Her name is Kayla Williams. Okay, okay. She took over for Jill Colton, who was booted and then went south to become a Tea Party member. I don't know what her true passion is to anchor. I know she's a sports fan and that she participated in sports in the U.S. college situation. And so I think she did some work for the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

So I know she's got some roots in sports. If there's ever going to be a girl, that's the U.S. college situation, and so I think she did some work for the Hamilton Tiger Cats, so I know she's got some roots in sports. If there's ever going to be a girl, that's the girl. And she's biracial, I believe, but she would look as a black female. She's excellent. She's knowledgeable. She speaks well. I have no idea why she's not at any at Tia Center Sportsnet right now. But she's just getting her feet wet right now.

Yeah, she's very young, very young. In the Toronto industry right now, in the Toronto area right now. But if there's going to be one, that would be my prediction. And it's funny that you're talking about a future for her in sports, and right now I've only seen her do weather, and you're the sports guy, and you're doing weather. I think she's actually hosting the weekend show now. Okay, okay, because I only saw her

in the Jill Colton spot on one weekend. When I was doing my... I have mandatory Ann Romer checks, so when my calendar goes off, go check if Ann's on. She always is. She's still on television. The official answer is because she's fantastic. That is the answer of why she's

on television. It's been a long run. You started off with the whole, you retire once and you get out of here. That didn't apply. But I get criticism for talking too much about Anne Romer because I just had Kevin Frankish on and we did a heavy-duty Anne Romer chat. I'm sure there's some real stories behind there. I'm working on it. I'm working on

it, bubs. So where are the minorities in Canadian sports TV? My thought is it should reflect the people. And I don't know the numbers on this, but I don't know what percent. Toronto, for example, I don't know. Let's say Toronto's 10% black. I'm making up these numbers.

I don't know the numbers. Yeah. Then we should see a reflection of 10% of our on-air people should be black. And I think that's why people flock to City TV in the early days, because there was a voice for them. Right. I mean, or I can relate to that guy.

Jojo Chinto, Dwight Drummond. John Saunders, the late John Saunders. I mean, he's a guy that, okay, let me tell you a quick story here. In 1992, World Championships of Basketball, I think at that time he was still here. Anyway, that's a guy that I, because at that time, I've only wanted to do two things in my entire life. And my mom would tell you this, and God rest his soul on my dad, he would tell you the same thing. He's only wanted to do two things in his life. And that was, one, be a sportscaster or an air traffic controlman. My parents really pushed hard on that for me not to be that, because at the time, computers weren't as good as they were in terms

of the technology and air flight and there was a lot of pressure on that job and you know things happen when there's that amount of pressure on people in that kind of a job so they and they and they knew i loved sports so i ended up being the sports thing 1992 world championships of basketball and if you remember that at maple leaf Gardens back in the day, and there is a John Saunders, a guy that I watch on TV, and I'm like, whoa. And because he's a black guy, I might have felt a little comfort with talking to him. Sure, you can see

yourself being that. Yeah, I mean, the guy, and it's nothing against, you know, because I would say Pat Morrison was a guy that I fell in love with, too, because he was a freewheeling, happy, good old Irish guy, gonna tell you the way it is kind of guy which is kind of the way I am. And I talked to John and I

met him once and I asked him about being in the business and he told me the things and he was real honest with me. And he's like, kid, here's the deal. You're black. And it's not going to come just because of your talent or whatever or timing like many other black. You know what I mean? And it's not going to come just because of your talent or whatever

or timing like many other guys. You have to work twice as hard. And he would just point out other guys. You need to work twice as hard as that guy, that guy, that guy, that guy, that guy. Because he was just being real with me. And I never forgot that. I mean, my parents would tell me that. But hearing someone in the business actually tell me that

and being flat out with me, that stuck in my head. And he was fantastic. Let me just say, as a broadcaster... Solid. Solid, classy, just fantastic. Fantastic. You mentioned,

and I hope this doesn't get too heavy, and tell me if I'm being too personal here, but you mentioned that your father had passed away. And I've seen on Facebook some... you look fondly, we remember your father. So when did your father pass? 93. December 19th of 1993. Right near Christmas, which really sucked. Well, okay, tell me. Now, this topic, I am a father. I have my own issues on this front. And it's like, so this topic absolutely fascinates me personally.

But do you mind sharing for a moment what your father meant to you and how he helped shape you to the bubs you are today? Well, you know, it's funny because he was the guy that got me into sports. And maybe this is why I have sort of an affection to the CFL. And as hard as it gets slammed, I'll always love it. He used to take me to the Argonaut games. Those were the first games. I mean, he took me to the odd Leaf game.

When I got a little bit older, we would go to Sabres games because we lived in Burlington, which was easier to get tickets. And it was just a better and more fun environment. Hence, that's why I started to follow the Sabres more than the Leafs. But he took me to these CFL games. And these were Argonaut teams, and they were bad, but it was at Exhibition Stadium. And there was a field of the CFL back then, and Leo Cahill and Willie Wood were the coaches,

and Joe Barnes was the quarterback. So building that sports background and taking me live to games made me want to play sports. And I played baseball, and I played soccer, and I played football in high school, and I was a captain of the team. And my dad used to work some long hours. He was a hard worker and worked for CN Rail. And then when I was playing high school games, I mean, my dad would never leave work for anything. But my dad used to come to my games during the afternoon.

And that's something that he would never do for for anything. But my dad used to come to my games during the afternoon. And that's something that he would never do for probably anything. And we would watch games together. We would talk about it all the time. It was the one thing we had. We didn't agree on everything like every father and son, but we always agreed on the sports topics and talked about it and watched together. So that background that I have from him developed a passion of sports for me. And it's something that I will never, ever forget. And it goes way back because I remember him watching. And I think the first thing as when I'm a young, young kid, I remember because at the time, Muhammad Ali is the biggest thing in the world.

And at that time, not like it is today, fights were on TV and on ABC Wide World of Sports. And here I am watching that with him, and him and his friends would debate on Ali, or who was Frazier, was he better, or Norton won that fight, and Ali shouldn't have won, he's too old, blah, blah, blah. But I was always around those conversations. And it's amazing how, as a young, young child,

and I'm talking about six, seven, eight years old, as your siblings would probably tell you years from now, stuff sticks with you. And maybe that's why I developed such a passion for sports from just being around him

and watching him, and as I said, going to games and having him take me to games. You develop that love immediately. And I could tell just by listening to you that you miss your dad. And I'll tell you what I miss the most

and I'll tell you a quick little story, very quick. During the Sportsline days, I think the second year, and obviously CH had a lot more money or it was a contra deal, but they put up a billboard with Hebsey and I on the billboard,

and it was a big one, and it was on the Gardner Expressway. Easily accessible. All my friends, once it went up, my phone, Facebook, everything is going up, like, you're on the Gardner Expressway! And my mom, who has a lot of friends in Toronto,

whatever, she knew about it, whatever. And then one day she drove up and saw it. And again, it was right on the Gardner, amongst all those other millions of signs or hundreds of signs. And I remember her telling me that if your dad could have ever seen that sign, how proud he would have been of me. And, you know, I'm

getting choked up just thinking about it right now, because that, I think if he lived, and I think that's the one thing I miss, or I missed out on, is that he didn't get to see me doing the things that I'm doing right now. And I think that if he knew he had the influence and just the fact that, you know, in some ways I made it and amongst, you know, a lot of odds and and have done some great things, talked to some incredible people in sports and to actually say for him to see that, I think would have been really, really cool. He raised a good guy. So be proud. You made him proud. Thank you, sir.

And thank you for this, man. I really, really enjoyed this. And I wish I had more time because I wanted to get into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Maybe in 10 seconds I can do this. I tweeted that Chuck D should be the first rapper in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. It's going to be Jay-Z. And you tweeted back at me that KRS-One maybe or Run-DMC or LL Cool J. And they're all great.

But Chuck D, that's the man who should be the first. I love Chuck. I love Chuck. But I don't know if he was a great rhymer. We're going to have to continue this off air. You are wrong, sir. And that brings us to the end of our 222nd

show. You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike and Clint or Bubba as I now call him is at Bubba CHCH and our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer and Chef's Plate is at Chef's Plate CA. See you all next week.

And drink some goodness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the snow won't be today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't be today And your smile is fine

And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is Rosy and green Well you've been under my skin For more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter And eight years of laughter and eight years of tears

And I don't know what the future can hold or will do For me and you But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because Everything is coming up