Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Dave Randorf: Toronto Mike'd #654

Episode Date: May 27, 2020

Mike chats with broadcaster Dave Randorf about his career in sports media working for TSN and Sportsnet and what looms in the upcoming bizarre 2020 NHL playoffs.

Welcome to episode 654 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Palma Pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Garbage Day. Weekly reminders for garbage, recycling and yard waste pickup. Visit GarbageDay.com slash Toronto Mike to sign up now. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. The Keitner Group. They love helping buyers find their dream home.

Text TORONTOMIKE to 59559. And our newest sponsor, CDN Technologies. Your IT and cyber security experts. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me is Rambo himself, Dave Randolph. Hello, Toronto Mike. And thank you for addressing me by my proper title, Toronto Mike. Does anybody ever call you that, Toronto Mike?

Because, you know. No, but I wish everybody should call me that. Usually they're like, hi, Mike. And I'm like, no, it's Toronto Mike. What's wrong with you? I won't call you Toronto Mike the entire time. But you are very Toronto-centric. You are a Toronto guy.

I know that by now. And people are probably wondering why you called me Rambo that came out of the blue I'll tell people why I called you Rambo and then you're going to explain the origin story it's not an exciting story just make it up, embellish it Dan O'Toole

I tweeted you were coming on it was like an hour ago, I think I said in one hour, Dave Randorth and Dan O'Toole, who's an FOTM. He's been on the show. He's been on once. Okay, yeah. Jay's been on twice, but Dan's been on once.

It was a long drive for him. We should do it again via Zoom. It'll be much easier for him. But, you know, he's in Orono, you know. But Dan said Rambo. So tell us, why does Dan O'Toole call you Rambo? I was stuck up on a mountain and killed a bunch of people. No.

That's real time. You know what? No, it was when I worked a long time ago when I was younger, and it was my first job. I worked in the TSN newsroom, and it became just kind of an altered, bastardized version of my last name, Rambo. So like I said, I wish I had a better story. And for a long time, you know, nobody even knew. Nobody called me Dave. Nobody called me Randolph.

And it was Rambo all the time. And it's every once in a while. And Dan wasn't actually around during those days. So he came well after the fact to TSN. And I guess he knew, he heard that they used to call me this. And he still calls me that on occasion when we chat. I envision that, I don't know, at the cafeteria, he bumps

into Vic Rauter and he goes, Vic Rauter says, we called him Rambo. Vic Rauter was there. I was definitely around when Vic was there. And yeah, everybody called me. Jim Van Horn called me Rambo. John Wells, Michael Landsberg, all those guys back then. All right. Now you've just hit a trigger there.

Because you said Michael Landsberg, I just need to let everybody listening know that my special guest next week on the program is the Michael Landsberg. Well, that's a great guest indeed. Michael's got a lot to say. Day one guy from TSN, one of the pillars that's a great guest indeed. Michael's got a lot to say. Day one guy from TSN, one of the pillars that that network was built on. And man, when I think back to how he helped me when I was like 18 years old working in the newsroom, not only did he help me like in the newsroom and we had fun and he put everybody at ease, he gave us confidence. He drove me home sometimes late at night because I had to take a bus and he would go out of his way

to drive me home in the dead of winter at like 1.30, 2 in the morning after we'd finished doing the late show. Well, think about that. Okay. So you're like a teenager working and being mentored of sorts by Michael Landsberg. Meanwhile, today he looks 10 years younger than you. Well, that's because I've got this beard, Mike. Okay. Can we talk about the beard? Okay. So nobody can see you, but me, unfortunately, there is a way, like when I record with Hebsey and we'll get to this later, but when I record with Hebsey, I actually have a way where people could see you, but I always feel it's like, I don't want to, like, you're a guest. You're the first time I've ever, if this is called meeting you, this is the first time we've met. And I feel

like I don't really want to give him these instructions of what to do. Mute here, do this. Like, I want to make it easy for you. So I don't put your video on, but I will tell the people that it looks amazing, but I have some questions. Okay. Because, uh, although mine, you probably can't even see cause it's not new, but I have a little bit of something going right on the chin. It's a goatee. You've got a goatee, a very, you know, a little goatee. A little goatee. And it's come in completely white. So that's, yeah. So, and I'm looking at you, but what you have going on is your beard is coming in white,

like, you know, Papa Smurf. But the mustache, are you, like the mustache is coming in brown, I guess. Like, so just, that's just nature. And my, you know, the top of my head is basically all Brown as well. So yes, it's very strange. It's the second time I've done the beard. I did this a few years ago during a summer break and I traveled to amongst other places, Hong Kong, which was, it's like 40 degrees there every day in the shade. So that was,

I barely made it through that two weeks there with a beard. Cause it's, you know, not that comfortable. So I did what a lot of guys were doing. I stopped shaving, and I knew it didn't surprise me that it was going to come in this color. So yes, I've heard, Mike, that it ages me a little bit. So I don't know how much longer I'm going to keep this. But, David, it works for you. I mean that.

You're a handsome guy. I'm not to say you covered up your ugly. I'm not saying that at all. But you look good in the beard like i might my suggestion is uh if the sports net powers that be don't care you keep this you think so really i'm being serious this is i'm not even i'm not messing with you it looks good i'm not i'm yeah i'm not on camera nearly as much as i used to be in my previous uh tv life so uhnet, to my knowledge, doesn't have hard, fast rules. Like, TSN used to have rules, heavy rules.

Our boss, Marc Millier, at the time, who I'm sure you've heard of by now, he said, absolutely not, no beer. Even when Movember rolled around, there's only a couple of people that he allowed to grow. I think they've relaxed that rule. But he didn't allow just anybody. Gino was allowed to grow a mustache, and Jay could because it was a comedy thing, and it was a ridiculous deal.

And the rest of us, actually, I'm pretty sure he's not. You know what? We're just going to let these guys do it, and we'll raise this money other ways. So I don't think Sportsnet has the same facial hair rule. It's not like Steinbrenner. Yeah, right. I'm thinking of the Simpsons episode when Mr. Burns told Don Mattingly to trim the sideburns

or whatever. That was a Steinbrenner spoof there. But Gino, it's funny you mentioned Gino. I would think there's probably like a something in the legislature, like a law in the books that says you cannot tell Gino Retta. He's not allowed to grow a mustache. You would think,

you would think that was, that was the signature back in the day, right? The Gino Retta mustache. Jim Van Horn had the wicked. Okay. So I recently, actually during the pandemic,

I did a, I touched base of Jim and had Jim Van Horn on Toronto Mike, and he's still rocking the stash. So Gina's got rid of it, but, but, but,'d and he's still rocking the stash. So Gina's got rid of it, but Jim Van Horn still rocks the stash. Well, I will put you, I'm just kind of checking out of here on the Zoom. I don't look at it that often, but

okay, I will put you in the keep category in the check mark and we'll take a little informal survey as we get closer to it. Okay, and we'll see who wins this soon. So let's start with a bit of that and then I want to talk to you about your work at TSN, and then your move to Sportsnet and all that. And I even have a couple of clips I pulled.

But the big news, obviously, is that it looks like we're going to have a Stanley Cup champion in 2020 here. Yeah. You know, we're doing this on Wednesday. What's today? Wednesday the 27th. So, yeah, the news just came out yesterday. So it's good. It's great.

I'm a glass half full guy by nature. And I'm cautiously optimistic that we're actually going to see some games. And I'm happy to have hockey back. I know there's a lot of people out there that are really questioning why the NHL or sports in general is pushing so hard to come back. And then I know there's a lot of people that will be thrilled to see sports come back and hockey. So having said all that, there's still a lot of hurdles to clear between now and actual games happening in early August or mid-August. But I'm ready to do whatever and whenever they want us to be a part of this thing. And it's kind of cool to think that we're going to be able to bring hockey back to people who want it.

And I'm looking forward to it. But I'm cautiously optimistic, Mike, because obviously there's a lot of things out of the NHL's control. Right. And I'm assuming it's too early in the process that anybody has given you any idea of what this will mean for Dave Randolph. You're right. Yeah, We haven't been told anything. Our, our, our big boss yesterday sent out an email to our NHL group saying, Hey, this is the great news and we're excited. And, and they've been unbelievable to us, by the way, I, I'm going to shut out to two Rogers company-wide. They've been amazing.

I'm not talking to sports net. They have been very, very good from the very top on down during this whole thing with leadership and keeping everybody whole and, and calm. So anyway, they sent us an email and you're right. Um, there's a lot of questions. Uh, me personally, will I be in the building or will I be calling it off tube, uh, from some little phone booth in Toronto? I don't know yet. And you must be, you know, you, you got a, I'm,

you're probably wondering like what building and what that means. Like, I don't know your, your family, although I guess you're, you don't have the young kids, right? Your kids are old. No, my kids are, my kids are grown and, and they're all university age and, and older. So it doesn't affect me so much as a guy with young family. So, and at this point I'm ready to get back to some routine. I've already, I had my guys over here last night and they don't even live with me in the house right now. Um, but, uh, I was saying I might be gone for weeks, boys. And they're like, okay, they're used to it by now. So it's okay. And I'm ready to do whatever they want, whenever they

want. I I'm not, uh, I'm ready to quarantine, do all that kind of stuff. So we'll, we'll see. And as for the cities, yeah, you're right. I would assume, obviously, that I would be assigned to the Western group, the Western Conference group, so I can start at least chipping away with some work and prep. Well, I think that's a safe assumption because I joked with you before I pressed record that you're episode five, what are you?

You're 654. And that's primarily because you keep doing the West Coast games. Like if you did more Leaf games, I'd be like, you'd be like definitely a top 200. And it got to 700. That would have been,

I would have drawn the line right there, Mike. Toronto Mike. Yes, thank you. Thank you. I like the Toronto Mike. Now, it's all about branding. Can I call you Rambo? Sure. Let's do it.

That'll be throwback. I know you love throwback stuff. This was right around the 90s when they called me that. I know that's your... Let's go with it. What you're saying is what everybody already knows, which is I'm stuck in the 90s.

I'm stuck in the days of Sportsline and Jim Van Horn of the Big Mustache on TSN. I'm stuck. Actually, that's probably 80s. But anyway, let me tell the people how this episode came to be because I like sharing how the sausage is made or how the cake is baked

and all that behind-the-scenes stuff. So let me just tell everybody that quite about a week or so ago, maybe a couple of weeks ago. So when you comment on Toronto, Mike.com, I get a notify. There's a new comment because I need to read these comments because,

uh, somebody might, uh, doc somebody or write something terrible. And then I'm responsible for deleting such. And so I like to keep track of comments on the blog because I'm responsible as the owner of the site. So I get these notifications and I got a notification that Dave Randorth left a comment on Toronto Mic and the comment was left on the entry for the Stephen Page episode of Toronto Mic'd. And that's, I don't know, a few weeks back, but it was a great,

it's a great episode of Toronto Mike, in my humble opinion. And the comment read this. I'll read it out loud. Imagine I just read it in my head. What would be the point? This is a podcast. Okay. That would be odd, Toronto Mike. That would be odd. Have been listening to a lot of podcasts during the pandemic. This is my favorite so far. Very open, honest, and entertaining discussion. Well done by Mike, and thanks to Steven for speaking openly, especially about mental health. A great listen. So it's from Dave Randolph, and I actually, I'll be honest, I don't know if I just didn't

connect the dots at first. I thought it was a great comment, and I shared it. But then my buddy Tyler, FOTM Tyler Campbell, just said, is that the Dave Randolph? And I said, let me, I mean, I don't think so, but maybe let me write the address that was tied to the comment and ask if it is the Dave Randolph. And it turns

out it's you and you didn't like me calling you the Dave Randolph, but, uh, that that's what I called you. And here you are Rambo's on Toronto mic. There you go. And, and so, you know, I meant everything I said, and that was my point when I responded to you. And I was joking about, yeah, don't call me. You kept calling me the Dave Randolph. And I'm like, hey, you keep calling me that. I'm not coming on. Anyway, I did mean what I said.

I have listened to the podcast. And I pick and choose. I kind of rotate around a lot of stuff when I walk the dog. And it was very good. And Stephen was excellent and open. And I thought you brought a lot of stuff out of him. So if you haven't heard the Steven Page episode, go back and check it out.

How's that for further promo? I got to stop there. It's getting- No, no, no. Keep that coming. So my whole thing was, I didn't want to, I wanted to, you know, send a comment.

And I didn't know what would come of it. But then I thought, oh boy, now this looks weird. You know, now he's like, oh, Dave wants to be, no, that wasn't my point at all i didn't think that you said right you said hey no i'd love to have you on i said hey listen i just wanted to give you uh my my genuine thoughts and then you said no i'd love to have you on so

yes here we are and i'm happy to be on yeah let's put it this way uh you're not on because of the comment that merely kind of connected us uh you were a slam dunk to be a guest on the show for many obvious reasons. Just forget all the years at TSN and now these many years at... I mean, come on. Dave Randolph is a great guest. And now I learned I can call you Rambo, which makes you an even better guest.

You know what? You had no idea that was coming. You just learned that minutes before we started. That was an hour ago. Dan O'Toole, thanks for the tip. Now, so the West Coast games were, and I'm admitting, I like playoff hockey and I like watching my Leafs.

This is my, you know, I'm a busy guy. This is what I typically watch. So I actually don't get to enjoy your work that often. You know, we typically get Jim Hewson and then, you know, the regional game, Bart. John Bartlett. Bartlett. And we don't get you that much.

But what I learned is that you actually, you don't live out West. Like we're Zooming now. You could be anywhere in the world. But you live in the GTA. That's correct. And yeah, you don't have to tip your toe around, you know, the fact that you don't want to stay out that late. I get it. It's fine. I'm generally I'm originally from the West. So for me, it's kind of I like that assignment and I'm all good with it.

But yeah, you're right. I moved out here to the Toronto area from Vancouver. Well, I went to Ryerson. My life's been kind of split down the middle between Vancouver and Toronto. So I went to Ryerson and then I went back to Vancouver, and then TSN brought me back to the Toronto area in 01, and I've been here since then. So, yes, on a weekly basis, not every week, but probably 80% of the weeks, I get on a plane and go to Calgary or Edmonton or Vancouver or maybe L.A. or San Jose for one of those teams' games.

So it's a bit of a hike, i i don't mind it i'm fine with it and i you know it's it's it's part of the job and i'm okay with it so how has it been adapting to this uh shutdown this uh you know social distancing we've had almost i don't know two and a half months of this now i think and uh what what has it been like for you like how are you holding up and i'm particularly curious about your, and you can disclose what you want, but like, how is it your mental health through this? And I say that because so many people I talk to and know and care about are really struggling, like with this new normal that we've all been forced to adapt to very quickly. Yeah. Well, let me preface my answer by saying that this is serious. There's

lots of people who are affected with their employment, with their lives, with their health. And I do not take, and none of us take any of that lightly. So having said that, yeah, I'm losing my shit, Toronto Mike. It's a lot. I'm like a creature of habit. So like a lot of guys, you get, especially during the hockey season, it's a total routine and there's a lot. I'm like a creature of habit, like a lot of guys. Especially during the hockey season, it's a total routine. And there's a lot there, and all of a sudden there's not. And so the mental health part of it is, you know, I have days or a few days where you're just like, oh, God, I can only walk the dog or cut the lawn so many more times here.

And, you know, we don't get to see our close family as much as we'd like to. We don't get to see our friends and do all this stuff. So, yeah, I've binged, watched. I'm reading books. I'm walking the dog like everybody else, and I'm looking. So that's why the announcement of the NHL making its return to play protocol, getting it out there, was something for us all to hold on to and kind of build upon.

But, hey, listen, we'll get through it. We will eventually get there. And again, our employers been fantastic with us. So they've really kept us cool and calm. Well, that's good to hear, though, because, you know, your employer gets enough negative PR for other things. And I'm just glad to hear that they're treating you guys well. They, and I won't make this all about this, but you're right. They do take, a big corporate company like Rogers takes it in the chin. So does Bell.

But I'm here to tell you, they have been fantastic. I mean, and your employer has to, they have to, first of all, they have, you know, I don't know if you know this, but they sell, you know, cable packages and cell phone packages

and internet packages. And that alone is going to put you on a hit list for a number of Canadians right there. And then throw in the fact they own the... Well, they have a partial owner of all these sports teams and they own the Blue Jays. And oh yeah, that Don Cherry guy that you've been loving in your living room for decades.

Oh yeah, they've decided he's not going to be in your living room anymore on a Saturday night. And other, you know, that Bob McCowan, you know, that you've been listening to for 30 years on your drive home from work. They're going to, you know, take away his microphone. So, you know, they get their fair share of, and and you know sometimes deservedly so and often not deservedly so but they're they're up you know an easy target i guess i'd say on a variety of fronts fair enough i mean you know there's two sides to every single story that you're talking about there and then those were very all right and there were those were very high profile decisions um i still miss listening to Bob McCallum on a daily basis and Don Cherry thing.

Well, I don't think many Canadians are surprised by the Don Cherry. I shouldn't even combine those two things. One was kind of a surprise for a lot of people. That's the Bob McCallum one and the Don Cherry one. I think most level-headed Canadians would agree would agree with that i would argue uh you know what everybody still has their opinion on that one and uh i don't want to wade into that and reopen that can of worms what i will say is that it's just unfortunate the way it all ended an iconic person who was in my very few times interacting directly with don who was always

fabulous with me um and really nice to me. It's just unfortunate the way it all kind of ended abruptly and not the way you want it. Although if you look back at interviews and there was tons written about Don when it all came down, he predicted this is how it was going to go. He basically was quoted years ago saying, I'm going to go out on my sword one day. They're going to tell me you're gone.

And that's exactly what happened. Right. I do remember that quote. Yeah, going out on his shield, I think. But yeah, it happened as he prophesied. And maybe that's the way he wanted it to happen. But you're right. We won't reopen that can of worms. That's a 2019 story. We're in a global pandemic, for goodness sakes. Let's stop. Let's leave. Let's just hope he's fine. Right. Yeah. Let's hope he's safe and healthy here. Now, and I think he's got a podcast. So he's still out there producing content for everybody. Now, you mentioned Vancouver. So you're a West Coast guy. So maybe tell us a little bit like what happened to you when you're a West Coast guy. So maybe tell us a little bit

like what happened to you when you're living in Vancouver that made you realize you wanted a microphone in front of you? Born here in Toronto, moved to Vancouver when dad got a job

when I was about 10 or 11 and we moved out to Vancouver. So you'll like this, Toronto Mike. Yes. I did not set out to be a sportscaster at all. I wanted to be a rock DJ. I wanted'll like this Toronto Mike. Yes. I did not set out to be a sportscaster at all. I wanted to be a rock DJ. I want to be on the radio. I love the radio. I listened to the

radio extensively to this day, a lot of talk radio, all kinds of different radio. Right. Thank God for these new apps. We can get all kinds of radio stations from all over the place. It's great. And that's what I wanted to do. And I did the morning announcements in high school and the PA for the basketball games and all that kind of stuff. So I had a direction coming out of high school, which was, you know, not a lot of people do have that at that age. And so I applied for broadcast school and I applied at one in Vancouver, a school called BCIT. And then I applied at Ryerson and was accepted in Toronto. I took that because it was the big one. I jumped into it and thought, all right, here we go.

I wanted to be on Seapox. I wanted to play rock and roll music on what would have been the Q107 equivalent. Is that the Brother Jake station? Was Brother Jake on there? No. I get my Vancouver stations mixed up. Okay. Yeah. No,

back, back then when I was in high school, there was another one called there is, there still is another one called CFMI, uh, rock one Oh one. But back then they weren't, you know, C Fox was the station.

It was the rock station. And that's the one that you wanted to be on Larry and Willie with the guys in the morning there. And I think Willie might still be kicking around. I'm not sure about maybe this is a, maybe I'm getting my brothers mixed up. Yeah. So brother Jake was rock one Oh one, but maybe it was a brother Bill who went by the name, Neil Morrison when he moved to Vancouver, but he was a, cause he was a,

he was a one Oh 2.1 jock when I was listening to him. And then, then I think maybe after you've come back to Toronto maybe, but he was a But I think he was a Seafox jock for a while. Yeah, I came to Toronto in the late 80s. So we may have a Chris Ross there. So I don't remember that name. But the big names were Larry and Willie in the morning. And there was another guy that I liked called Bill Courage. And yeah, Brother Jake used to...

I think he's still on the air in Vancouver. And I actually listened to his podcast with you recently. And that was fun to listen to as well. Yeah, he, I think he's still on the air in Vancouver. And, and I heard, I actually listened to his podcast with you recently. And that was, that was fun to listen to as well. Yeah. He retired. So he's, he's no longer, uh, no longer on the air in, uh, in Vancouver. That's what I wanted to do. And, um, so I came to, uh, Toronto, I was 18. I was a year younger than everybody because we didn't have grade 13, uh, at the time in BC. So I was 18. Everybody else was at least 19, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it was, it was a big, it was a big leap for me. And even though I had family in the Toronto area and lived with my grandparents and all that stuff, it was a big adjustment. And

shortly into my, my first year, very shortly in my first year, I got a job in the newsroom at TSN. And then that's when things started to shift towards working in sports TV. Shortly into my first year, very shortly in my first year, I got a job in the newsroom at TSN. And then that's when things started to shift towards working in sports TV. How old was TSN when you first entered the building? One year. One year. September of 85. And they were on the air in September of 84. And I was hired by Scott Moore, who was running the newsroom back then.

And I sat on the famous, what's called the row. And my job was to watch games on a nightly basis and put together the highlight packs for Sports Desk for Landsberg and Van Horn and Router and Steve Cooney and Peter Watts and Terry Libel and Diana McDonald. Paul Romanuk was there, right? Paul Romanuk? Romy was in and out.

He was in and out a little bit because he'd been working somewhere else and then he came in and was doing some reporting. And then he came in and yes, he was a weekend anchor on Sports Desk as well. Yep. Wow. I remember, I mean,

I didn't get TSN at the very beginning. It was, you know, when I heard they had Blue Jay games, I was very jealous of anybody who was paying who had that on their cable box or whatnot but eventually with that and much music eventually showed up on my television I don't even know how that happened but it's interesting that we've talked a few times about Jim Van Horn and his amazing mustache because you kind of are mimicking his career in the sense that not that you ever were a rock jock,

but Jim Van Horn was a 10 50 rock jock, uh, you know, before he ever became a sports media personality. No, for sure. And, you know, he had that great,

that great voice and he, Jim had a presence. And, I remember I learned a ton from Jim. Uh, he was a no nonsense guy when it was close to showtime, you had to have your details and facts and everything corrected on time and everything

like that. But he was also a real gentle giant as well in the newsroom. And then he really helped you out. The guy that I couldn't get my shit together with was Vic Rauter. Don't get me wrong. Vic was very nice, but I just had this nervous tick around Vic where I was always making stupid mistakes.

And he would look at me and it got to the point where I was like, I'd handed my script, you know, at 10, 50, 10 minutes before the show. And I was praying that I proofread it at 10 times. And then sure enough, there was a mistake in it. And he'd look and he'd go, David, really? And it was like a boneheaded mistake. Like, like, like I knew sports and I always made mistakes around Vic. I eventually shook that, thank God.

They were all very good to us and helped us along. I could see that when you'd be intimidated by this presence of Vic Rauter. I felt when he made his first visit here, I had that moment too of like, Vic Rauter's here. Like, how am I going to be able to string a sentence together? I totally, totally, totally get that. By the way, here's an assignment for you, Dave.

Next time you're walking the dog or whatnot or going for a stroll. So Vic's been here twice, but the second time he kicked out the jams, I strongly urge you to listen to Vic Rauter kicks out the jams on toronto mic it's a it's a true treat like you got to go listen to that and tell me what you think all right i will i've not i admit i've cherry picked and listened to several episodes but i've not listened to any of the

kick out the jam ones any of them and so i got to check that format out because i'm a music guy i love music so i think i would enjoy all that i'll tell you you're not alone i hear that a lot like oh i cherry pick my episodes. I skip the kick out of the jams, and I tell everybody what I'm going to tell you, which is you're making a huge mistake. Yeah, no, I know that I need to check one out. So I promise I will, Toronto Mike.

Tell me about how John Wells played a role in your fortunes here, getting the gig at TSN. Well, unless somebody planted this question with you, it's a very astute detail for you. No, I do my homework. You know that. Yeah, John Wells got me in the door. I mentioned that I got accepted at Ryerson.

I was 18 and we had family, friends that lived close by. They were neighbors of John Wells. And at the time John was a big free agent signing of of you know from CBC sports came over to TSN he was a big name and and he was a day one guy as well so uh he they introduced me to John in their backyard one day and he said all right kid I hear you're taking the radio and television arts at uh Ryerson uh why don't you come by one day and I'll give you a tour. And again, I'm a kid and everything's just new to me. And I'm so naive and so green. I thought, great, Mr. Wells. Yeah. When I'm done in three years, I'll give you a call. No problem.

So I go to class and start taking classes in there. They're really pressing us to go get our foot in the door and go get a job. And clicked in that maybe he meant like now so i called him is he picks up the phone doesn't really remember the conversation but then he goes oh right right you're the kid who knows the cleveless yes right okay sure come on in i'll give you a tour so i thanks mr well so i i show up one day at 11 55 les Street, which was the first building that TSN was in. I think they've been in about two or three since. And he meets me at the door, whips me around the building. The tour lasts about five minutes, if that.

He was very nice. Don't get me wrong. He was really nice. But he drops me off in Scott Moore's office. And he says, Scott, here's the kid I was telling you about. Good luck, kid. And he whacks me in the back and leaves. And Scott says, all right, kid.

What's your name? Dave. And Scott was a product of RTA as well at Ryerson. So he sits me down and asks me some questions about sports, like who's leading the NL East and all this kind of stuff. And I knew sports, so I was fine. And he goes, OK, so where's your resume? And I said, I don't, I don't,

I don't have a resume. Like I'd never even made a resume ever in my life. You were there for the tour. That's exactly what I said. I said, I wouldn't have a resume either. Right. I'm just here for the tour. And he looks at me and I believe you've met Scott. Have you not? Yeah. He's been over twice actually. Oh, there you go. So you can picture him looking at you and going, you are an idiot. And he's laughing when he says it, but it cut. Again, I'm a kid. Right.

You come to a job interview with no resume. Oh, God. All right. Well, fine. So he gave me an assignment to write a voiceover script that night. I want it on my desk tomorrow at 9am. There was a football game then and an NFL game. And I had class that night. So, you know, again, you wouldn't think at 18 years old to skip a class and elective, but, you know, like normal

people would do now. I've got to go to this class. How am I going to do this? So I'll try to make this story as short, but I went to the video store and I rented a beta machine. Remember a beta machine? Of course I do. Yeah. I have a white beard. Of course I remember. Well, you know, so I rented this thing. It was the size of a small car and I had no money. Like I basically spent all my money on, I don't know what it costs, but it was like ridiculous what it costs. I lugged this thing in this hard shell case onto the bus, took it back to my Italian grandparents' place. Somehow, I don't know how, managed to hook up this beta machine to their old prehistoric electro home TV. And then I had to talk to my grandmother, my 80-year-old Italian grandmother. Grandma, can you just press

play this button here and record at the same time at eight o'clock? It's all set up. You just need to press these two buttons right here. And she's looking at me like, this is not going to happen. Well, grandma Lato, God bless. She got it done. She recorded the, I don't know how she did it, but she got it done. I watched the game. I must have made 50 pages of notes i stayed up to like 3 30 in the morning writing this voiceover script and there it was on scott's desk the next day he looked at it for about 30 seconds said all right this is fine uh you can start uh on next week on wednesday okay 50 bucks a shift and there you go and that's how john wells got me my very

first job and that's how i got in the door at tsn and that that really has led to obviously led to everything but i i yeah i totally love hearing those stories because of course later in your career which we'll we'll get to in about two and a half hours you got the time right dave but you know scott moore will play such a pivotal role in where you are today so it's just it's fascinating to me how this chance, this encounter with John Wells gets you to a point where you can make an impression of some sorts on, you know, on Scott.

And then that gets you the, the, yeah, I was an idiot. He called me an idiot basically. Well, I think I was called that too until I assured him I'm not Mike in Boston. I'm Toronto Mike and we're different people.

And then he was very nice to me. Okay, good. So I speak to many people across this country right now, but primarily people who grew up in Toronto because we talk a lot of Toronto talk here. So everybody, most people I'm listening to now are probably sports fans. They probably know the GTA market.

And therefore, if you're of a certain age and you have white whiskers like me, you grew up watching Sportsline on Global with Jim Taddy and Mark Hebbshire. It's a thrill to me today that I actually work with Mark Hebbshire. So I consider myself a poor replacement for Jim Taddy, but I kind of play that role on Hebbsy on Sports,

which is a great podcast you guys should all subscribe to. But why am I talking about Sportsline? Because I grew up with Sportsline. That's how I got my sports highlights at night. But it turns out that if I was in Toronto, Mike, and I was Vancouver, Mike, I might have grew up listening to something else. So we're going to play a little clip. This is like 20 seconds long. I hope you can hear it, Dave. I know everyone else will be able to hear it. So here we go. Cliff Ronning of the Vancouver Canucks. One of the big reasons these guys are now in the final little clip. This is like 20 seconds long. I hope you can hear it, Dave. I know everyone else will be able to hear it. So here we go. Cliff Ronning of the Vancouver Canucks. One of the big reasons these guys are now in the final two. They'll be taking on either the New Jersey Devils

or the New York Rangers. I know Ivana's waiting here for you. We'll let you go enjoy the night. Thanks a lot for hanging in there, Cliff. Thank you. I think I'm definitely taller. Yeah, I'm you. All right. Get out of here. Okay. Don, back to you. So that sounds like a younger version of you.

That was 1994. That was the year the Vancouver Canucks went to the Stanley Cup final against the Rangers. And yes, Ronnie and I did see eye to eye a lot of things. I'm not 6'4", neither is Pete. And I was SportsPage. I talked to you about that. They had just

eliminated my Leafs, by the way. I remember that series very well. But what was the name of that program? SportsPage. And it was, for your Toronto listeners, it was the Vancouver equivalent of SportsLine. Except we were a one-man show. We didn't have two co-hosts.

We tried that very briefly. There was me. There was the late Paul Carson, a guy who gave me my first real big on-air break and left us way too soon. And there was a guy named Don Taylor who's still on the radio now doing sports radio in Vancouver.

And also there was a lot of guys that went through there. John Shorthouse, who is now the voice of the Vancouver Canouver canucks locally there he uh he came through there dan murphy is another guy that you may see from time to time a ringside report so this was a show much like sportsline to you was a show that i grew up watching and when i was at tsn and and had figured out okay forget about the rock uh the rock jock thing i'm gonna be a sportscaster i put tapes and figured out, okay, forget about the rock, uh, rock jock thing. I'm going to be a sportscaster.

I put tapes and resumes out to, from Halifax to Victoria and all points in between. But there was a couple of places that I really, you know, focused on. And one was sports page and, uh, it was called CKBU at the time. And I was lucky enough that somebody left really quickly. And it was unexpected. He left to go to CBC Local. And it was the summer. They needed a guy right away.

My phone rang out of the blue in Toronto. And it was Paul Carson. And within days, I went out there, did an audition, and was offered a job. And I think within about 10 days, I was living back in Vancouver on SportsMation. I feel like I just discovered this thing that it's been there this whole time and I'm like because I'm here stuck in Toronto I had no idea about sports page so just fascinating it was the same thing you listen I was around uh in Toronto going to Ryerson I get sports line I watched it too with Tidy and Hepshire I I Bill Bird, right? Yeah. Mitch Desaria, all those guys.

Bill Martin, yeah, yeah, yeah. I watched that. Yeah, I watched that as well. And it had the same real loyal local following that SportsPage did. But SportsPage was on the air a lot longer. I think they say that the claim is they were the first show of its kind in Canada where it was half-hour local sports. We were on at 11, too, not 11.30 Canada where it was half hour local sports. We were on at 11 to not 1130.

So it was a very popular show. And this was before the Internet, before Sportsnet, before TSN really focused on the Western market. So we had it to ourselves. And that clip you showed there, you know, we had a great cup. The Lions won a great cup. The Canucks went to the Stanley Cup final. It was a great cup. The Lions won a great cup. The Canucks went to the Stanley Cup final. It was a great time. And honestly, to this day, Mike, my last show was 1995 on SportsPage.

And I don't go more than three or four, maybe five months. And I'm not even kidding. Without somebody somewhere in an airport coming up to me and saying, oh, man, SportsPage. Those were the days. Man, I used to love that show. And then sometimes it's followed up by, so what are you doing now? That's not so good. No, but that's, that's a, that's, so this is, this is, this is essentially your big breakthrough, right? Because you're doing all

that stuff at TSN when you were a kid. And of course you come back to TSN, which we'll get to very shortly here, but you're, it's all, you know, writing and stuff behind the scenes. There's no in front of camera appearance for you at TSN that first round. No, I wanted to. And there was, there was one moment in time where three, three guys were given the opportunity to go out and do kind of an audition, do a field report and sit on the desk. And they were going to, cause it's the TSN was young. As I've said, I started when it was on the air for a year and I'd been there for a while.

So I knew a lot of people in there. And, and, and so they gave me and two other guys a break, two guys got to carry on. I was told to find something else to do. Like seriously, I was told by the executive producer at the time and I don't hold anything

against him. It kind of fueled me, but he said, you know, this really isn't going to be your thing. The other guys were Mark Bunting, who went on to do some reporting for many years at TSN and then was last seen, last I saw him was on the business news network. And the other guy was Rod Smith. So they all got to move on. And I was told to figure out another, they weren't letting me go. They just said, we're not going to be on air.

Not your thing. And you can, not my thing and you can, that person probably feel silly right now. Well, he, no, I, again, I don't hold anything against him. He's unfortunately passed away now as well. He was a character in himself, himself, but he, he didn't just say no, this, you're no good at it. He gave me some reasons why he thought he did what he did. And I used that and worked on it and practiced stuff after hours at TSN

and kept on pushing forward. And it ultimately worked out okay. Well, I mean, if he's looking for a voice like Rod Smith, come on. That's like the voice, right, of TSN. Yeah, Rod's heard that story before. We've laughed about that. You know, come on. That's like the voice, right, of TSN. Yeah. Rod's heard that story before. We've talked, we've laughed about that. And even Mark.

Mark went on to a very good career as well on there. Yes. Okay, cool. And yeah, so SportsPage. And then is that what leads you to come back to TSN? Like, how do we get you back to TSN? Well, no. I was on SportsPage about six years, almost to the day.

And those were great, great times that you just mentioned. We had so much fun, so many laughs, and it was great and very well received. And I kind of grew as a broadcaster. And I was hired away by a radio station, actually. And this goes back to my original thing that I always wanted to be on radio. And the station was called is called CKNW very powerful station and especially back then it was your mom and dad station and it became your station and they had all the big name talk show hosts it was news and talk and like a

CFRB for Vancouver maybe it was bigger it was bigger than most local television stations. Their reach, their credibility, their budget, their big profile names. They had a higher profile than, say, BCTV or Global, where I worked. So this station came after me a couple of times, and then I finally said, you know what, I'm going to give this a go. And so they made me the pre- and post-game host for the Canucks, who were called then by Jim Hewson. Hewson left TSN for NW. So there you go.

That just tells you how big a draw they were and the power that they had. So he left TSN where he was calling hockey and Blue Jays to become the voice of the Canucks on CKNW. And they also gave me a nightly talk show. So I did that for two years. And then that also freed me up. And I was hired by TSN to do some local reporting out of Vancouver. So they kept me in mind. And I became a field reporter, kind of their second guy, behind a guy named David Pratt.

And that got me back into the TSN family. And I'm speeding along the details here so I don't bore you here, Toronto Mike. But then they opened up. I don't know if you remember this. opened up something called the west coast bureau because tsn for years had been getting it a lot of criticism but they were the toronto sports network which for a guy like you toronto mike would be no problem but for a western canadian audience it was there was always a bias oh geez yeah the leafs you know somebody farted in the leafs room let's send 10 guys down there to cover that right or the jays you know it was very toronto-centric so for reasons

uh that uh based on that and the crtc reasons they opened up a studio there and they were going to co-host they were going to have a like a little west coast segment on sports center i don't know if it was changed over from SportsDesk to SportsCenter yet. I think it had. So I ultimately got hired to do that on a Monday to Friday basis. And I remember I was able to – I left CKNW. I did two years there. And then they hired me back full-time at TSN to do this.

So I show up for my first day of work where i'm expecting to do 10 minutes right at 11 o'clock somewhere between 11 11 30 on the vancouver west coast report which would be you know alberta sports and and i get in and they go yeah everything's kind of changed you're co-hosting the show with darren detition and or mike wow all right yeah yeah i said what like we're doing like yeah we're going to co-host it's going to be like you guys are co-hosts, but you're going to be here in Vancouver and Dutch is going to be in Toronto. And that's when I found out when I walked in. It didn't bother me because I'd had lots of reps on SportsPage and it was fine. But that's where that all started.

And I think I did. And it was, you know what, Mike? It was an unbelievable job because our studio in Vancouver for TSN was right across the street from what was then called GM Place, now Rogers Arena, and BC Place. So I could come in early, write all my intros because the rundown would be done by then. I would walk over, watch the first two periods of the Canucks or the first half of the Grizzlies game. Remember them? Of course. Or the first half of the Lions gamelies game. Remember them? Of course. Or the first half of the Lions game.

Then I'd come walk right back. It was a 10 minute walk and then sit down and do this. It was great. Loved it. Brian, big country Reeves. Of course. You kidding me?

Yes. Who was drafted in. When did they, they drafted him in Toronto. Oh, is that it? Yeah, that was a,

yes. Okay. Cause we, we booed when they drafted Stoudemire. We booed cause we wanted Ed O'Bannon from UCLA. Well, I think it worked out fine. Absolutely. Oh, man, of course. Of course, I remember. So, okay, so we're about to get you kind of full throttle back to TSN. I'm going to give you a trivia question. And then I'm going to tell you about some of the great sponsors we have here. And then we're going to get the answer to the trivia question which you might know so here's the question ready it ties into our conversation here and here i am thinking on my feet like you had to think on your feet when when

you were by the way i like these analogies so i'm just going to say you had basically were for tsn what terry david mulligan was for much music okay so because really well hear me out because much music was also uh similar to tsn was considered toronto okay so it was a national yeah but they had this one guy in vancouver who would file in these west coast sort of to make it more you know nationwide terry david mulligan was in vancouver and he had i think much west i think they call the show that's right and they would throw to him and that would be like oh oh, look, we're not just Toronto. Look, we got a guy in Vancouver.

And he was like the only Much Music guy in Vancouver. So I'm just there. I'm trying really hard to tie all these things together. Hey, that's okay. I know Terry, and he was a big presence and a big personality. On the air, on the radio and TV in Vancouver for years. Absolutely. Remember Good Rockin' Tonight?

Of course, because I think it's Stu Jeffries took over for, uh, Stu Jeffries took over for Terry David Mulligan on good rocking tonight. Stu Jeffries is a good FOTM and, uh, yeah. And, and,

and it's Stu Jeffries now has a big morning show on a boom here in the GTA. So right. Still active. Okay. So the trivia question is who did Mark Hebbshire replace on sports net? So who did Mark Hebbshire replace on Sportsnet? So who did Mark Hebbshire replace on Sportsnet? So noodle that.

You might already have the answer, Dave, but don't give it up yet. Because if you were here in person, and I'm hoping one day you can come back, maybe kick out the jams with me when we've got the vaccine and everything feels a bit more normal. And then you could sit here to my left

and I will give you a fresh six-pack of local craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. You're going to take that home with you when you come back and get to come here. And it's delicious. They've got a retail store where you can do curbside pickup, and that's at 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard. But as I usually say to people, it's down the street from the Costco.

So you can order it online and then pick it up very safe. And Palma Pasta is still open for business. Palmapasta.com is the most delicious authentic Italian food you'll find this side of Italy. And they've been great partners. Happy 35th anniversary to Palma Pasta. I know you live in the GTA. anniversary to Palma Pasta. I know you live in the GTA, so you can go right now, Dave, to garbageday.com slash Toronto Mike and sign up for this free alerts for curbside pickup. And what I mean is like, is it a garbage day? Is it recycling day? Is it yard waste? You get an alert once a

week. It's very convenient and I love it. And it helps the show. So torontomike.com slash, sorry, garbageday.com slash torontomike to sign up now. Everybody should do that for sure. If you have any Toronto real estate questions, Austin Keitner is a great guy to talk to. He's a wonderful partner of the show. Text torontomike to 59559. Ask him anything, engage Austin,

have a conversation, a Zoom call. He's a great resource. And if you're working from home and you want some tips for how to have a safe network working from home, cdntechnologies.com slash WFH. That's work from home, by the way. Free white paper there. And you can call Barb, cdntechnologies.com. There's a number, call Barb and she'll help you if you have any network issues there. And finally, I wish you were here. I'd give you a Toronto Mike sticker.

I'm going to hold it up for you. So Dave, I would give you one, sorry, it's upside down. I'd give you one of these from stickeru.com. I'm hoping you'd put it on the bumper or somewhere prominent and be a proud FOTM and rock your sticker. You.com trying to make sticker sticker. You.com.

You upload the image. You can order a variety of, uh, sizes and, uh, economical. Uh, they,

it's very safe. The e-commerce great partners as well. Now, Dave, do you have a guess? Who did Mark Hebbshire replace on sports line? Okay. Um, yeah, you were just at sports net. I'm going, Mark Hebbshire wasn't online? Okay. Yeah, you were just

at Sportsnet. I'm going, Mark Hebbshire wasn't on Sportsnet. Oh, did I say that? By the way, he was on Sportsnet for like a heartbeat and then Vancouverite Jody Vance replaced him.

But I meant to say Sportsline. You're right. Okay, that's fine. And this was, you know, when I showed up to go to Ryerson, it was Taddy and Hebbshire. But I think I know the history line here.

Uh, it's pretty well known. I'm going to say Bob McCown. Correctamundo. There we go. Do I win extra beer? Yeah. See this, uh, and I think on your camera, so your camera is different than the camera people are watching us on. So on your camera, you probably can't see it, but I actually got these new boxes that

are eight packs. So I always gave guests six packs, but for you, I'll get you one of those done, done. Okay. So you've got your foot in the door being the Terry David Mulligan of T TSN and working by way. TDM.

Yes. Okay. Uh, and Mike Toth, by the way, was great. Uh, I'm not sure what he's up to these days.

He has appeared on Toronto Mike, but I always thought he was very, very funny. He was, he was a definitely a quirky funny guy and and and went on to sports net and brought i think he i think he you branched out a little bit more with his comedy act or his quirkiness on sports net than he had on on tsn i think he was allowed to do so right it's funny you know i i did i co-hosted that show from vancouver with dutch and mike toes uh for several years i want to say three maybe four years okay before they shut it down and brought

me back to vancouver i don't think i met mike toes in person i don't think we've actually even met wow we did it was once and briefly i spoke to him every day right and and dutch i i'd met a few times but uh i don't think i ever actually met mike in person yet i co-hosted a show with him for that many years it's wild to me that it's possible that i have spent more time in person with mike toth than you have oh you for sure have for sure because i think if i did it was very brief with mike and and uh he was a shy a much shot shyer personality in person than he is on the television. I find that's true of a lot of these funny zany people.

It's almost like they have this funny zany persona. But when the mic's not on, they're pretty low-key, almost introverted. It's an interesting fact there. True. They feel the need not to be on. I just want to sit here and talk to you and, and then have one of your great legs beers, not be on. See,

that's why episode six 54, I don't have a shtick because then I don't have anything to turn on. Like I just, I'm myself. If you had a conversation with me on the six feet apart on the street corner, I would be the same guy. Cause I can't put on a shtick.

Okay. So you did a million things at TSN. And a big thing you did was you hosted CFL and TSN for, I think, 12 seasons or something like that. So maybe tell us a little bit about all the, I can swear because it's my show, but all the shit you did at TSN. TSN was unbelievable to me. They gave me, right from when I was a kid, they gave me opportunity. right from when I was a kid, they gave me opportunity. And when I became, you know, one of their commentators and anchors, I got the opportunity, as you say, to do all these different things, both hosting in a studio and calling games as well. I called a

couple of football. I called some CFL games as well. Call an NBA game. I called two. This is a rare Terry David Mulligan West trivia. I actually called two Grizzlies games on CTV because I was there. I believe they were doubleheaders and Rod Black would have called the Raptors game. And then I called two games. And, and believe me, that was a bit of a stretch for me, but I got through it. I actually went looking around to see if there was ever any video of that. And I, I wasn't able to find it, but so I was given all of these opportunities. And TSN also took me around the world, literally around this globe. I've been all over Europe. I've been to Australia, Japan.

I've got nothing but great things to say about all the things that I got to do. Olympics. Our first Olympics that we were kind of co-hosts with was 2000 in Sydney. And that was a thrill to go down there. I was the primetime host and Gord Miller was the overnight host. But for Gord, that meant him working regular daylight hours. And for me, it meant working through the night in Sydney. So I never got to enjoy Sydney at all, really. But it was a thrill to be there.

And so I got a chance to do that in London and Vancouver, World Hockey Championships at lots of different levels, men's, women's. It was fascinating. And the hockey thing happened. Well, first of all, I guess I'll tell you about the CFL. When they hired me to come back, it wasn't a very popular move with my family at the time because i had a four-year-old son and the twins were just born they were born in the spring of march of 2001 and they were born right during a week when they i was hosting the ctv coverage of the world figure skating championship this is remember jamie soleil and david pelche of course yeah they were the big big story this was going into an olympic year and it was a big, huge event in Vancouver. And right in the middle of this, my, my twin boys were born. And so fast forward a couple of months and they, TSN had been, you know, wooing me to come out and they, they, they had asked me to move to Toronto previously, but I was able to hold them off because we had that studio in Vancouver. Now they were saying, listen, we're closing it down.

We're going to centralize things again, and we want you to come. But if you stay here, you're going to be limited to just being a reporter. We can't promise all this other stuff. And the career guy in me wanted to move along and get paid more and all that kind of stuff. So eventually I convinced my family that we could do this. And we did. Moved a young family across the country.

And I came thinking I was going to be like the Blue Jays host, the in-studio Blue Jays host. And that was the plan going in. And then everything would follow after that. About two or three weeks before I arrived in Toronto, my boss, Rick Chisholm, called me and said, what about the CFL? You know, we might make a change.

I think James Duthie had been hosting it at the time and they were going to just move because Duthie was going over to Sports Desk and Sports Center more full time. What do you think about, you know, hosting the CFL? And I thought, I like that a lot better. I love baseball and I love the Jays and all that stuff, but I felt way more plugged in and comfortable with the CFays and all that stuff, but I felt way more plugged in and comfortable with the CFL. And that clicked. We had recently just started Friday Night Football.

We had a panel of myself and Matt Dunnigan and Chris Schultz and Jock Climey that really resonated with people, and we had great chemistry, and it was a lot of fun. And we had some great – John Wells was calling games, Glenn Suter, Rod Black. And we – you know, the CFL was on thin ice there financially for a while, and TSN kind of really helped it along and gave it a little polish on TV, and that was a big, big part of my career, and I'm very proud of those days. It was a lot of fun, and we had so many laughs in the studio.

It was a great time. Well, I mean, speaking of great mustaches, which is, why wouldn't we? Chris Schultz had a great mustache and then Rod Black too. Indeed, Schultzy. Black eventually got rid of his and so did Schultzy, but two very different guys, that's for sure.

That panel itself was everybody talks about the TSN hockey panel right now and for good reasons but i'm here to tell you and you can check check around a little bit they wanted to create what we had and that was a fun informative easy to watch panel and i don't i'm not taking a whole bunch of credit for it it just kind of happened with us and uh they said we need to get a hockey version of the CFL guys

because we had it. It was fun. And I think the biggest compliment that I still get to this day about the CFL on TSN was they say, you guys look like you had a lot of fun. We had fun watching you. And that's a huge compliment. And we did have fun.

And I really look back fondly on those days. And you had a lot of eyeballs on you. These had monster ratings, these CFL games on TSN. Yeah, yes, sure. Yeah, I guess we did. Saskatchewan is like the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Canadian Football League. The Riders drive it. There's a Riders game on that you'll do well.

I'm here to tell you, the Toronto Argonauts do well on TV. This is what I hear, yeah. Yeah, I'm guessing, listening enough to your podcast, that you're not a huge CFL guy. But having said that, though, I have paid real dollars to go to CFL games. Oh, well, then you know what? Then you are far ahead of a lot of guys from the 416

who would get in my face regularly about how terrible the league is and how no i'm not that i'm not anti-cfl i mean when when i heard pinball clemens was playing his last game i coughed up uh i think i paid 30 bucks for a good seat i wanted to be there to say goodbye i know we're going way back on this one i know but uh i also wanted to see i wanted to see when ricky williams was here i'm like i paid real like i want to point out these are not comped media comp tickets. Although I have been more recently to BMO field and I didn't actually pay for those tickets, but I root for the CFL and I, I, I would love to see a full BMO field for an Argo game. I would love it.

BMO field is a fantastic venue to see a football game. It's great. Yeah. It is. Sorry. No, I agree with you a hundred percent. Yeah. It's a, it's, I think it's the ideal. I don't know why. I don't know what's wrong there, where the disconnect is. And I don't know, maybe because you're a CFL guy,

if you have any theories on it, why is there such a struggle to even get that BMO field half full for an Argos game? I think it's been an age-old problem in Toronto, to tell you the truth. I think, listen, the CFL is valued and respected

in the western provinces especially in Alberta and Manitoba with a Blue Bombers play and of course in Saskatchewan and to a point in Vancouver but they're up and down and in and out as well even though they've done a tremendous renovation of BC plays and it looks really good on a game night they've got a beautiful this this scoreboard that looks like the one in Dallas that stretches almost the length of the field um but here in Toronto I think it's you know what it is it's it's it's there's there's very little coverage you can't talk about it on sports talk radio station without people changing the dial people love the bills I get that and I've always said you're allowed to like both right but guys just get it in their heads that no no and then all these guys that that i was telling you about earlier i would say to them well have you ever

been to a game no have you ever watched a game no they've just made up their minds that it sucks so they've been trying and fighting against this for a long time and i for years said if the argos can get into a smaller more intimate venue it'll it'll take it off like it did in montreal and i've sadly been proven wrong because they're in a fabulous smaller intimate venue now it's a chore to get there i i've i've gone down to games i i bought season tickets the first year i got hired by rogers i could finally go to games so i bought season tickets and it can be a chore to get down right downtown. Oh, but you're, you're, you're driving to the site.

Like that's your, because, cause I mean, there is a goal. Or transfer or whatever. It's hard. But to answer your initial question, Mike, Toronto, Mike, I don't know. It's going to be, I think it is what it is, but the league needs Toronto for all kinds of different reasons. And I hope, uh, I hope they come out of this pandemic,

uh, unscathed or relatively unscathed. Yeah. Uh, I think that, uh, TSN needs Toronto. Like,

I mean, if you think of it as, that's why I won't die. Right. That's why it won't die. I think I said, I think Don Landry was my guest recently. And that's what I said.

I said, you know, that, that is reason alone for, uh, this to survive. Like the CFL and the Argonauts would be as a TV property for TSN, because it, as you, you know, I, it does, it makes money. It generates revenue. There's a lot of eyeballs on that property. Yeah. I mean, we've got the J's, we've got a lot of the summer programming and, and this is the, a big part of theirs.

And again, it, it, it matters in other, in other markets. But just to give you, you know, why people love it. The one, the 100th great cup was here in Toronto. And, and here's a moment you just will not get at the Superbowl. We were staying downtown and at this was the night before the game, it was cold out. And I was out for a walk with my sons and friends who are also downtown to go to the game it was cold out and i was out for a walk with uh like my sons and friends who are also downtown to go to the game the next day right and we walk right into in downtown street to ricky ray who's in the game the next day and he stops and has a chat he takes some pictures with all the

kids and he's he's he's relaxed and that will not happen at the super bowl you're not going to just bump into tom brady or aaron rogers and he's going to have the time of day for anybody. But there are countless stories about the Canadian Football League where it's accessible. And it's not the NFL. That's the thing. The CFL doesn't want or doesn't try

to be the National Football League. So that's why all this hatred from, I like the NFL. I love the NFL too, but you're allowed to like both. Right. I think there is that mentality in this marketplace that it is not a top tier league

because there's a thought process that the players playing for the CFL aren't good enough to play for the NFL or they would be there. And I think this market has difficulty embracing tier two. And I would like to, some of those people who say that these guys are no good, I would like to have them have a man conversation

with one of the many players that I know and see if they would say that to them face to face. Listen, there are certainly guys who can't get jobs in the NFL for sure, but that doesn't mean they're terrible football players. Oh, no, no, no. And there are guys, there's lots of guys who come from the NFL

and couldn't play in the CFL because of the differences, the big one being the field. Absolutely, absolutely. And our balls are bigger, as I like to tell people. Before we get you to sports and hockey, fun fact, I find this to be a fun fact, is that you covered hockey at the Nagano Olympics, but it wasn't for a Canadian network, right?

No. Boy, you've dug deep into the Terry David Mulligan West database. Yeah, that was one of my first real big hockey assignments. I had done, I think, a handful of small games at TSN to this point. And 98 was the first year they brought back the nhlers so it was in nagano japan as most hockey fans will remember and there was an australian television network the cbc equivalent down there called seven network very experienced at covering olympic games but summer games this was the first time they were

going to mount a big, full-on winter Olympics coverage, mainly because it was in their part of the world. And so they start, they're having their production meetings and they start ticking off who is going to cover what sports and they get to hockey. They know it's a big deal because of the NHLers being there, but they have nobody, like nobody in the room who knows much if anything about uh ice hockey right and so there was one canadian in the room who i had worked with previously and he they so they turned to him and said give us three names and let's get him on the phone and i ended up with that job so it was it was awesome i was paid good money and flown to japan and and i worked with a guy who was the voice of rugby and Australian rules. He was the Bob Cole of Aussie rules, a big name of Aussie rules and rugby.

So this guy was a very well-known broadcaster, didn't know anything about hockey, but really applied himself. So it was, for me, an awesome opportunity to call hockey the Olympics as a younger guy, but I also had to kind of stick handle my way around a guy who wanted to call the game, but couldn't and couldn't really analyze it either. But we did okay. I think in the end, and it was a unique experience and that was my first time at the Olympics. And so that's kind of where I got a little bit of a toe in the water, but for hockey, but most of it was calling things like Air Canada Cups

and Royal Bank Cups and under-17s and under-18s all at TSN. And I eventually got to do some NHL games at TSN because I got a call one week in the middle of the week to do a women's game in Calgary, and it was a CIS-CIU championship game at the Oval. And Paul Romak week for to do a women's game in calgary and it was a cis ciu championship game at the oval and paul romer was supposed to do it and he got sick so they said can you fly in like tomorrow and do this game on saturday and i said uh sure no problem i did it with cassie campbell and the game was terrible like it was this was a long time ago that women's hockey has

come a long way since this particular game and this wasn't the national team either so it was, this was a long time ago that women's hockey has come a long way since this particular game. And this wasn't the national team either. So it was a one, nothing overtime game and it went on forever and there wasn't much going on. So anyway, we, we do the game. And then a year later, fast forward a year later, TSN gets the rights back, the national rights. And we're all very excited at TSN.

This is a big deal from us. We got it back from Sportsnet. And I got a call out of the blue from my bosses saying, listen, we want you to come in and discuss your role in the upcoming NHL package. I thought, wow, my role. That's great. I didn't think for a second they would allow me to call games because I had no NHL experience. So I walked in. They said, you're going to call games behind Gordon Miller. There's about 20, 25 games. So I walked in. They said, you're going to call games behind Gord Miller. There's about 20, 25 games.

And I was floored and super excited. And I asked him, I said, this is great. And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that this is a great decision for you. But I got to ask, you know, what led you to, we thought you were going to hire somebody and bring somebody in for, we knew Gord was going to get it. But what made you think I could do this? And a guy named Rick Briggs Jude spoke up and said, remember that game I asked you to do that women's game like a year ago? I said, yeah. On short notice? Yep. He says, that game was

terrible. I said, yeah, I seem to recall that. He goes, well, you made it sound pretty exciting or relatively exciting. So he said, and I thought right then and there that if you can call that game, you can easily call an NHL game. So there you go. I hope you sent a Romy a bottle of wine or something. He's heard that story. He's definitely, we've talked about that one.

Romy is a big music fan. I was on the phone with him the other day. It's funny how these sports people, like I think like a, like a Dave Hodge or a Steven Brunt, and you think they're sports people, but no, they just want to talk music. This is what they want to talk about. So it's funny how these sports people, like I think like a Dave Hodge or a Stephen Brunt and you think they're sports people, but no, they just want to talk music. This is what they want to talk about.

It's totally true. Yeah, I'm a huge music guy. I mean, I love talking sports as well, but I'm a big music guy. I know you are. But what's your genre? Like give me a band or an artist you like.

I was preparing myself for this question if we went this way because I've got very wide taste, Toronto Mike. So I like all the stuff that you do from the this way because I've got very wide taste, Toronto Mike. So I like all the stuff that you do from the Toronto. I love a lot of Canadian music, but I want to bring a little bit more Vancouver influence to it. There was a lot of good Vancouver bands.

And, you know, 5440 is still one of my favorites to this day. And if I kick out the jams, that would be my... Okay. But you need to listen to my recent episode of craig northy of the odds i did oh you did okay because a lot of vancouver because again that the odds were from vancouver and it's funny that he kept cryptically and vaguely referring to this this band that they used to be at the roxy that was and i was screaming out to you know know, tell him the whole story. He wasn't really giving the whole story. Okay.

I remember going to the Roxy on many occasions and they would on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, they were, and I don't even think he told you this. They were called the dawn patrol. That was the one that he referred to as being the shtick. And they did covers and they told jokes and they wore,

they wore Hanson brother glasses and nerd outfits. They looked like Austin powers. They, they imagine an austin powers band dressed all like that and they were funny and they they played great covers and then early in the week same guys would show up and they were the odds and you know we sometimes we go out to the the rock scene early the weekend we'd all go oh man they're doing that thing where they do their original music again can you just go back to being the dog patrol like really and you know lo and behold the odds turns out to be a fantastic band and kudos to him and uh i enjoyed that episode as well listening to him okay good i'm glad so you don't have to put that on your head your original question i love i love a lot of different stuff uh i love rock and uh my son about 10 years ago got me into country music

so i like i like i like singer songwriters like eric church i love eric church and chris stapleton I love rock and my son about 10 years ago got me into country music. So I like, I like, I like singer songwriters like Eric church. I love Eric church and Chris Stapleton. But I do like the big bands. I was supposed to see Pearl jam this summer. I love Pearl jam. I'm telling you,

I've seen, I haven't seen them live yet. So that was a big bummer that we're not going to see them. they're great live. I hope they do make that up and you can see them because they're fantastic. Yeah. We're supposed to see Foo Fighters last week. Haven't seen them either, but I've seen U2 several times in the spring. So you've seen a lot of the big ones, but I like little ones as well.

I like The National. I love The National. Right. Radiohead. And I like all your Toronto acts as well. They bring me back to my Ryerson days like The Lowest of the Low. I've heard his podcast with you as well. Yeah, Dave Hodge calls Lowest of the Low

the Toronto Mic'd House Band. Yeah, you've had him on a few times, have you not? Yeah, and he played an event. We do these Toronto Mic listener experiences. By the way, I can't wait till we can do one again. Like, holy smokes. We would have normally been having one in June, 2020, if not for,

you know what, but the, uh, they played. So, uh, Lawrence and Ron Hawkins from lowest to the low played a TMLX event last June,

June, 2019. And it was, it was just unbelievable on the, uh, great lakes brewery patio. It was unbelievable. So we got to get these going again so we can get you out to one of

these. I would love to, these going again so we can get you out to one of these. I would love to. I would come down for sure. Can I tell you one little on my welcome to Ontario, Toronto-centric music story from when I moved here? Are you kidding me? I would be angry if you didn't. Well, it's kind of a little embarrassing, but it just shows you where that I had some catching up to do to the Toronto music scene after being a big proponent of the band. Right. Young 18 right young 18 year old first year Ryerson and by now I'm kind of a little more comfortable we're going out to house parties and there was this one uh record plan through the band through the party the place is packed

we're all in the kitchen and in the living room some guy's student apartment and I said a little too loud I said man this is cool. Who's this? And it was like that record scratch moment, and everybody turns to look at the nerd who doesn't know who David Wilcox is. They're all like, are you serious? Who is this? I mean, come on.

What planet are you from? Since David Wilcox many times live. Oh, yeah, yeah. He's fantastic. Yeah. I think it was, uh, the bear cat was on. Okay. I was at that or the, the riverboat one.

I get, uh, riverboat fantasy. I know, I know all now, but back then it was like, who is this guy? Well, as long as you know, Max Webster and Kim Mitchell. Yeah. Yeah. And I enjoyed listening to Kim Mitchell too on, uh, you know, when he was on Q107. Yeah. Yeah. And I enjoyed listening to Kim Mitchell too when he was on Q107. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. He had the afternoon drive for years on The Mighty Q.

The Mighty Q. I've been on a Q, I don't know, just happenstance because Shirley McQueen was my guest my last two guests ago with Shirley McQueen. And recently I did Bob Segarini and I did Gene Valaitis from Jesse and Gene.

And I talked to Brother Jake, as we talked about. And they're all Q107 personalities. So I've been on a bit of a Q kick lately. Well, it was a big part of my growing up too. I used to love the Six O'Clock Rock Report. Loved that show. Mako Senior and Derringer, right? Do I have my right guy?

Yeah. I know that Mako Junior, of course, he was on TSN for a while. Unbelievable guy, Bob Mackowitz. Real cool cat, right? Because I've only met him the one time when he came on Toronto Mic. But real charisma, cool cat. He does a lot of work with Strombo. Yeah.

I don't know Bob that well, but the few times I did get to meet him, loved him, great guy. And I would have known him at the TSN days. And then I do know that he's good buddies with., Strombo, and, uh, uh, Jeff Merrick hosted an overnight show on, uh, 590, and they all kind of,

you know, uh, worked their craft, uh, doing that, so. And something that just would never happen now,

right? Well, now, now it would be, although with a few exceptions, uh, primarily it's like syndicated programming or re-rolls,

like, yeah, they don't give, like, young broadcasters the key, here, you're on, you know, whatever, till midnight till 3 a.m or something go go do creative go just go do it and i miss storm and norman rumag the late night vampire on the fan you know all that stuff i hammer head alert hammer head alert just classic stuff and there was you know uh that's

was a big part of the allure for me to have a uh a talk show an opportunity to do a sports talk show in vancouver you know my hometown and and we did some fun stuff too and had some good in-studio guests and just to free wheel a little bit on the radio and have the freedom to do so it was it was a lot of fun i enjoyed it yeah others who are good at that i'm thinking back in the same time period would be jim richards so richard jim richards and norm rumak had a show Richards and Rumak. By the way, you should listen to the catch up I had with Norm Rumak recently,

where he talked about changing careers. And he, he, he came to the realization that he wasn't going to get another gig in sports media, but he needed to eat. Apparently everyone needs to eat and he needed to have a roof over his head.

And he talked about changing his career. And it was was very i think it was a very inspirational chat actually with i'll check it out okay now we gotta we gotta get you to sports net here so is it is it as simple as this let me tell you what i would think i would think sports net paid big bucks like maybe billions of dollars for this i don't know if you heard there's a $5.2 billion 12-year deal. And then I'm thinking Scott Moore is in charge of putting this together. And he remembers that young whippersnapper he worked with at TSM. Now, you tell me the real story. Well, I think there's some of that for sure. I think there was another guy that was in my corner by the name of Gord Cutler, who

was part of the group that was putting this whole thing together as well and uh scott actually uh told me after the fact he said that uh that i i grew on him more uh as a play-by-play guy than than it was at the beginning okay and i've heard that a lot over my career but not just as a play-by-play guy i kind of apparently i grow on people so like that beard i beard. I'll take that as a compliment. But ultimately they did, my phone did ring. They had, obviously Jim Houston was going to be the number one guy. Bob Cole was still a part of the mix. They brought in Paul Romanuk and my phone rang as well. I was at the world championship in Minsk, Belarus, negotiating to move.

So I was like seven time zones away. Right. And going back and forth. And my bosses at TSN, it's a small world. They knew what was going on. When the rights were bought and the news broke, I'll never forget it. It was like Monday after a Grey Cup.

And the Grey Cup that year, this would have been 2013 been 2013 was in Regina and everybody from the top down at TSN was there, all the bosses. And I remember thinking 24 hours later, they didn't know because they would not have been at this party, drinking beers with us after a great cup. If they knew that this, this big bombshell was about to drop, which it did the very next day. So, you know, you know, you know the history by now. They went around and locked up a bunch of their hockey guys. And, you know, the opportunity came around.

I was still kind of a hybrid. I was doing the CFL and I was doing some hockey. And they knew they would lose maybe one or two people. But I think there was a gentleman's agreement that they weren't going to raid the entire TSN cupboard. Well, they tried to raid one guy. I will just say, right. I've had all the people.

There is that. Okay. Yes. The James Duthie story, of course. And then we, you know, we can branch out into the strongbow thing and all that kind of stuff. But as it relates to me, my phone did ring and I got started getting courted after I was at a world

juniors in Sweden that Christmas. And that's when Gord first made contact and said, listen, I like what you're doing and would like to talk. And I thought, well, I thought that's great. And that's very interesting, but geez, am I allowed to even talk to, you know, cause it was, it was right. It was, it was, it was a war going on. Cause they'd taken all the hockey, but in the end, my bosses knew and they were very cool about it and they,

they left it up to me. And then when it came down to it, one of my bosses said, you'd be stupid not to take it. Yeah. It's an offer. You can't refuse. Sometimes you get an offer.

You can't refuse. And it's worked out. It's worked out great. I, I love being a part of it. I think now we're six seasons in or five and a half, I guess. Right.

And listen, you're probably going to ask me about all this. This was, we went, we went through some growing pains. There was a lot of change. We never sucked. Like everybody said, we sucked.

It was just changed. That's what it was. Nobody, nobody that I work with sucks. We're all professional broadcasters. You can like vanilla or chocolate or Coke or Pepsi. That's totally fair game. And, but to say that, you know, this completely sucksi that's totally fair game and but to say that you know this completely sucks that was never fair and so i think things have settled down i think ron mclean helped settle

things down so a lot of the noise down right and now and and you know when year two of the deal when every canadian teams misses the playoffs that didn't help either no so there was there was a lot of uh um budgetary things that were, that came about and they, they cut back on a few things and everything kind of settled in after a big spend at the beginning. But as for me, you know,

to, to now settle into the role, I think it was year three. They told me you're going to be going out West pretty much every Saturday night. We want to build you as, as that guy out there. And I said,

great, let's, let's go. And, but I still do some games in the East on Sundays and Wednesdays and occasionally on Saturday nights. I did your beloved Leafs once

this season. But I don't do very many Leaf games at all. You're right. I do know that once again, Romanuk not being available to do something helped you out because Romanuk was let go from Sportsnet. You were able to get

your first Western Conference final. You got to call the Sharks and Blues last season. Yeah. Whatever happened between Paul and my bosses remains with him and the bosses for sure.

I don't want to say i benefited from for anybody well you weren't rooting for him to get canned but it no of course i'm friends with paul i we talked a lot we talked a lot leading up to all that kind of stuff and and we talked afterwards as well so i've known paul for a long time. So anyway, to say that, yes, obviously Bob's none of the picture, and he's retired, and so it's just Houston and I. And yeah, not many guys get to that level. We call it conference final, and it was definitely fun, and it was a memorable one as well with the St. Louis Blues story. I think it's a big deal.

There's only two conference finals, and Jim Houston's getting one of them. So I think that's a big deal you know there's only two conference finals you know and uh jim houston's getting one of them so uh i think that's amazing i think so congrats to you i think that's huge thanks i think it was it was it was definitely fun and it was i was looking forward to i guess if we have another one this year i'll be back there again so that'll it'll just be very different than it was last season but uh it was it was interesting you know everybody asked me did you change your approach or anything like that because it's the final four more eyeballs i didn't at all um you don't do that you don't change everything that that got you there and it was just another hockey game but i could certainly tell when you walk into the building for a conference final

there's more nhl people there's more media right the lights did seem a little bit brighter for sure and then certainly when you get down to games five and six, when there's a chance that a team's going to move on to the Stanley Cup final, you sense the level of expectation in the building. And it was, we just hoped that we were all, not just me, but all of us, Gary Galley and our producer, Mark Askin, and our director, Ron Forsythe and Scotty Oak. We just hoped that we were all good in the moment, me in particular.

And I think in the end, I look back on it. I actually watched it about a month ago for the first time and I was happy with it. Yeah, yeah, listen, I'm on Twitter a lot. That's my social media platform of choice. And there was not an overwhelming, there was no, you know, Dave Randolph sucks. Yay!

But by the way, I gotta correct you. Speaking of sucks, I gotta correct you on something you said. There was no Dave Randolph sucks. Yay. But by the way, I got to correct you. Speaking of sucks, I got to correct you on something you said. You said you guys didn't suck. And I think what I just like to say is that one thing did suck, okay? The Superman. I just told you to run a mic. We didn't suck.

Go ahead. You human beings didn't suck. But this inanimate object that did suck was that whole Fortress of Solitude Superman set where, you know, put the puck here and this glowing. I'm trying to remember now. I just remember thinking it seemed to me I thought it kind of sucked. But the people did not suck. Okay. I'll take that. And listen, when you – they tried a lot of stuff.

They spent a lot of money on that set, a lot of money. And I know what you're talking about. There was one gimmicky segment where you would take a puck with a team's logo on it, and you'd put it in the board. Yeah, like Friedman would stick it in a slot, and the kryptonite would show up. I can't remember now. Glowing this. Yeah. Well, if I i remember correctly that segment did not last very long and and uh they didn't you know they they tried a lot of stuff and that's fine you listen both networks tsn and sports and over the years have tried a lot of things and uh there i got news for there

was a lot of things that that weren't very good you. And I can say this because I was at TSN at the time. I remember we had puppets. Do you remember puppets? I think you're referring to former Toronto Maple Leaf Ty Domi. No, I'm just kidding, Ty. You don't even remember this. This was a – you remember the Muppet Show and those two guys you used to sit up in the balcony? Yeah, Waldorf and yeah, of course.

Whatever their names were. Those guys. TSN had a version of those guys on the hockey show. I don't remember this. No, exactly. So that would have sucked as well. And I can say that because I was there at the time and nobody liked the idea. But my point being is you try a whole bunch of things and sometimes we get in our own way.

And at the end of the day, I find that a lot of Canadian sports fans just want to like for me, for instance, I've really, I really take an approach of when I call a game, just call the game. Yes. Don't go off on a tangent telling you what I think I know or,

or giving a, you know, giving too much background while Connor McDavid is racing down the ice and scoring a highlight reel goal and I'm caught telling a story. That's the worst. So streamline everything. The Canadians just want to watch the game. They don't want too much talk. They kind of know what's going on and who's out there. They want to, they kind of know what's going on and who's out there. So I think sometimes, you know,

TV people are guilty of trying to make it too fancy. And then ultimately you streamline it down and you can enjoy the game and then you show a lot more. Yeah. I mean, the game is the game and the game is the star. And that's why I think when I hear some rumblings I see on Twitter and places that people are talking about how, uh, you know, we're not,

we don't, this is a bit of a, this season is a bit of an asterisk season. And this is, this is a true champion. And why are we bothering with a Stanley cup final? But I, I honestly believe that a lot of people who are saying like,

I'm not going to tune in for that, uh, we'll be glued to their television sets when there's a important playoff hockey game taking place on a, I think, I, I, this is my thought. I think that, you know, it is a sets when there's a important playoff hockey game taking place on a, I think I, I, this is my thought. I think that,

you know, it is a bit, it's a bit gimmicky and weird. And, but I don't, I mean, it's still, everyone's playing under the same rules and I, it's not a bit gimmicky and weird.

It's a lot gimmicky and weird, right? I mean, it's, it's an expanded playoff format with a playing round in, uh, everybody playing on the same rank, different times, all kinds. And weird, we can't even begin to count the ways that this is not normal.

So that's why you either have to just accept it and embrace it and watch it, or not. Because there's going to be a lot of people who criticize everything. But let's say it's Leafs and Blue Jackets in game seven to determine who advances to, I guess that would be like a play-in, right? No, it would be game five. So there in itself is something to get used to. That's a best of five.

See, I remember best of five because I remember sweeping the Blackhawks. Wendell Clark had a great series and we swept the Blackhawks in three. In the Norris division. Right, yes. And how they bore us in the Norris division. Right. Yes. And how they bore us in the Norris. But yeah,

so let me ask you a question from Jason from Sudbury who's a listener who said, do you think Rodgers will bring in crowd pumping noises

or is that the NHL's call? Either way, please tell me no to crowd noises. I want to hear the interaction between the players, coaches, etc.

But most importantly, I want to hear the players chirping at each other. And he wants to hear F-bombs. I can't imagine CBC on a Saturday night wants F-bombs. I think there is concern that some of the off-color language will leak through, and it'll be easy for it to do so because there'll be nobody there. You'll be able to hear everything.

So is Jason, you said, from Sudbury? Yeah, Jason from Sudbury, yeah. Yeah, so Jason, all good questions, and i'm getting asked a lot of this and i don't have even if i would could lie to you say i don't know i actually do not know we are going to be told a little bit more as we get closer i do think that sportsnet will try a couple of innovations such as maybe camera angles that will now be accessible that you couldn't have otherwise because maybe people are in the seats or sure or just different thing maybe who knows maybe a drone camera who knows they might i'm just throwing stuff the wall yeah the crowd noise i know i didn't see this but apparently the german soccer league this past weekend piped

in crowd noise and and experimented with that I bet you we will experiment with some level of ambient noise, maybe mixed in with some more music. I don't know, but I think, I think there will be some experimentation. Keep in mind, you're going to have essentially five rounds of, of, you know, one plan around and then four rounds of playoffs. So I think a lot of the stuff you see out of the gate in terms of some kind of level of experimentation will not be around by the time they get down to the conference final. Okay, so it's possible the Stanley Cup champion

will have won 19 games to get there. Yeah, that's right. See how good I am at math? You know what? I'm still doing the math in my head, and that's very good. That never even occurred to me. That's a long road. And if somebody like Chicago or Montreal wins,

people are going to be up in arms. But you'll have to tip your hat to them because they will have won, as you say, 19 games. Right. Here, I'm going to play a clip. It's only 10 seconds long. It is a call that you, Dave, made. Let's hear it.

I hope you could hear that, but that's the John Tavares double overtime goal to help the Islanders advance past the first round against Florida, I believe. That's right. Yeah. That was such a cool moment. And I think I know why you're playing this one, because this is a kind of a fun story. That was for me personally, a real cool three days. I got,

I called three games and three nights, all of them, super exciting. I was the bounce around guy that year in the playoffs. I didn't get assigned to a specific series. Bob was doing one series where I made it was doing another one. Of course, Huey was doing one too. And I was just assigned to drop into different games and different days when we needed them. So I did a game six between St. Louis and Chicago. I want to say on a Sunday night. And then I did this game that you just played the clip from on a Monday night and then I did a game seven between St. Louis and Chicago back in St. Louis the next night so that in itself was was you know I was running on adrenaline and it was

really exciting that particular night and that particular call the Bedlam in Brooklyn was a night where the Islanders had not won a playoff series since 1993. And this was the year where they moved from Long Island to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. I believe it was that year, but it was a huge shift for everybody involved. Long time Islanders fans hated it because it was a long trek into the city. And it was a pain in the ass. They didn't like it. The players had to go there in the morning, have a morning skate, stay there all day in a hotel room and then drive home or train home, whatever pain in the ass. They didn't like it. The players had to go there in the morning, have a morning skate, stay there all day in a hotel room, and then drive home or train home,

whatever, after the game. So it was a big deal. But this night, it was packed. Absolutely packed. You could cut the tension with a knife in there because all of these fans from the glory dynasty days of Al Arbor and Brian Troche, they were all there, all wearing those throwback jerseys. And as the game wore on, the nerves, again, you could just, it was palpable.

And where we call the game in that particular arena, there's no press box that hangs over the ring. You're sitting literally in the crowd. So I can see everybody getting nervous as the game wears on because this is game six. They want no part of game seven because you've got to go back down to Florida. out so i can see everybody getting nervous as the game wears on because this is game six they want no part of game seven because you got to go back down to florida and the panthers had a decent team and a good goalie in the long go right and they thought if we don't get it done tonight it's not

going to happen so game goes into overtime and most play-by-play guys will tell you oh yeah i just said what i said when i felt it in the moment and that might be the case i certainly have done that myself but when the storyline is such that it is you you want to okay what am I going to say what line am I going to use whatever and uh I had nothing so first overtime finishes and it's going into the second one it's intermission I run up into the bathroom in the concourse with everybody else again nerves galore and it's getting, but the place is still jammed. And I go into the urinal, and I'm standing there beside this huge guy. He must be 280, and he's jammed into his Clark Gillies jersey

that he obviously wore when he was like 21, and it doesn't fit him anymore. And we're standing up there at the urinals, taking a leak, and the guy looks at me, and I'm the only guy in there with a suit. And he goes, hey, buddy, geez, it's pretty nerve-wracking'm the only guy in there with a suit. He goes, hey, buddy. Jeez, it's pretty nerve-wracking in here, isn't it? I said, yeah. He goes, I tell you what. If DeVere scores tonight, it is going to be freaking Bedlam in here.

And I zipped up and ran back and wrote it down. Bedlam in Brooklyn, that's going to be the line. And that line was inspired by a conversation I had while taking a leak at the barclays center with some longtime milo fan dave that first of all that story is that's that's perfect and you do a pretty good a pretty good uh accent there too for the new yorker

but this was uh thanks and this was a lot of fun i can hear the lowest the low coming so oh yeah i thought i'd let you set you free i I've... No, it's all good. I enjoyed it. It was fun, Mike. And keep up the great work. I enjoy the podcast. And I'm going to hold you to my beer. Yeah, okay.

So you'll get the beer if I get the beard. I can't make promises on that. But I've already said you are in the keep the beard column. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for doing this. Seriously, that was tremendous. And I do look forward to round two. As soon as it's safe, we do it here in the TMDS studio.

Thanks again, Dave. You got it, buddy. Thanks. And that brings us to the end of our 654th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Dave is at Dave Randolph. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer

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slash Toronto Mike. See you all next week. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone. Roam Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit roamphone.ca to get started.