Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Erik Tomas: Toronto Mike'd #1320

Episode Date: September 6, 2023

In this 1320th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Erik Tomas of Raceline Radio about his years at CFTR and The Fan, especially his time with Shotgun Tom Rivers. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Pumpkins After Dark, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1320 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees

from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. RecycleMyElectronics.ca Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. The Advantage Investor Podcast from Raymond James Canada. Valuable perspective for Canadian investors who want to remain knowledgeable, informed, and focused on long-term success.

Pumpkins After Dark. Use the promo code TOMIKE15 and save 15% this month at PumpkinsAfterDark.com. And Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. Today, making his Toronto Mike debut is Eric Thomas. Welcome to Toronto Mike, Eric. I'm jealous.

You got more sponsors than my program does. Eric. That's a long list. Holy crap. That's good. Well, listen, they all compliment each other. You can eat,

you can drink, you can die. I've got you covered. You can invest wisely. You can enjoy the Halloween season. Eric with a K. Thomas, no H.

Only because that screws people up. It should be E-R-I-C-T-H-O-M, but I just started to change it and screw people up and it works every time. It should be E-R-I-C-T-H-O-M, but I just started to change it, screw people up, and it works every time. I had a screw-up recently where I thought I had Chalk Circle's Chris Tate, and I actually had a different local musician named Chris Tate,

everything the same spelling. Really? Do you ever get mistaken for Sportsnet's Eric Thomas? No, I don't. I've never run into that. I know he exists. He's got an H, though. Yeah, that don't. I've never run into that. I know he exists. He's got an age, though. Yeah, that's true.

But no, I know that he exists, but I've never had anybody say, oh, yeah, you're, no, you're not. So it's, we're okay. I mean, we've been around a while. He's been around a little bit, so. He's been around a bit. You've been around a long time. I think what's interesting about this conversation is that people will say,

Eric Thomas, that is the race line radio guy. You are the race car. So my buddy Peter Gross, he's the horse race guy. Hello, Peter. You're the car race guy. I took my place at CFTR. Okay, I got to write this down because we are going to talk. So we're going to talk a great deal about CFTR.

So Peter Gross, I just want to get this. He's a horse racing guy. He has a podcast called Down the Stretch and he's got it advertised on the side of his car. And when you pulled up, and I want to tell this quick story, maybe you're the broadcaster, you tell it. You arrive, I see your, I can't mistake this car. It's got Raceline Radio. It's my sponsor.

Okay, you got a car listen to you, you got a car sponsor. Subaru and General Tire. Better. And Subaru, you know, lucky enough I can get a plug-in for them. They've been with me all 31 years of the existence of Raceline Radio. So they give me a car every summer to take to events and get visible.

It's a rolling billboard, and there's value in that. So I take it to various racing events that I cover in and around Ontario, the Indy here and various things. And I pull up into your driveway, and I'm on my way up to the front door. And believe it or not,

sounds like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Remember that? Of course I do. Here's a rabid raccoon. There was a three-legged raccoon walking around beside your garbage cans. Near the door, I got to go in. Yes, okay.

So that's your side. Now, I see your car in the driveway, and I say, oh, Eric Thomas from Raceline Radio is here. I'm going to let him in the side door. So I open up the side door, because you're going to come in the driveway. And I say, oh, Eric Thomas from Raceline Radio is here. I'm going to let him in the side door. So I open up the side door because you're going to come in the side door. And I see this mangled three-legged raccoon. Now there's no foam, but I don't trust any raccoon. They're not supposed to be out during the day.

And they're supposed to be afraid of us. Exactly. He wasn't. No, I think he wanted us to feed him a sandwich or something. He wanted a beer. He wanted a beer. He wanted a Great Lakes beer. I would have given him a Great Lakes beer.

He probably would have liked it. So I'm throwing like, not hitting him, but I'm throwing like these, I have these crab apples that are falling and I'm throwing them to try to get him away from the side door so you and I can get in the damn studio. Yeah, but he thinks it's food. Yeah. So I will tell you, this is episode, you know, 1320. Yep.

Never, first of all, I've never in my life seen that three-legged mangled raccoon, but never have we had any kind of animal prevent us from recording. This is a first. That's right. You know what? We were able to get him away from the door so we could get through. We ran in. Maybe he came out to look at the car with all the graphics on it, right?

I don't know. I think maybe he heard there was palm up pasta here. So I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I know you think this show is just plugs, but I'm going to talk to you about everything. We have a mutual acquaintance. You're the right Eric Thomas.

I wanted the Eric Thomas who was at CFTR and we're going to talk about that because everyone who listens to this program knows my morning alarm would wake me up to 680, all hits CFTR. And I would listen to Tom Rivers. And we're going to go back and talk, Tom. I got some clips.

But because we're recording this on Wednesday, September 6th, tomorrow is my event at Great Lakes Brewery. I was just there to check it out. You, of course, goes about saying that the great Raceline Radio's Eric Thomas is invited, but everyone listening, come to Great Lakes Brewery, 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard, tomorrow, Thursday, September 7th, 2023, from 6 to 9 p.m. Peter Gross will be there.

Lorne Honickman will be there. Steve Pagan will be there. Carrie Oliver, Fergie Oliver's daughter, is going to be there. I just got word Dana Levinson says she's going will be there Carrie Oliver, Fergie Oliver's daughter is going to be there I just got word Dana Levinson says she's going to be there like there's going to be wonderful people but all listenership we gather Great Lakes will buy you your first beer

so you get your first beer on the house Palma Pasta will feed everybody by the way before I go any further I have a lasagna in my freezer for you Eric Thomas excellent love that lasagna you're going for you, Eric Thomas. Excellent. Love that lasagna. You're going to enjoy that.

I didn't expect to get prizes when I came here. That's pretty good. You can share it with that three-legged raccoon. He'd like that lasagna. Probably eat it frozen too. So if there's no foam, that doesn't mean anything. If you see foam, that means rabid, but you don't mess with these animals. The hydrophobia part doesn't always kick in.

Right. Right. Right. Okay. Now I'm thinking the kids are going to come home and I got to make sure it's a safe space. You've ever seen them before though? I've never seen the three-legged raccoon in my life. Okay. Okay.

Nor, by the way, nor have I seen a raccoon at this time of day by the side door. Nope. First time for everything, boy. Have you ever seen a three-legged raccoon before? No, I never have seen three-legged bear. Have you? Yeah. Three-legged wolf. Where was No, I never have seen a three-legged bear. Have you? Yeah, a three-legged wolf. Where was this three-legged bear?

Oh, it was up north. Okay. Up north. Like what, the console? You know, garbage dumps. Anywhere there's garbage dumps up north, you're going to find Black Bear there. And it was a wolf, just a fleeting one, but he went around a corner and you could clearly see he had three legs.

We're talking about amputeed animals. This is amazing. Well, my buddy, Sham, I want to your three legs. We're talking about amputeed animals. This is amazing. Well, my buddy, Sham, I want to shout him out. His dog got amputated. So he's a three-legged dog, and I see it all the time. So shout out to Sham. And they carry on. They hop along, you know.

They adapt. Yeah. And you've adapted. Okay, so let's go back. Let's shout out. How far back? Well, we're going to go pretty far back here. FOTM Mike Hannafin.

Is it true that FOTM Chris Mayberry and FOTM Mike Hannafin recently had lunch with you? Yes. They good people, Chris Mayberry and Mike Hannafin? Fantastic. Some of the best human beings ever. I knew Mike because we were all part of the covering sports. Mike Hannafin was at CFNY, and I got to know him there as he was covering sports and chris mayberry did the same thing for ckey and we just sort of formed this little unofficial rat pack where we just we all

had the same sense of humor the same interests and we all got along so very well in the and the friendship lasted this very day and and maybo's retired now you can take you know canadian press guy one of the one of the best readers and writers out there. Mike Hanifin, extraordinarily intelligent fellow who does just about everything and has written for the Weather Network and other places and has written sports and is an astronomy buff and just an all-around good guy. And yeah, we're still very good friends.

We had lunch, what, about a month ago, a month and a half ago? So they're good guys. Well, he wrote me a note after the lunch, and then he wrote me another note, which I'll get to in a minute. But after the lunch, he said that you got to have Eric Thomas. Now, I'll tell you, before I heard that from Hannah Finn, I'm sure at some point I reached out to you, unless I accidentally reached out to the wrong Eric Thomas. You might have.

I don't recall that you did. Because I certainly would have responded. And would you have said yes? I have heard of you. I heard of you. You have a reputation. Is it a good reputation? Yeah, yeah.

If you hadn't heard about the three-legged raccoon that guards the studio. You might have to call your company Three-Legged Raccoon Productions. Yeah, I would do that. You could do that. Now, Eric, you said how far back do you want to go? Obviously, I need to talk to you about CFTR, but what's, like, tell me, what is the first media gig that you had?

Like, what did you have before CFTR? Wow. Well, I worked in Niagara. I was born in Niagara Lake. Okay. 1953. So I'm 70 now. You look good for 70.

Thank you, man. You held on to your hair. Yeah, surprisingly. That's everything. Don't talk about it. It might jinx 70. Thank you, man. You held on to your hair. Yeah, surprisingly. That's everything. Don't talk about it. It might jinx it. The forehead is slightly larger than before. Well, so is mine, I think.

Well, you know, you got, wow, you had a lawnmower to get through that. What are you doing? No. When I was a kid in Niagara Lake, I saw, I'll tell you what it was. I mean, you go way back and not to bore you with a lot of. I kind of like these details. Well, I saw one of those, you know, black and white TV as a kid watching the news, and I was fascinated by the news.

And it was one of those political conventions, Democratic National Convention. Anyway, Walter Cronkite was anchoring the whole thing. And they had guys down on the floor with these headphones with big antennas, and they were doing remote interviews. And there was a guy there, and I loved his name. His name was Richard C. Hotlet with CBS News. And he was doing remote interviews. And I said, you know what?

That looks like kind of a neat gig. I could do that. Of course, where I was, everybody worked at McKinnon's, which was General Motors. And I thought, I don't want to work on a line. I want to do something a bit different. So that sort of got me into that tributary. So when I was in high school, I did the announcements, went to Lakeport High School in St. Catharines, did various things on the PA and broadcasting kind of in the bend.

Then I went to Niagara College. Graduated out of high school late 60s, early 70s. Niagara College three-year radio television arts program. Did the first year. Took the second year off. Toured with a rock band. Which rock band? Ruckus, a Port Colburn-based band.

Had a single on RCA many, many years ago. Makes a dandy doorstop um and uh did that for a year then came back and did the third year and two months into it i got a job in radio at chsc 1220 which is coming back as oddly enough and did news there for about a year and a half went to cktb was there for five years then i worked for the o'brien brothers brothers at cjrn 710 in Niagara Falls. Then I went up to work in Calgary from 80 to 84 for CFCN and CHQR Radio.

Came back, did mornings at CJRN when I was doing, when I was doing CJRN the first term, I also did some hockey, played hockey. I worked with and was coached by the great and now just recently late Rick Jenneret. Wow. I worked with him. La la la la la Font now just recently late Rick Jennerette. Wow.

I worked with him. La, la, la, la, la, Fontaine. La, la, la, Fontaine. Mayday, mayday. I love that call. Good guy. Good guy. Taught me a lot and learned under Rick, one of the best ever.

And then when I went out to Calgary, did a little bit of hockey there with Peter Marr. It was Peter Marr's backup at CHQR. Yeah. But when you say hockey, you're talking NHL hockey. NHL, well, oh,

junior hockey at this point. Okay. And minor hockey at this point, but it gets a little bit better here. All right, no, I'm, so now I come back to CJRN

and then I get a call from my dear friend, Evelyn Macko, who works at, Wacko Macko. she's cool. And she's one of my dear, dear friends,

smartest lady in the business. First female news anchor in Toronto radio history. Called me and said, John Hinnon needs a reporter slash sports guy called me up there john hinnon hired me and i worked at cftr 680 started as a news reporter uh and a sports reporter and then i got oh you got an old cftr is that a bottle cap i know sorry to interrupt because i'm this is digging this now you're at cftr this is a gift I received from the aforementioned Evelyn Macko when she visited. Excellent.

By the way, for those who can't see it, it is a 680 CFTR. I think it's like a towel or something. I'm afraid to open it. Yeah, it's like a hand towel. Anyway, while I was there, I got an opportunity to do play-by-play hockey for the Toronto Maple Leafs midweek on CHCH and global television for a season and a half. Harry Neal.

Of course. And. How's he doing? Do you know? I have no idea. Harry Neal and Scotty Bowman were on Color Guys. That's unbelievable. And I did that for a year and a half.

And then I was in line to do the Leafs radio gig with Joe Bowen. And I got told this. I don't have it official. I got told it was a coin flip between me and him, and Joe got it, and Joe's a good guy. Still doing it. Absolutely. Legendary guy.

Legendary guy. Anyway, around about after that went away, I was at TR for a little while longer. Then I went up and worked for the Slates at Mix 99.9, which was CKFM to start with. So were you there when, because I'm told that Humble Howard Glassman is the first person to say

Mix 99.9 on the air. Yes, I worked with Howard in a couple of places. Glassman's a good guy. People forget, I produce Humble and Fred's show today. I work closely with the Humble one.

I know Fred very well and of course I know Howard very well too. I was just texting with Fred. No kidding. Yeah, just like 20 minutes ago. It's amazing they're still together you know that's that's that's a that's still making money i know they are that'll keep anyone together but anyway while i was doing that based on my racing experience because i started announcing at local tracks down

in the niagara area merrittville speedway ransonville speedway and a few others so i always had since my dad took me to merrittville when I was seven years old, I've loved auto racing. So I started to build that and I got hooked up with a couple of guys. Bruce Mellenbacher is still around, now in the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame along with myself and another guy, John Massingbird, who's going in too. Formed a company called Promark Motorsport.

We did race line motorsport television on TSN covering Canadian racing events that normally don't get televised. We did truck and tractor pulls, mud bog stuff, boat races. We did stock car races, dirt track racing, short track stock car racing. Did the cast car series for years, American Canadian Tour with Tom Curley. And I was doing this while I was doing mornings and doing morning sports at CKFM. Then John Massingbird said, would you like to put together a radio show on racing and how would it work?

Well, there's thousands of them in the continental U.S. There isn't one in Canada. I said, do I want to put one together? Does Pinocchio have a wooden butt? And I did. I put it together, put the demo tape together. Do raccoons have three legs? Yes.

Scott Goodyear helped us with the demo. I took it up the road to Alan Davis at CJCL 1430 Music of Your Life, who had the Leafs on the air the argos on the air the jays on the air and they said we'll put it on the air because the indie in toronto had started in 86 yes and the wave was still big and he said we're going to cash in on this he says it's got to be a highly produced radio show no matter what it is gardening whatever it is gardening show racing show it's got to be a good radio show, so it's always been fast paced, highly produced, and still is to this day. And then in 1992,

we launched Raceline Radio full-time. I got off the air full-time doing a Monday through Friday gig, and I've been doing Raceline for 31 consecutive seasons. You are now up to date. Where's the beer? Wow. Okay, you earned that beer for sure. Are you kidding me? Great Lakes Beer coming your way.

Oh my goodness. Okay okay so that's a great overview now I get to stop me that's amazing I get to pick at no I wanted to hear your bio and then I'm gonna pick at like certain things along the way but I do need to shut out because what I like to do is I like to uh promote shows that happen on this day in Toronto Mike history so I've got a you've got 31 years I got 11 of this program, but I'll say on this day, whoever came over, on this day, Eric Thomas made his Toronto Mike debut.

Today, I literally was tweeting that it was on this day last year that Scott Metcalf came over to basically... Here, I know you'll be interested. Someone's got to be interested in this. Good guy, good guy. He came over to basically

with an audio history of the Fan 1430 slash 590. And here's the binder he gave me. So that's literally 30 years of all sports radio in this market. And the way it tied in was just after we put Raceline on the air, CJ Hale 1430 switched to 590 and became the fan. So we're almost about the same age as the fan. Put it this way.

They're almost as old as we are. Well, I'm sure that this is the 31st birthday around here. Around this time is the 31st birthday of the fan 1430 being all sports. You're telling me you're 31 years. Look, 31 and 31 are the same number. See how good I am at this? No kidding. That's why I was able to count those raccoons. No, it was kind of ironic that it happened that way because right after we jumped on the air, because when we first put Raceline on the air, it was CJCL

1430. And then about five minutes later, it became the Fan 590. Okay, wow. Now, you mentioned calling Molson Indy on CJCL. Is it true that you would call these Indys with people like, was Dan Schulman part of the team that was calling the race Indys? Not then.

Not then. At some point. Maybe when I did a race, we called the race live on the air. Play-by-play did that. I did the house PA at the track with Jim Paulson from 1986, the first Indy up until Raceline was born in 92. Gotcha. And then we started our trackside coverage, bringing drivers in for live remotes every day and doing that.

It kind of took a break after when COVID hit and we'll eventually get back there. Okay, because I saw a note, and now you're here to set the record straight, that you called a couple of Moleson Indies with Dan Schulman, Howard Berger. Yes, oh yes, okay. Yeah, later on, later on, yeah, they were the pit reporter guys. They were the pit reporter guys.

I just this morning watched a Canada basketball game called by Dan Schulman. He does a lot of collegiate ball for ESPN in the States. Is there any sport you can't call? Danny gave us probably the best compliment ever because Dan is certainly well represented and certainly

well respected, I guess is the right word. He said, Raceline Radio is the best produced radio show I've ever heard. That's a huge compliment. It is, and I get that from some people, and I'm always flattered by it. They say, you know something, Eric, I'm not even a race fan at all, but I like the way your show sounds,

and I like to listen to it. And that's cool. And I take that as a great compliment, especially from a guy like Danny. Yeah, oh my gosh, for sure. Fellow FOTM, by the way. You're now an FOTM. That means Friend of Toronto Mike.

So you, Chris Mayberry, Mike Hannafin, and Dan Schulman, and Howard Berger. Berger's one of my favorite humans, too. Berger. He's a good guy. Berger. Berger, working hard at Benjamin's. But you know when you die on this show.

Does his column. Oh, behind the post. No, between the posts. Between the posts. Very opinionated and very accurate and very good. I endorse it highly. Well, you know, we have a lot of time for Berger on this program, but we don't just, you know, if you die, everybody,

it's Ridley Funeral Home, okay? That's where you go. Shout out to Howard Berger. He's not at Ridley Funeral Home, but they'll take care of you. Okay. It's like that WKRP episode when they have the jingle for the funeral home. Okay.

So I want to start with some more CFTR questions. In fact, there was a question that came in from, conveniently, the name of this tweeter is TR. I don't know if that stands for CFTR, but TR tweeted. Ted Rogers. Ted Rogers, right. That's right. In fact, just last week, maybe two weeks ago,

Metcalf came back with Mike Epple, Richard Southern, and Peter Groves, and we literally walked through the history, the 30-year history of 680 as an all-news station. So we're going to get to that. But first, I've got to ask you about Shotgun Tom Rivers and Wacko Macko as

Evelyn Macko. I never called her that. But that was her name when she was on the radio before CFTR. I think she used to play Painted Ladies from... Who is it again? Ian Thomas. Ian Thomas. And she was known as Wacko Macko, so that's what that did.

She was a newscaster at CKTV in St. Catharines with me. That's where I got to know her. There's no better authoritative news voice in this market than Evelyn Macko, am I right? That's for sure. And a tremendous writer. And shout out to Dick Smythe,ith who no longer with us the legendary dick smith there's there's three influences i just maybe that maybe there's more than three influences on how the style goes because if you listen to raceline radio it goes pretty quick and i do talk pretty fast which is kind of the trademark right my influences were paul harvey the great

american now you know the rest of the story hello canadians this is paul harvey stand by for news right and then and uh walter winchell if you go back as a matter of fact i was watching one in the car waiting to come in here the old untouchable series he used to write for the new york evening post good evening mr mr north and south america and all the ships and clippers waiting to come in here. The old Untouchables series. He used to write for the New York Evening Post. Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all the ships and clippers. Let's go to Press Flash, London. Right? Very, very fast staccato machine gun style.

Love it. And Dick Smythe. So those are three influences. And I got to work with Smythe in the later part of his career after Chum at CFTR because Sandy Sanderson hired him and came in to do news with us.

That was amazing. Stephanie Smythe in here. Steph's a good girl. Needed to dispel the myth that she is the daughter. Unrelated. No, they're unrelated. Right, that is true. They're both good guys.

Well, these Stephs are around. God rest his soul, Dick. Yeah, I never had a chance to get Dick Smythe on Toronto Mic'd. The son of a gun had to pass away on us like that, but our loss. What are you doing there, Dick? Okay, so I told you we're going to get more Tom Rivers because I have some audio, but Mike Hannafin. Sorry, I interrupted you there. I know, it's okay.

I'm going to pull out what I need from you about Tom Rivers, but Mike Hannafin wrote, this is what he wrote. As I mentioned to you on episode 1256, Eric Thomas' Christmas show appearance on the Dick Beddoe's CFRB talk show merits a mention.

E.T. saved Christmas. So, actually, there's a lot from Hannafin. Let's stop right there. What is Hannafin talking about? Dick Beddoe's the longtime sports writer and commentator, and for a lot of it was on CACH in Hamilton. He came, and I never really met him never really knew him and one day on the mix 99.9 i think it was called that then

um he came in to do kind of a debate on the air with me about something and i did i disagreed with what he said i was asked to come in here, and he took off after me, and I yelled at him, and we yelled at each other for about five minutes. I've never done that before, and I didn't really know him that well, except that what he was saying, I thought was complete BS, and I countered it, and I didn't, you know, and he didn't like that. He didn't like being challenged. And then Mike is producing a radio show with Beddows,

and he says, we need a Santa Claus, Eric. I know you can do a lot of voices and some voices, and you've done this before. Will you come on and be our Santa Claus guest with Dick Beddows? I went, Dick Beddows? What? He was ready to tear my head off about a month ago. Now we're going to come in and do, so, hello, boys and girls.

Merry Christmas. Hello, Dick. Yes. Do we have a call now from a little girl in simcoe she wants a little dolly and i did this santa claus thing for for bettos and he wrote me the nicest note said thank you so much your charm in this net there and then a short time later he was gone he died and i thought wow he's one of the you know legendary sports casters and writers around we were not on good terms and then suddenly i did this christmas thing and he we ended on good terms and then he was gone and that's how we got santa on the air whether i saved christmas or not i don't know but that's that's the chapter and that's the story with with

bedclothes and with Santa Claus. So I grew up with Dick Beddows, and I knew him. You know, you said CHCH, and he wrote the Our Pal Hal, the Harold Ballard book, I remember. I remember Dick Beddows, but I remember thinking Dick Beddows seemed to me like a really old guy, okay? Well, he was kind of old. Well, he died at 64. Does that sound old to you? No, it's not.

No, it's not. He's one of those guys. I feel like. I thought he was older than that. Everyone does. Is that all he was? 64? Everybody thought Dick Beddoes died at like, I don't know, 88. I would have picked him in the 80s, yeah.

Like Milt Dunnell or something. Oh, somebody like that. Yeah, like Milt Dunnell, yeah. 64 years old when he passed away. Oh, my God. He's just one of those guys who presented. He was a wonderful writer. He had quite a turn of phrase.

He had a wonderful command of the language and he could describe things and if he thought you were a phony baloney and remember he wrote something on Rick Vive and his posing,

you know, and Ballard was just a big puff up. He's used to call just a big puff up, you know, and he took his hat off. Remember he used to be

on the air with his hat on? The hats were famous. And then he took his, we were just going to make a point, he took his hat off like, oh, are you going to fight me, Dick? That's good. That's like when Walter Cronkite,

if he takes off the glasses, you know, he's going to tell you JFK's dead. That's the way it is. He looks at the clock. Okay, so two interesting things about Beddows before I move on to that is that Beddow is an Etobicoke guy. So we're now broadcasting from Southern Etobicoke. Let's shout out that Dick Beddows

was like an Etobicoke guy. I think he was like an alderman at some point for Etobicoke. He might have out that Dick Beddoes was like an Etobicoke guy. I think he was like an alderman at some point for Etobicoke. He might have been. Yeah. And let's shout out the style. You know, you mentioned the hats, but I'm pretty sure that Don Cherry

was influenced for his wardrobe by Dick Beddoes. You're on camera. Be colorful. You know, entertain me. And there you go. It could have been. There could have been a connection there.

But that's the story with Mike and Santa and love it. And bedclothes. He's got more. So this is the Hannafin show. Sorry. Go back to TR two when you want. We can tell. Oh yeah.

I got more to you. I even, how long do we have anyway? How long is this? Well, how long do you got? I actually invited someone on today. I don't have a dentist appointment or anything.

I'm all right. Uh, she was on much music as a VGA and she has an interesting history beyond that. And I said, Hey, it's time you come on Toronto Mike. And she slides into my DM and goes

I love it but I don't like long podcasts so now I just it's like why what's long though like what is long

I'm not gonna if it's if it has a natural ending at 60 minutes I wrap up like I don't force you to go 90 but sometimes

there's more than 60 minutes of content can be yeah well I gotta get your CFTR stuff here okay so Hannafin says, Eric, and you alluded to this with your Santa Claus,

but Eric Thomas has a wide range of amazing voice impressions, including Danny Gallivan. Would you do a little Danny Gallivan for us? Hello, everyone. This is Danny Gallivan from the Montreal Forum, Toronto, leading Montreal 2-1. And here's LeMaire firing it high and wide. And that shot, Dick, has got to

whisk your mind back to the series in 55 with the Rangers and the Canadiens when your sainted father scored that golden overtime to give the Canadiens from the Montreal Forum hockey night in Canada. Well done. That's great. I was hoping

I haven't done that in a long time. No cannonading in there? Oh, cannonading shot. The story for that is he wanted to say a cannon-like shot, and it came out cannonading. And he said, and I remember one time I had a letter from a woman who was upset because I used the word cannonading. And she said, Danny Gallivan, there is no such word as cannonading.

And I said, young woman, there is now. When you can coin a phrase. Absolutely. Okay. More Hannafin. I get all Hannafin all the time. Well, he's got nothing else to do but write. Good gosh.

He's got mountains to climb. I can see him in a kayak or something. He goes for these 95-mile hikes and goes straight up mountains. He's living the life. I'm a little jealous, to be honest. He's a good guy. Eric Thomas was a great influence on me while he was a radio reporter at CFTR.

I was just breaking into the Toronto market, and he helped me learn the ropes, but he put that in quotes, so I don't know why that's in quotes, but maybe it means something else. And later on, when he left CFTR and created Raceline Radio, he passed on a lot of his freelance US radio reporting work to me while I was freelancing after being laid off by CFNY.

Good for you. That's a sweetheart move. We did some, you know, it wasn't unusual for Toronto reporters to do side work. I did a lot of Blue Jay and Leaf reporting for ABC Radio Sports, a little bit for CBS, and another network called United Stations Radio Network, which was

Dick Clark's network. And I did some freelance work for those guys, and when I stopped doing regular radio work and reporting to do Raceline Radio, these gigs were still out there. So, you know, Mike jumped in on a few of them, and a few other guys did too, and hey, if you can pass it along,

that's great. But it was nice to, it was good chicken wing money. You didn't earn a fortune, but when you wanted to go down, you know, to Buffalo or Niagara Falls, New York,

there was enough money to buy some chicken wings and a couple of Strohs and away you go. So it was good. It was a good gig. So speaking of covering Blue Jays, okay, my favorite Blue Jay team

of all time, even though we've won a couple of World Series and of course I love that like crazy, but I loved the drive of 85, the 1985 Blue Jays playoffs. Like this was, I every night must listen Tom and Jerry on the radio.

If it was on TV, I just had Fergie Oliver there. He called that clincher game. Okay. Mike Hannifin writes, ask him about the 1985 Blue Jays playoffs outdoor press box. Oh, my gosh. The Hollywood Squares press box at Exhibition Stadium,

where we all froze while saying, Wally Cox to block to each other. Okay, let me hear this. Well, in the outfield, in what would be, I guess, if I remember correctly, with the old football grandstands, was it the outfield in, I guess, left field? Right field went forever. Right field had the grandstand.

But the way we were all stacked up there, there were rows of these little cubicle row things, but they were one on top of the other tiered. So if you looked at it from the front, it looked like the old Hollywood squares thing where you had Mike Hannafin to block in the lower corner. What I remember out there is having to work in winter clothes

because it was windy out because it was always windy there. It could be 90 degrees up, but it was windy. It was so chilly. So you're all bundled up trying to write with gloves on. But I remember getting harassed

and hassled by these drunk D-heads sitting over in the grass. There you go, you reporters, you bums, with all your free food and all your stupid report. And there was some guy with a voice range right there. You could hear everything he was saying. I thought to myself, do I need this junk?

Honest to God. They didn't have the room. They didn't have the room because now the Jays were in the World Series. They were in this peanut butter and jelly ballpark that you know that they put up with and they had to shove the regular guys right that were there during the week yeah and also all the all these yeah all these out of town goobers could come in and take our spot in the regular press box we were out in the outhouse out there getting harassed and wally cox to block because that's the way we're all stacked up out there some Some of the stuff we used to do is crazy.

You know, my memories of Exhibition Stadium, which are many, I got to see many a game there, but I remember Dominion, if you went to Dominion, you can get a ticket for two bucks.

I think it was like four bucks was regular price for the grandstand. That's going back. That's going back. So for $2, you got a ticket and then you can sit

wherever you want in the grandstand. But I guess, you know, let's say the Tigers were in town or the Yankees or something their fans would come across the border for these cheap seats and they would get drunk and start fights like so it was like oh there's a fight there and i i grew up with fights at baseball games was the norm i don't think i've seen a fight like that since we moved to the dome like this was just a exhibition stadium phenomenon

that i thought was normal for baseball. And I was like, where did it go? Yeah, rowdiness, right? Yeah, well, just the actual fist fights breaking out. And it's like, oh, there's a big fist fight breaking out. If I tell my 21-year-old that, I think he'd be shocked that there were fist fights. They're not as prevalent as they used to be.

It was probably the atmosphere. Maybe opening day or something. Maybe there was something in the beer. Made everybody violent. I don't know. Maybe. Yeah, i guess that would be a little bad we didn't we didn't come to um any kind of fisticuffs up on the press box we we almost did in detroit one time because i caught some little guy who actually looked like wally cox at the old at the old tiger stadium we were in a scrum interviewing a player and this guy was a writer for a local paper

and for some reason he didn't like the radio guys and i caught him caught him unplugging a guy's microphone from his he was holding on his machine had his mic extended so he's got under his left arm and this guy walked up and started to unplug the microphone to cut off the interview unbeknownst to the guy and i'm going uh excuse me what what and he took off and i'm going oh my gosh what are he took off. And I'm going, oh, my gosh. What are you doing? And then you always had to find these guys who were from the, you know, the lower goober bugle newspaper who somehow wangled a press pass and are asking players for autographs in the clubhouse. And, you know, these guys are trying to eat their, you know, their after

game meal. And here's some kid asking, you know, and they're taking the baseballs, the baseballs that are on the table that they autograph and give to charities. They're taking the balls out of the, like, can I have your autograph? Ricky Henderson, can I have your autograph? And he's looking at me going, what's this?

Howie, how we start, can we, did you take for that did you yeah did you did you prescreen these guys how why are they we're working and they're up here being fans go sit in the seats get out of here love it you have a pretty good memory like can you not really no okay we're gonna find out here because i'm curious how many people covering the jays in 1985 can you name like can you remember who would be there for a big, I don't know, let's pick on game seven, Kansas City versus Toronto. Oh, I can't remember.

You don't have to remember. But okay, but a big game in Exhibition Stadium. Can you remember who might be there from the press in Toronto? Well, the usual crew, but you know, Beddows was there. You know, Hannafin would have been there covering. Wally Lennox covering for BN. And I think Chris Mayberry would have been there. You know, Hannah Flynn would have been there covering. Wally Lennox covering for BN, and I think Chris Mayberry would have been there. Right.

Like, who might be there from the Toronto Star? Oh, God. Is that pre-Perkins, I guess? Yeah, pre-Perkins,

yeah. Yeah, Milt Dunnell was there, and that's going back. Remember one time, Milt Dunnell was right in the front row, and this ball came, fouled back,

and hit the glass right in front of him. God, bang! Didn't break the glass, but it made a hell of a noise. And he never flinched. Not even a flinch. And we all said, you okay, Milt? And he goes, why didn't you catch that? He says, you know I don't move well to my left.

But there were some of the writers that was there. Steve Simmons would be writing and there was another blonde haired guy i can't remember his name let's go back a bit but you know what's funny because every once in a while this is the days before when writers used to always just write it down sometimes in shorthand right and if they wanted to get an exact quote it wouldn't be unusual for them to come over to us and say did you have your mic going when such and such said this yeah can you roll that back for me? Sure.

And you did it happily because that's the way it was back then. And when the TV guys showed up with the cameras, they were going into a scrum, sometimes in a very dark locker room. They needed to set the white balance on the cameras. Otherwise, the picture would be just like white. So we held up our pads or whatever paper we had, and they could focus on that paper

and get the white balance on their cameras. So we all worked together. You had to. Otherwise, it was chaos. You had to work together. Print guys, radio guys, television guys, you had to work together. Well, Eric, this was all the pregame show.

Should I start recording now? Yeah, you better. Holy crap. How many beers have you had? Top one, actually. And that was not even here. I went to Great Lakes for a site visit because tomorrow is TMLX 13.

I hope to see you there. Is that a long drive? I don't need to know your address. No, I'm about two hours away. Are you really? I'm in Niagara. Just south of St. Catharines. Oh, my goodness.

I feel guilty now. No, no, no, no, no, no. Thank goodness. This is easy to get to compared to some of the stuff you got to do to go downtown. Any more CFTR? You want to do some CFTR courses? Yeah, this is it. Because I distracted you.

I didn't mean to. No, I like that. Okay. So you're settled in. You're comfortable now. You know you're in a safe space. I need... I'm going to play a clip to warm us up.

This is... Well, let's listen. Because who knows what I pulled here. Six. The Dinner Theater. Welcome to the castle. On the unfriendly giant look up Way up

Wanted what to do with that battery acid I had around the castle Let's go over to the window Jerome the giraffe, how you doing? I'm fine Hey, you ever acted you doing? Oh, I'm fine. Hey, you ever acted, Jerome? Uh, no, I never have. I know, I've heard the other shows. Ah.

Well, I would put on a little play today, show how the people do the dinner theater. Oh, that sounds like fun. Sounds like fun? Yeah. Good, let's squeeze the sock and get Rusty the Chicken up here. Hello there. Hi. I would put on a little play today.

A little play? Yeah, a dinner theater for the kids. Ooh, highbrow. Yeah, one of the things they always do at dinner theaters, cabaret. Cabaret? That's right. Oh, I wonder what all these sets were for. Yeah, well, Jerome, why don't you be Joel Gray the giraffe?

Oh, I get to wear the makeup? That's right. Oh, I like that. And chicken, I thought. Can you dance? Can I dance? Yeah. Watch this. That's not too Oh, I like that. Chicken, I thought. Can you dance? Can I dance? Yeah. Watch this.

That's not too bad. Yeah. Not too bad. Yeah. All right, let's have a rehearsal here at the Unfriendly Giant Dinner Theater. You all set? Get the music, get the music here. Okay.

Here we go. What good is sitting alone in your room? Chicken. Come to the cabaret. Chicken, your line. What kind of fool am I when you go to the mountain? Hold it.

What kind of fool? No, no, no, no, no. Wait a minute. That's not the... Here's the lyrics here. Look. No? It says, look, it says, what good is sitting alone in your room when you've got a pot of boiling water sitting on the stove with carrots and celery and no chicken? Oh, no, no, no. I said it was a dinner theater.

Back to the show. Mr. Thomas, we just heard Shotgun Tom Rivers. Who's the person doing those voices? I don't know. I don't know who's doing that. It's the only time she's done that voice. Rusty the chicken and jerome the giraffe at doing them together and that's sweet and well one thing people don't know is that tom used to

write those freehand and just ad-lib them and a lot of it was ad-lib and he would put down lines based on what was in the news yeah he was kind of a talented guy that way. He really was. Oh! That's hard to do that voice now. Listen, my friend, have you ever earned that Great Lakes and that Palm of Pasa? Holy smokes. So this, I remember I had a blog since 2002, and I would write about Tom Rivers because that was my morning show in the, basically for a lot of the 80s. And I loved the unfriendly giant. Like, I loved everything I was hearing from the the Rivers Air Force

or whatever the Tom Rivers show and then somebody just I think I wrote about it and somebody said hey fun fact I think I here did I copy and paste

the note I got this is many many years ago uh ba ba ba ba okay here's an here's what this was written on my blog

as a comment here's an interesting fact you may or may not know the guy in that clip doing most of the voices for Tom Rivers is Eric Thomas but this was written on my blog as a comment. Here's an interesting fact you may or may not know. The guy in that clip doing most of the voices for Tom Rivers is Eric Thomas, the host of Raceline Radio on the Fan 590. He also did Leaf Games on CH and Global in the 80s. A few months back, he was chatting with one of the other fan personalities about his day with Tom Rivers.

They even played clips from the unfriendly giant show. So I got that note many, many years ago. And that was a mind blow for me that the Raceline Radio Network's Eric Thomas, ET, the Raceline Radio guy, he was that other voice on the Tom Rivers show. Yeah. Earned a little more money doing it.

I just fell into it because I'd done some voices as a hobby for fun. And Tom knew that. And we just did these things. He did us, he did do spoofs on a lot of things and of course it was the spoof on the cbc show the friendly giant and he said can you do the voice of a chicken and it kind of evolved into that oh and then the giraffe it was kind of dopey you know and did those yeah and tom used to write them out longhand and just the points and he used to Yeah, and Tom used to write them out longhand, and just the points, and he used to hit them,

and we used to ad-lib. And Evelyn came in and did a few, a few female voices and things, and it was amazing because I went, as a matter of fact, it was Peter Gross, and we sat down with Peter and John Hinnan, this was years ago, and he played one of those bits for Gross.

So that was Peter Gross that you were talking about, Tom Rivers, right? Yeah, and then John Hinnan played this bit. What a small world. It was when the chicken and the giraffe were at the Olympics. And the thing went on for about five minutes, and I said to John Hinnan, I said, can you, John, believe how long these bits were?

He says, oh, I know. Because Sandy Sanderson, being the good guy he was, gave us as much time as we needed to do all that stuff. Nowadays, these days, that is unheard of. There's no avenue for any of that stuff. And it's a shame because you were entertained by it. I think a few other people were. And we got a lot of miles out of that

because those episodes were sold and recorded. And Howard Christensen helped us peddle them. And we made a few shekels long after we were all away from CFTR. Really? Yeah. it's like syndicated programming or something on another station if it's entertaining and it's animated and it's fun it sells yet that seems to be lost in a lot of respects and that's unfortunate in in broadcasting these days it's evolved and it's changed i'm part of it i gotta be careful because i'm i'm doing

pretty good with it you're still okay you're, you're still, we will definitely revisit Raceline Radio. Don't worry, but we'll finish our CFTR section. Yes, please. Of course, because that's a little mind blow there too. I used to hear, is it Super Chicken? He's everywhere. He's everywhere. Yeah, Chicken Man.

Chicken Man. That was Los Angeles. I forget the guy was from there. I remember when I learned that was actually syndicated. They just, whatever. Chicken Man, yeah. So you would be like that was actually syndicated. They just whatever. Check on them. Yeah.

So you would be like that in some other market. Like they would hear Unfriendly. They would have to be Canada. Yeah. Some radio stations were playing them as bits in the morning. Okay. And here we go. Kind of like the Champ maybe.

Oh, yeah. Brother Jake Edwards, who by the way, he's licensed it from McLean & McLean. That's a McLean & McLean thing. But he had great success with the champ. We had a lot of creative leeway back in those days, and it worked, you know? So did you and Tom Rivers get along? Yes.

And I only ask because Mike Cooper came on. He was the best man at my wedding. That's getting along, man. Oh, yeah. We got along very, very well. And he had a great affinity for history, especially World War II history. So he would build models and dioramas and stuff, and we'd talk planes.

We went out to Canadian Warplane Heritage and Mount Hope and hung around with all the World War II birds out there and had a lot of fun doing that. So we had a lot of affinity. I was at his house a lot and his wife, Ariel, and had a lot of fun with him. He was a good guy. He was a good family friend and a good guy. and then we kind of lost touch with one another and then all of a sudden we're doing um race line um with the chum people for a while and next thing you know tom has you know hit me he once said on the air it's he says i'll go back on the air on chum when hell freezes over so he's back on chum they're not too far long before he died after that hell has frozen over 10 50 rivers back you know but he was uh he was a giant in the business he

was named he took the he borrowed the name from shotgun tom kelly in los angeles who was the original shotgun tom and uh is a legend in canadian radio and there were very few jocks around that were as good as he was and at holding an audience. And he had the ability with a great sense of humor. Him and Doug Avery, the champ who was the op, and they did a lot of stuff together, and they had a great sense of humor that we could do this stuff

and be clean with it, entertain people, and make people laugh. It's such a simple formula, isn't it? Yet it seems to be lost nowadays, which is a shame. Well, I know you have to be careful, like you said. You active still active in it they let me do what i want to do is it just people are risk averse now like i don't feel like there's any room for a tom rivers because you weren't quite sure as a program director what tom might do next right we'd never do anything we get you in trouble i mean i'm not going to say never got into trouble but i mean he's not going to come on and openly libel somebody i Right. But it's changed a lot.

The room for creativity seems to be gone. It's all regimented. The music is all tight, and there's no room to take five minutes and be funny. You know, Mike Richards tried to do stuff like that, and that didn't last, and it's unfortunate because he's an incredibly talented guy. They know him very well.

He was here two weeks ago. Yeah, you know, he was doing Victor Newman and... Bob Cole. Well, well, well. You know, yeah. No, I didn't mean to interrupt your Newman. I have something to say to you.

I'm not going to say it to you right now, all right? You shut the hell up. But I learned all this. We used to do those bits in the hallway for each other, make each other laugh, you know? And it's unfortunate. They seem to want to just sound like everybody else. And hey, except for, you know? And it's unfortunate. They seem to want to just

sound like everybody else. Except for, you know, I say I got to be careful because, I mean, they let me do my racing show and it's very niche-y, but I've got 11 terrestrial stations and we're about to sign back onto the Edmonton market with a digital station and been doing this now for

31 years and until they tell me to stop, I'll keep going, I guess. Well, Raceline Radio is a great success success story but we'll get to that in just a moment okay so it sounds like you got along very well with tom rayner's best man at your wedding yeah uh i'm trying to think last person you gave me besides mike cooper but uh because you knew mike cooper from very well what can you say about fotmM, Mike Cooper? Uh, an incredibly funny guy. And one of the great laughs of all time. We had, uh,

an affinity and affection for the TV program, Hogan's heroes. And we used to do Hogan's heroes bits in the hallway. Close the gate. The war is back on, you know, we'd laugh. We just laugh.

And he was very complimentary when he did hockey he said man he says it's so great to work with talented people i said right back at you coop you know and i of course i used to listen to these guys when they were a chum you know when i was a kid they got to work with guys and he was and he was such a nice nice guy family guy you know i rented his cottage uh once for a summer and he's one of those really, really down-to-earth guys. And he sees you, and you don't see him for years. He sees you see him, you give him a big hug, and he's laughing like we just worked yesterday.

Those are some of the great, great guys in radio that you remember, and you'll never forget those guys. So when I think back to me listening to 680 CFTR when it was all hits, there's still one voice I would hear back then before it went all news that you hear on the radio in Toronto today. Chris James, who now goes by

KJ. KJ, sure. What do you remember about KJ? Do I tell the story or not? Well, it's not going to get you sued, is it? Well, you know, no. KJ's a good guy. Worked with him and another funny Oh, do I tell the story or not? Yeah, well, it's not going to get you sued, is it? Well, you know, no. Well, then you can definitely tell that story. Cage is a good guy.

Worked with him and another funny guy, really, really funny guy. You know that when you voice commercials, a lot of commercials, and there's a lot of production coming into that room and out of the room, every once in a while, somebody will say something on a spot

that nobody catches. And you go, what? What was that? So he was, KJ was reading a spot that nobody catches and you go what what was that so he was kj was reading a spot for cheese lovers pizza it might have been pizza pizza pizza nova i can't remember what it was and he was one of these fast you know with a lot of music going on and it's supposed to be cheese lovers pizza and kj saw cheese and saw chinese's pizza. But the spot made it on the air and was playing

and they get a call from the sponsor and says, there's no Chinese food in the pizza. What the hell are you talking about? It's cheese lover's, not Chinese. So anyway, it was KJ was going to have to revoice this commercial.

So Bill Hayes, another great guy we worked with. Also an FOTM. Love that guy. And yeah. Anyway, he says, hang on. I'm going to call him and I'm going to tell him that Sandy, the PD, Sandy Sanderson

is totally pissed off and is going to fire him for such a terrible, terrible error. You said Chinese lover's pizza instead of cheese lover's pizza. And he goes, Cage? Yeah, it's Bill. What's the matter? I got bad news for you. What? He says, they're ready to fire you. What? Why? Why? What did I do? What did I did i do he says you said chinese lover's pizza instead of cheese lover's

pizza i did what he said but nobody caught it i said i never heard that i said we played it back the production guy played it back everything was good the sponsor thought it was all right then all of a sudden we realized instead of saying cheese you're saying chinese oh my god they're ready to fire your cage i don don't think I'd come in today. No, and Bill really had him going and then he realized it was a gag, came in, easily changed it. But it's one of those funny little stories you hear in the business

and you ask me for a Chris James story, there's one. Well, now I want to know why you hesitated to tell that story. That's a great story. Well, it's a good story. He won't be embarrassed. No, not at all. But it's one of those great ones.

I love that one. Speaking of people you'll hear in Toronto today today on terrestrial radio bill hayes son uh kicking ass on uh where's he so he's part of afternoon drive on uh 10 50 tsn radio yeah yeah brian hayes right i you know what you never never connected those guys. Never connected it. Wow. Wait till I tell you who Brian's uncle is. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Yeah. That one. Okay. No, I never knew that. Okay, good. No, I've got to, I got TSN stations on my network. I can talk about that. Yeah.

That's the, uh, the O-Dog. I never realized that was his, oh my gosh. There you go. Brian Hayes, son of Bill Hayes, who I distinctly, when he came over Bill Hayes, I just remember thinking this man is a sweetheart. He just seemed like a genuinely nice man. What a voice he had, too. Yeah.

Lovely pipes. A lot of great voices on CFTR. Okay, one more name. I happened to produce his podcast today, and he's become a good friend, but Larry Fedorik. Oh, yeah. What can you tell me about Larry?

Talented, talented, talented guy. Funny, funny guy. Great writer. Came in as part of the morning show as well and uh just had that saturday night live sense of humor but you remember the fire sign theater guys fire sign theater was another you know and then there was the goon show with peter sellers in england and fire sign theater was another one of those comedy troops on the radio. Larry's humor and demeanor and his timing and his cadence reminded me more of

Firesign Theater than it did anything else. But he was an extremely funny guy. Good, good friend. Worked for years at CKTB in St. Catharines and I would be on his show every once in a while. Now he's got a very, very successful podcast of his own. Later that same life he had When I Was Eight

and then that ran its course and now he does later that same life in that same life and a very very intelligent and talented guy and i was he's still a friend of these days to this day he really is is there any room on this is the big question is there a place on terrestrial radio today for a larry fedorik wow did you mention 610 there uh he hasn't been there now, I think, in the next five years. Yeah, and it was more, I don't think it was anything to do with the fact they didn't like what he was doing because he was funny. It was one of those budget things that's been going around.

And again, I've got to be careful because I do some work for some of these guys. We don't want to get you in trouble. No, no, no, no, no. I know what you mean. But, I mean, it would depend. I think, and I was just talking to somebody the other day, that if some of these AMs that are now going west, because the companies are simply unplugging them,

that if somebody had some money to front load it and get into a community where you did all local stuff, all local news, you didn't rely on network news, do it the right way, do an overnight show, and if you want to have a talk show and you want to do humor and bring people in for interviews loosen it up for crying out loud i think you could do that you know and i mean because what's happening now and i mean i'm part of the network as well i'm part of that actually baseline radio network i mean all this all the news comes from one source

whether it's in that community or not and that just seems the way the trend is going nowadays you know so i think that he certainly has his humor covered with podcasts and he's in that community or not. And that just seems to be the way the trend is going nowadays. You know? So I think that he certainly has his humor covered with podcasts and he's doing that. And he's been very successful with it as you have been, um, that there is room for funny and talent is, is funny and talent. And it finds a way to get out to people's ears somehow.

And if it isn't on terrestrial radio, it's on the internet and it'll find a way to get to people. I have faith in that. And I think Larry, he would hook up again with Tom Rivers on CKFM. I don't know if it was mixed yet or not, but CKFM. They work together in the mornings there.

So I think between the CFTR and you mentioned Return to 1050 when hell froze over there, there was definitely a 99.9 chapter of Tom Rivers professional life here. Now you're gone before Jesse and Gene show up, right?

They were doing afternoon drive. I wasn't sure when you make the jump. I did work with them. I did work with them. I got to know them quite well. Gene more than Jesse. I've been at a few parties at evie's place when gene would show up and he's a good guy good funny guy you know those creative people you seem to gravitate to you know it's just one of those things birds of a feather

there's still a jesse and gene laneway at young and norton i did not know that still there i took a photo i biked up there. Are they on the air anywhere? Are they going to podcast? You know what? They seem, okay. So they definitely have a Jesse and Gene podcast. There is definitely a podcast project that they have. Because I do follow Gene on Twitter and he tweets quite a bit about his podcast.

Gene recently moved back. I guess he was West. And then he moved back here because he did come to one of my events at Palmas Kitchen. And then he moved back here because he did come to one of my events at Palma's Kitchen and then he moved back west. So I don't know. I know that from what I understand, Jesse did quite well in other industries. Like he might have made some good coin.

Well, he was doing something with importing, wasn't he? He's an importer-exporter like George Costanza. Yeah, he was bringing in things of high demand. I don't know what he was doing, but I feel it had something to do with new age, maybe crystals? I don't want to speculate any further.

Yeah, it was sellable stuff on shelves. He did quite well. Yeah, no, he did great. He's a good guy. Another good guy. A photo of his home here. Okay, so now as we leave CFTR, is there any CFTR story you think this guy here sitting in the room with you would want to hear?

Because I finally have Eric Thomas on Toronto Mic'd and he was there, man. You were there. When the station hit a million listeners, that was a huge thing for me. Don't ask me the year because my memory is shot. I can't remember the year. Some people listening is shot. I can't remember the year. Some people listening to this ago. I remember the year. So how do you know,

is this just the, the, uh, the diaries that people filled out and Sandy and, and the crew would not fudge this thing. And we finally got a million listeners for the radio station and the morning show was through the roof. And we used to,

after the book came out, we used to go over to the local bar there and start drinking at 11 in the morning and not stop until the police came and we used to celebrate that and that's when it really was you know was all working and pumping on all cylinders and then just about immediately after that they they uh they took it apart they put jessie and gene in the morning and put rivers in the afternoon uh if, if I have my timeline, right. Yeah. You make adjustments for,

you know, you, you think, you know, you've made the right decision to make adjustments, but they hit a million listeners. And I remember that going, wow,

that's cool. You know, do you think that was a mistake when, uh, Tom Rivers, yeah, he gets bumped to afternoons and then before he gets let go, you know,

hindsight is, it's terrible cliche. Hindsight is, you know, hindsight is, is 2020, I suppose. And Sandy had his reasons for doing go. Well, you know, hindsight is a terrible cliche. Early 90s, I guess. Yeah, hindsight is 20-20, I suppose. And Sandy had his reasons for doing it. And it never seemed to be the same after that. You know, and I've talked to him about that since.

And you make decisions based on what you think might keep it rolling into the next phase. And he's a great program director and I loved working for him. And sometimes the puck goes in and i loved working for him and sometimes the puck goes in and sometimes it hits the post and goes out the other side you know and sometimes you win sometimes you don't and also i wouldn't have made the move but he did and it is what it was so as i remember back in the early 90s uh jesse and jean are the morning show on q107 yeah

and i guess they're having some success there and they get, I guess they get poached and. That happens all the time. And I always wonder like. It did at least. Yeah. It did happen a lot back then, but now no one can afford to poach because you got to pay them more. Right.

Yeah. They're, you know, yeah, it's unfortunate. And a lot of it has to do with advertising revenue and it's a question of budgets and what have you. And sometimes the best people on your station get,

get turfed out, which unfortunately will often make the station even more what have you. And sometimes the best people on your station get turfed out, which unfortunately will often make the station even more unlistenable and the ratings go down. And it's sort of the path of no return kind of thing. What did happen, what just happened was the Rogers poached a Bell Media radio personality, FOTM Meredith Shaw, to put her on television. She's the new host with Sid Sixero on television. So that happens, but that's not radio for radio.

And Pooja and Gurdip famously were poached from Bell Media's CP24 and became the new CHFI morning show. And all that stuff happened. Okay, this is your radio talk. No one talks about radio anymore, by the way. Sometimes,

once in a while I get a note and they're like, oh, you know, 640 just fired their program director and they brought in Mike Bendix and I'm telling you, it's literally, I'm telling you because

no one seems to care about radio stuff and then I, for whatever reason, I still care. It's still there. It's got, you know,

it's still there and it's still viable. It's going through, how do I say this? An erosion that unfortunately is taking some very talented people off the air which is unfortunate but you know the good ones survive and find ways of carrying on the talent and as i said earlier on if it's good radio and it's good it's good comedy whatever it is if it's entertaining it finds its way to people's ears somehow i mean

you know going on doing stuff like you're doing here with this podcast and doing stuff i just said we're going on edmonton sports talk and uh after they unplugged the the tsn radio station they're 1260 so now a lot of the guys that were there are now doing this thing that is all online and this is our first affiliate in a major market where there's no transmitter. There's no broadcast. That's the future, man. It's a webcast. And that's what they're telling me is the future. I've been at the radio game now 50 years in total.

And this is definitely the trend that it's following, whether it's good or whether it's bad. I'm kind of thinking I'm 70 now. I could be like Paul Harvey, who I talked about earlier. I could probably be on the mic until I'm 80 until my voice starts to quiver and gets thin, as sometimes it does when you get old, for various reasons. I'll just carry on doing it. I mean, I'm very old school.

And maybe it's good that I'm near the end of my broadcasting career as opposed to starting it, because, man, I don't know where the hell you're pointing. If you're starting out coming from college, you've got to do a podcast or whatever. It's not just get on a radio station. You've got to get online, you know? I don't even know how they take money at those schools anymore it's like uh this is a i know people who run those courses so i mean it's a whole lot of different

man it's wow it's a lot different in terms of goals because i mean as i said i did my radio thing at nagra college two months into the course third year i got a job in radio right and that was what they're supposed to do is get you a job in the business, right? Right, right. Hearing you, you know, hearing you in the headphones here, without a doubt, what you create is compelling content, right? You are the definitive, you know, Canadian.

I guess you don't care a bunch about borders. I don't know. I'm just pointing out you're Canadian because, hey, I'm Canadian too. But Raceline Radio Network, you're creating compelling content. The distribution method is really relevant. Like whether it's a terrestrial radio where I have to tune it in to a certain frequency

at a certain time, or whether it's an on-demand platform. I'm only going to mention, because I'm a digital first guy, never worked in terrestrial radio, but our mutual friend, FOTM Mike Richards, literally left a terrestrial radio station in Mississauga for a new venture, which is 100% digital.

He's recovering from, he had some surgery and he's had some health issues. So is Humble and Fred, right? Humble and Fred are 100% digital only. They've literally walked away from any radio and didn't cost them a dime to, as we called it, fire radio. And they're 100% digital. This is the future. It's just the distribution methodology is rapidly changing. You go to it when you want to.

Yeah. And it's podcasted, right? So all of our affiliates, even the terrestrial ones, I'll podcast my show as well. So you can tune in. If you don't get it, say, Sunday night, 8 o'clock, wherever it is, you can go to that station and go to Audio Vault or wherever they podcast them,

and they can tune into it that way. I know, everyone I know who loves motor racing, is that proper? Auto racing, motorsport, auto racing. Don't say car racing. It sounds like a noob. No, no, you're right. I don't want to sound like that.

Okay, a noob. Okay. Shout out to James Edgar. Hopefully you're at TMLX tomorrow. But these gearheads, and they love their auto racing. They're really into it. I've noticed it's sort of like

a Lord of the Rings fan or something. It's like you don't just casually like Lord of the Rings. It's like, you're in that. It's like an obsession, isn't it? Yeah. So you're basically- It can be. Often.

So you're basically feeding an insatiable appetite, I would think, amongst gear. But okay, we're going to close with Raceline Radio Talk because I realize now I pulled another clip and I'm not sure what it is. Do you want to find out with me in real time what I pulled? Go ahead. Live dangerously.

Let's do it. Roll it. Lights, camera, action. From CFD Akron's main control room, it's the Rivers Air Force. Hi, this is Tom Rivers, five minutes after the hour.

Well, it's halfway through the week, but we're going to make it a Friday show today because I'm taking a couple of days off. So this is kind of fun. Welcome to Friday at CFTR. Tonight, Wild Heights will hear you. On with the show.

This is it. Friday's Dial Champ. CFTR. So I just sit here and make stupid faces like they do on the bench during the NFL game? This is video they had with the audio from it. That we can arrange. 12 minutes after the hour, 5.12 in the morning, yeah? Does that mean that I get to dump Gatorade on you later?

That's champ. No, we get to dump Gatorade on Taylor later. Good plan. Yeah. It's 13 minutes after the hour, 5.13 CFNTR. Nobody but nobody holds a sale like Corby's. I. 5, 13, CF and TR. Nobody, but nobody, holds a sale like Corby's. I'm sorry, I missed that, champ.

I'll just do the powerful CF. Okay, here we go. Roll him. That was one thing, too, right? Yeah, you can do pop-up video where you get the info. I'll put this on. Ladies and gentlemen, the financial consultant, religious advisor to the RAF, Ladies and gentlemen, the financial consultant, religious advisor to the RAF, and just returned from a religious visit to the Holy Land, Dover, Delaware, ladies and gentlemen, the Reverend Ernie Interest. You are special.

I recognize that voice. Right on key as usual, those singers. Thank you. Oh, you're welcome. Boy, you have a polite bunch of singers, Ernie, I'll tell you that. They work together, too. Well, it's nice of you to bring your brood here into the studio. I see yesterday that Jimmy Swaggart, who has been in religious doo-doo for a couple of days here, has been said that he can't preach anymore and that he must take up counseling.

What is your views on that, Reverend? Thomas, the assemblies of God's church have done the right thing. If he is going to be in the company of such loose women, women not of the faith, then he deserves everything he gets. Well, I agree. If you associate with those women, then you're going to have to... Hey, Betty, come on, hurry up, the meat is ready. That's Evelyn.

Evelyn Macko. Yeah, one of the church elders you have here, Eddie. One of the elders, one of the best collection women that we have. Patience, my child, patience, I'm clutching my rosary. Hey, pal, that's going to cost you extra. CFT. Rivers would write those out longhand on the fly between records. Thank you, Eddie. So this is not on the air, this part longhand on the fly between records. Thank you, Eddie.

So this is not on the air, this part. They're talking in between records. Right. Something else, right? The way they used to do the major market stations, every jock, even the all-night guy, had a separate operator. The jock never operated himself. He always had a separate guy to do the board and pop the spots and everything.

Right? So you could concentrate. Jeffrey's his own op. He has to do it all himself. Exactly. And that's the way the small markets did it. But TR was the first place I worked at where you had a separate op who worked the board and the announcer just did the stuff.

To think about his next break, didn't have to worry about loading carts and making sure this was ready to go and that was going to fire and you know, the next tune is loaded up. You concentrate on the creative part of it. Interesting. Even like, you know, as we play this in the background, CFTR at some point in the early 90s made a decision that the future of AM radio is not top 40 music. We got to get out of this. There was a race.

Who's going to go all news first, 680 or 640? And the rest is history. That's why Scott Metcalf was here a couple of weeks ago. And it's worked out very, very well for him. It has. It evolves. See, that's the thing, Mike, is that it evolves. And sometimes you like how it evolves and sometimes you don't.

And sometimes it leaves talented people on a path they don't want to be on. But it's changed. And who knows? It may circle back to the way it used to be. But you listen to all that, the old way, the AC2 rock radio. And, well, here we go. Another unfiltered time. Here, I'll bring it.

The giant will not be seen this morning in order to bring you continuing Chicken Network news coverage of the 15th Winter Olympics live from Calgary. This is the Olympic one. Wow. The Olympic Day

Dece Roman numerals. The Bismarck. And now, live from Calgary, at the Anchor Desk with CNN News, Rusty Chicken. Okay, Rusty, this is unfriendly in the truck. You got me? Hello? Hello, Rusty, put that thing in your ear. Yeah? Hello? Yeah, you got thing in your ear. Yeah? Hello?

Yeah, you got it in your ear? Are we on? Yeah, we're on. All good. Okay, all set. The graphic's up now. It's looking real good. Okay.

You all set? I think so. Three, two, one. And? Am I on? You gotta wait for me to say cue the chicken. Cue the chicken. Cue the chicken. Okay.

Good morning. CNN Chicken Network News Continuing coverage of the Olympics Well, you know, we had a lot of events Canceled because of the lousy weather And now we have to go make them all up again The schedules are nuts So let's go and get some of this stuff caught up

Let's swing over to Jerome the Giraffe At the 120-man Hamster Luge. Hamster Luge. Okay, get ready. Camera four out there. Okay, the giraffe's up and frozen. Literally, cue the giraffe. Oh, how good morning.

It's freezing up here. We're over here at the 120-man Hamster Luge. And you know what it looks like? 120 pairs of earmuffs in this bobsled. It's really small. You know how they get a quick start? Do you know that? I think they just start, they train running in those little wheels in their cages.

Jerome? Yeah? Stop sounding like Johnny Esau. Get to the up-and-coming, would you? Just making it up as I go along, giving you what I think is important. Eric Amazing. Go ahead. Do the hamster.

We're all set now for the very exciting start of the 120-man hamster luge. Here comes the start. Three. Two. One. One. Two. Three, two, one. One, two. Oh, it's over already. That's it? That's it?

That didn't last long at all. It was over in two points. Seven million dollars to cover this event and that's it? 2.1 seconds. That's a new Hamster Luge record. Throw it back to the chicken. Okay, let's go back to Rusty Seesaw Chicken. Is he done already? I don't know what happened. You're going to have to fill.

I didn't have time to go to the can. You're going to have to fill. Go, Vern. Oh, okay, what do I do now? Oh, I know what we should do. I know! Talk about the medals or something. Medals?

Okay. Oh, let's go to the Olympic Square in downtown Calgary and we'll go to the Olympic Square in downtown Calgary and we'll go to the medal ceremonies, I guess. That's a good idea, but there's nobody there. They just gave you a lot of free space. How long this bit is, like I was telling you, right? Yeah, this is like a seven and a half minute bit.

Easily, easily. You're not hearing music. No. You're just hearing this silly little funny bit that's on the air. That's wild. Okay. I'm glad I played it. I said I loaded it up, and I knew there was a reason I loaded it up.

That's good. I'm glad. It's good to hear that. Good to hear that. Yeah. Here, before we get back to Raceline Radio, this has been fantastic, Eric. I'm going to just shout out a few partners that made this all possible. One, this is very important.

Pumpkins After Dark. They're coming back to Milton, Ontario. They're coming back to Milton, Ontario. They're coming back to other cities too, but we're in the GTA here. Let's focus on Milton. September 23rd through October 31st. If you buy your tickets now at pumpkinsafterdark.com, you can save 15%

with the promo code TOMIKE15. Pumpkins After Dark is an amazing event and you guys should get tickets for your loved ones, your grandkids. Rusty, the... You can hear him in the background. You're reading the spot. That's great.

Keeping in our religious vein, at 7.56, the Reverend Ernest Intra setting in in the Rivers Air Force this morning, our religious consultant and financial advisor as well. Reverend, maybe with the swaggered situation, you could probably enlighten the audience by helping us out with a little insight into the religious television biz. Is there any rules to live by? Swaggart situation, you could probably enlighten the audience by helping us out. A little insight into

the religious television biz. Is there any rules to live by? Thomas, Mr. Swaggart was trapped by the number one rule of evangelists. You never, ever lie. You never, ever lie. May lightning strike me dead if I have ever lied. Could we get a

broom in here for the Reverend, please? And then you roll the music. Amazing. And then he talked up to the music, introduced the song, and hit the post every time. That's the way it used to be done, man. That's how you rolled, man. That's how we did it. Wow.

Love getting the inside story. That's right. A million listeners. I'm almost there. Learn how to plan, invest, and live smarter with the Raymond James The Advantaged Investor podcast. Whether you already work with a trusted financial advisor or currently manage your own investment plans, The Advantaged Investor provides

the engaging wealth management information you value as you pursue your most important goals. So shout out to The Advantaged Investor podcast. Welcome back. And last but not least, if you, Eric Thomas, have any old electronics or devices or maybe an old 8-track player in your garage,

don't throw that in the garbage because those chemicals end up in our landfill. Go to recyclemyelectronics.ca. Find out a depot near you that's been accredited by the EPRA and you can drop it off and have it properly disposed of,

safely recycled. Shout out to recyclemyelectronics.ca. And I know you were looking at that measuring tape. A little measuring tape. That's a gift for you. Thank you, Lyle.

You got the pasta from Palma Pasta. Oh, thank you. You got the Great Lakes and Ridley Funeral Home wants you to have that measuring tape. Thank you.

You can measure what you wish. Okay. Very, very nice. Thank you. So, you're the Raceline Radio Network guy. That's your new title. But Diamond Dog, when he heard you were coming on, wrote this. You ready? I do have an auto racing question for you. Yeah.

Isn't that, what's his name? David Lee Roth? No. Yeah, is that what it is? Well, he was Diamond. I was David Bowie. David Bowie, okay. Diamond Dogs? No, I think you're right Diamond. I was David Bowie. David Bowie. Okay, right. Diamond Dogs? No, I think you're right. No Cleveland, no Bowie. No Bowie.

Shout out to FOTM, Michael Williams. Okay. Why is the NASCAR point system so bloody complicated? Good question. Why not just give points based on the finish with greater premium on winning than there is now? NASCAR is like, and everybody gets a trophy league with how they hand out points.

What am I talking about, and what do you say to Diamond Dog? We could spend another hour on this. NASCAR is caught doing what they've always done to great success and what they do because it's based on what they used to do. And that sounds confusing. But they're a sanction that has done well because they hang on to certain traditions, but they also fail to realize that they need to get with the times. And one of those things is, and I'm going to get to his question in a sec, is that you don't need four and a half hours to do a stock car race. If F1 can do it in an hour and 45 minutes,

if IndyCar can do it in less than two hours, there's no excuse for NASCAR needing four and a half hours to do a race. Get with it, folks. It's short attention span theater. You're not the only game in town. Shorten your damn races. You can make the point in half the time. Anyway, what's happening here is

they looked at their season and they said, we need to get more television space. We need to make this thing more exciting instead of just playing it to the end with a certain number of races, and the guy with the highest number of points at the end of the year wins the championship. So they decided to put in this ridiculous playoff system,

which they've been using now, where the points are all different, and there's stage racing now when all they needed to do and to his point and he almost answered his own question they were guilty of killing a house fly with a nuclear warhead all they needed to do and he's right almost right all they needed to do to jazz it up was to award more points for a win right that put the emphasis on winning but then it's like everybody gets a trophy it was back to the days in the 50s when big bill france formed the national association for stock car automobile racing which spells out nascar it's not a type of race car some people get

confused on there's no such thing as scuba yeah or skidoo or kleenex right nascars are the initials of the sanctioning body right the vehicle is a stock car. And that's all they needed to do was award more points. They gave everybody points because they wanted to bring everybody from the U.S. and Canada under one umbrella. So if you traveled a long way away, you got some money even if you finished dead last. And they've never given up that tradition. reason why they're in this pickle of their own where they've it's just so over convoluted needlessly over convoluted to make it more complicated than it needs to be and all they had to do at the beginning of this was award more points to a win put more emphasis on winning and that would have made it more exciting but they decided to have a postseason so when they go on

television they can be up against the world series on the start of nfl so these are eggheads sitting around in a boardroom with shirts and ties on that wouldn't know how to drive a stock car if it landed on their butt. And they came up with this ridiculous math for calculating the championship. He's hit a nerve, and you can hear me going on about this, but it's dumb. Where are the other nerves? I want to hit some more. Well, you know, that's just one of the—

I like it when you have a nerve. But you know what, though? It's not perfect, but it's still wildly popular. And give them credit for still being wildly popular. It's not as popular as it used to be. But too much screwing around with it can sometimes make a very leaky hull. And that's what they're guilty of. Speaking of that, I will tell you, as a guy who was quite into,

I will say I was quite into IndyCar racing for a period of time. You should come back because it's great. I should come back because what got me was the split when Kart and Indy. racing for a period of time. You should come back because it's great. I should come back because what got me was the split when that was a big wound that still isn't totally healed. I was watching every week. Came down to one guy's

ego. Tony George in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That's what caused it. He wanted to run it and they said, no, you're not. He said, okay, well, I own the biggest race at the biggest plant there is. Indy 500. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most famous race course in the world, biggest sports arena in the world,

and I'm going to take my bat and my ball like a five-year-old and go home. And that's what caused the split. Before that, IndyCar was number one, and NASCAR was decidedly number two. And when that happened, it flipped over. And NASCAR went to the top and IndyCar suffered. And they're still feeling the effects of that to this day, Mike. They really are. It affected me. Sure did.

And it affected a lot of people. You're not alone. Believe me, it did. And they're coming back because the competition is great. It's really, really good. And there's still Canadians in it. We still have the Indy. And the vibe there this past June, July, was very, Indy. And the vibe there this past June, July, July, not June, July,

was very, very good. So the vibe is coming back. Give it another chance. You mentioned Scott Goodyear earlier when you talked about the first episode of... Paul Tracy has had him on the show recently, too. Amazing. Okay, I got to get my ass back there.

Okay. Raceline Radio, this is a little trivia for you, and then I want to find out, where can I hear, how can I tune in to race? There must be some F1 guy listening now who's like, I've got to tap into this Raceline Radio Network.

We have a Facebook page. We don't have a web page. Okay, but so on Facebook, just look, Raceline Radio Network? Raceline Radio Network, and there is always a list, every posting has a list of stations on there, and we're on the air in Vancouver, goingcouver and going back in edmonton in calgary uh we're on the air in hamilton on chml here in toronto on sportsnet 590 the fan normally normally monday nights at 10 and a replay saturday mornings at seven o'clock and we're also on the air in

montreal and we're on the air in halifax. These are all the big cities, man. Yeah, all the major markets and a few little ones in between. We're trying to get some back. We lost a few in the last night of the long knives. We lost a few affiliates there. We'll get them back. We will. You'll get them back.

The future's digital anyway. And that's the gig, and that's been keeping the lights on, the girls fed for the last 31 years. And it sounds like from this conversation, it doesn't sound like you're even thinking about retirement. I mean, you're a healthy,

strong-sounding 70 years young. You're not even planning retirement, are you? Not really. I mean, I think about it from time to time.

And I should have retired five years ago. If I was working at GM, I would have been retired with a huge pension and a nice big swimming pool and a cottage and all that stuff.

But no, instead of... But you wouldn't have got on top of Mike if you were... ...farting around with this radio thing and doing the racing thing, which has been a labor of love. It sure beats working for a living. And it has its moments. It has its frustrating moments. But generally, it's a hobby and labor of love kind of thing. Beautiful.

Amazing that you did that for 31 years now. I'm lucky. Thanks to Subaru and General Tire. Oh, yeah. I got my sponsors on. If I ever buy another car, I'm pledging to you, it's going to be a Subaru. Thank you, buddy. Okay.

And the tires are going to be General Tire. Right on. Just for you, man. Okay. Thank you, buddy. When you started Raceline Radio in mid-May 1992, we know Scott Goodyear was on that program, but can you name, and my research tells me this is the answer, and you'll tell me I'm wrong.

Who was your very first guest overall who was the first guest the first episode of raceline radio a guy by the name of ken squire you got it i'm trying to trick you you were there how could i trick the uh ken squire um ran a little radio station in in stowe Vermont, and worked part-time doing NASCAR stuff, and then got hooked in with CBS television. Because up to that point in the early, I think it was the 80s, 70s, oh, the year escapes me and I'm embarrassed. But you would only get racing on television as little blurbs on ABC Wide World of Sports. You know, you wouldn't be able to watch the whole indy 500 or the whole daytona 500 and ken was able to persuade cbs to carry the daytona 500 live flag to flag the

entirety of the race and that was the one where they had the big fight at the end when bobby and davey allison are fighting with kale yarborough there was there was a blizzard that weekend and and everybody was home and there was nothing else to watch on tv and they're watching these nascor guys slugging the crap out of each other after a big crash and it's not always like that but that got everybody talking and that's when it moved into the modern era and ken was responsible for the way we watch auto racing on television now and that's just about all of it and ken came on the show and he was very complimentary he said i think your show is right on the nickel and we kind of knew it was

because here's a little thing that i always remember about that very first show of our very first season we used to belong to eastern motorsport press association these are motorsports journalists and organizations and you enter things the national motorsport press association the eastern motorsport press association we entered the first season and it was that show with ken squire on it we entered it into their contest used to submit articles and stories and videos and radio show clips and our show that year the first year beat out the live radio call of that year's indianapolis 500 so we knew that as ken said as the very first guest that we had, that our formulae was right on the nickel and we're still flipping that nickel in the air 31 years later.

So when you leave 680 basically for CJCL, that's the order of things. Well, Mixed 99.9 in the middle. Right. Mixed 99.9. Okay. So when you leave 680 for Mixed 99.9, Peter Gross is the hire for your spot in the payroll? Peter Gross eventually came in and replaced me doing morning sports. And he did it for a long time.

Yeah, until like 2019 or something. He did a great job. He used to rollerblade into the station. Good guy, good guy. And yeah, so that's the situation. Well, he was here, and I can tell you, great at what he did, but once in a while they would throw to him in the morning and he'd be sound asleep.

That happened. I don't remember being there one time. What was I doing there? It was the morning we came in and John Hinnan played him the bits and near the end of his shift, you look over and he's... That's amazing though.

Easy enough to do. Boy, there were a couple of mornings. Easy to do, but it's part of the job to stay awake, right? I know enough radio to know that all of a sudden, hey, what happened to the last two hours?

I don't remember it. You know, you blacked out. I had to drive it every morning, and that would happen. That would be dangerous. So John Hinnan and Peter Gross have something in common in that they were two of the first voices you heard when 680 went all news that day. I think the first voice was Dick Smythe.

I think so. And then it was Peter Gross. We have an emergency. John Hinnan might have been third or fourth. We need more news! Because as Larry Silver said, Larry Silver, good guy, he says, you're writing all day long, you're trying to fill up a hole

that never fills up. Right. That's before they got the format down. It's like the Seinfeld line about the mail or whatever. It never stops. There's always more mail. It never stops. Okay. Listen to me. Perpetual.

Eric Thomas, your debut, you knocked it out of the park. Thank you, pal. It was fun. Yeah, I love hearing these stories. You gotta get on mics. You gotta get on Toronto mic.

Is there somebody you'd recommend? Because, you know, you're on because Hannafin, I wanted you on anyway, but Hannafin's like, get Eric Thomas on the show. And I'm like, yes, please.

You want to shout somebody out, maybe? Tag somebody in who hasn't been on here? Everybody that's listening to the radio show has kept us on the air for 31 years. And our sponsors, Subaru Canada and General Tire Canada and all those stations and those program directors out there who I may have fired BBs at your head over the last hour and a half here,

but for getting it and understanding the importance of it and why the show is still on your air. And a getting it and understanding the importance of it and why, you know, the show is still on your air. And a lot of the affiliates we have have been there since day one and they're still there. And thank you very much for that and for the sport being as cool as it is

and for the personalities being so easy to talk to and being so entertaining. And the racers are some of the best athletes you can interview in sports, period. And I've done them all, believe me. Who's the greatest Canadian driver of all time? Wow. Paul Tracy would be up there.

The thrill from West Hill? The thrill from West Hill, yeah. And that probably would be. Greatest interview on the show? John Forrest, the drag racer. You ask him one question, he's gone for 20 minutes. And he says, did I answer your question? I forgot your question. He just goes off on a tangent. But we're lucky because our Canadian guys are some of the best in the world, and they still are, and that's one of the things

that we have ridden nicely like a big surfer for 31 years. Are you at all nervous about the fact we have to exit through this side door and there's a ragged, three-legged raccoon ready to pounce? Make a lot of noise, baby. Scare him away. I have an idea. I'm going to bring that hockey stick with me. Well,

a garden hose. I won't hurt this poor raccoon. Yeah, I feel bad for him in some ways, but he's not supposed to be out in the daytime, Rocky. No, we've got to look out for ourselves. Go away. Okay, so last reminder, if you're listening to this the first day it drops, which is some of you, just last reminder that TMLX 13 is at Great Lakes Brewery

tomorrow, that's September 7th, 6 to 9 p.m. Drop by, get a selfie with Steve Paikin, get some free palm of pasta lasagna, get a free Great Lakes beer, hang out with me, just do it. And that brings us to the end of our 1,320th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Alright, here's a tough question for you,

Eric Thomas. I know you have a Facebook page for the Raceline Radio Network, but is there a way to follow you on social media? Yeah, I'm on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as well. Eric at RacelineRadio.ca. Raceline Radio Network.

Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Getting hip to the hip. Actually, getting hip to the hip is over. Don't. I've got to update this extra. Getting hip to the hip. I was there, though, Friday.

It was a fantastic event. Fire the writer. Fire the writer. It was September 1st, Friday. It was a fantastic event. Fire the writer. Fire the writer. It was September 1st, and this is September 6th. But Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. Pumpkins After Dark are at Pumpkins Dark. And Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. See you all tomorrow when 1236's...

Is there a 1236? We'll find out. 1236's own Mark Weisblot visits just before we head to Great Lakes for TMLX 13. See you all then. I've kissed you in places I better not name. And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour. But I like it much better going down on you. Yeah, you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and green. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms us today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy now.

Everything is rosy, yeah. Everything is rosy and everything is rosy and gray.