Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Fergie Olver: Toronto Mike'd #1298

Episode Date: July 25, 2023

In this 1298th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Fergie Olver about his career in media at CFTO, his work on Blue Jays telecasts, Just Like Mom, the video, and more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, The Moment Lab, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

How about those Blue Jays? Welcome to episode 1298 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. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta

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The Moment Lab Brand marketing and strategy PR, advertising and production You need The Moment Lab And Ridley Funeral Home Pillars of the community since 1921 Not too soon Fergie Oh my god Today The first commercial 2021. Not too soon, Fergie. Oh, my God.

Today. The first commercial, a funeral. I'm looking forward to that. Making his Toronto Mike debut is Fergie Oliver. Welcome to Toronto Mike, Fergie. It's been at least 30 years, and you've terrified me. My daughter had gotten me here i'm sorry are you being held against your will and yes i am blink in morse code if carrie's got you here absolutely i'm happy

to be here finally get it over with but i'm terrified to be honest oh let's talk about that off the top so how long has it been since you've made a public appearance well that's a tough question. Well, it's got to be 10 years for sure. I guess Pat Gillick, Tony Kubrick's induction is when it was. Do you remember what year that was?

No, I don't. I do. Carrie Oliver, by the way, ladies and gentlemen. FOTM Carrie Oliver is here. 15, maybe? Maybe it's 2015 because you accepted for Tony at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Well, I am honoured, Fergie, that

you're making your comeback here on Toronto Mike. This is exciting for me. Thanks, Mike. So, of course, Fergie making his Toronto Mike debut. Your podcast debut, if it's been 15 years. I don't even think we had podcasts 15 years ago. I've never been on a podcast before.

This is a big moment, ladies and gentlemen. But carry over is no stranger to podcasts because you are Miss 1286. Did you get a tattoo that says 1286? How did you know? To commemorate your episode number? I absolutely did. But I do know I was one of your first posts on Threads.

So that made me happy. And maybe one of my last. I haven't been back. I spent like 20 minutes on threads and then I tapped out. Yeah, I wasn't sure about that. You know why I tapped out really quick before we get to your dad here. It's social media dad. I tapped out because it's mobile only. And I actually create, I can absorb content mobile okay but maybe i'm an old fart i don't like to create content like to tweet and write blog entries and compose content for people i don't like to do that on mobile i prefer to do that on laptop and there is no way to do that with threads on my laptop yeah you can't so that's why i tapped out right okay i

don't know we'll see how long you guys talking i don't forget it don't worry. We'll see how long it lasts. What are you guys talking about? I know. Forget it. Don't worry about it, Dan. Garment. Yeah. The threads we're talking about. He's not sure about Instagram, but never mind. Well, let me just tell people if they want to hear the A to Z of Carrie Oliver's career. They go to episode 1286, and we chatted about your years at TSC, the Weather Network, and your dad, Fergie Oliver. C, The Weather Network, and your dad, Fergie Oliver.

So, Carrie, how difficult was it to coerce your father into making his Toronto McDavid? You have no idea. Let's hear it. Yes, I've had to make promises and yes. She's right. It's true. It's true. What did you promise? Well, I had to tell him, first of all, just

how lovely and wonderful you are. So you lied to him. I did. I did completely. I said that you would be gentle, that you to tell him, first of all, just how lovely and wonderful you are. So you lied to him. I did. I did completely. I said that you would be gentle, that you would be kind. But you know what I did say? I said, you're a big fan. Yeah.

And that's why. And I really wanted. That's what made me come. See? I wanted it. I wanted it. There's a lot of fans out there. You know, we all have these really wonderful memories of these glory years.

And you were right in the middle of them. Well, this is an important to me. It's important to talk to you, Fergie, and just get your bio in your words and cover everything. Like to me, this is a very important episode. So it's, again, exciting you're here. Carrie, thanks for making this happen. Let's introduce for everybody, not on the mic, but who's the fourth person in this room? My son, Matt, decided to come

today. Okay, Matt, nice to meet you. Matt told me is it your girlfriend or your girlfriend? Fiance. Fiance. Matt's fiance is a huge Great Lakes brewery fan. He was telling me she loves the GLB IPAs. So I'm going to make sure. Carly. Yeah, okay. Matt's bringing Carly

home. I got some burst. That's a tasty IPA from Great Lakes, but he's taking home some beer. So, Matt, it was worth the trip here. Very much. Worth the drive. Fergie, did you ever consider changing your last name to Oliver? Ugh.

Since most people just call you Fergie Oliver anyways, and they're always shocked when I tell them, by the way, there's no I in Oliver. Great question. It's the first question every bank manager answers. Put an I in it and make it easy. But no, no, it's Oliver

and it's always been but I've considered it because I've asked that so many times. You've got to be true to yourself, right? If it's Oliver, people need to adapt. You don't need to change for other people. I've actually had people tell me my name is spelled wrong.

Yeah, everybody is. So we're going to keep it Oliver, Fergie Oliver. Can we go back to your baseball career? I mean, we talked when Carrie was on a few weeks ago. We talked about how she's from Saskatchewan. Moose Jaw. Okay. So take

us back, Fergie. and a lot of people might even be learning for the first time that you were quite the ball player. Well, I was decent at the time. I'm from actually born in Weyburn, but I always called Moose Jaw home. My parents

moved our family to California in 1961, and it was because I was a decent ball player. So I go to Western High School, which is the same high school that Tiger Woods went to. Wow. Yeah, a few years later.

A few years later. And I played one season there, and then I got signed by the Chicago White Sox. That's exciting. What position did you play? I was an outfielder for $5,000, which was a lot of money in those days. So it didn't, obviously, you never made the show, to borrow a line from Bull Durham.

I sure didn't. I wasn't a bad hitter. I couldn't run that fast, and I had a decent arm. I wasn't a bad hitter. I couldn't run that fast, and I had a decent arm. But the reason why I didn't make it is because of the immaturity of yourself for me, as it was. Any regrets? None.

None? No regrets. You wouldn't have played it any other way? No. But when you got signed, and I remember the iconic photo that we've got, grandma, grandpa, mom and dad sitting over you, having that signature. Who is the guy who signed you? Do you remember that?

Yeah, Doc Bennett of the Chicago White Sox. I never talked about, very much when I did the telecast, about my baseball past. Because after I got signed and I got released, I went and played some pretty decent baseball. It was in the Western Canada Baseball League. And there was players like Nelson Bryles, Tim Cullen, Ron Theobald, guys that all made it to the big leagues.

And there was another guy there that was a relief pitcher, and you know who I'm talking about. Who, Tug? Yeah. Okay, tell them about the Tug story. Great Tug McGraw story. Okay, let's hear it. So I go to the-star game uh with the blue jays and uh in philadelphia and what happened was uh suzy and i are walking around with glass of wine and there's great food

all over the place and all of a sudden the voice furry is that you is that you? Now, I just had Tug McGraw yelling at me. I thought Tug forgot about me. So anyways, they came over, and we had a couple of drinks and a few laughs, and he used to tell me how he used to kick his ass with the bat. And he was actually right because, you know, one game I went four for five off him. Wow. Yeah. Off Tugman.

But that was just one game. Sure. But this was a guy that when he played in this league, he pitched a 10-inning, won nothing shutout. And he was a terrific pitcher. He was wild. That was one of his problems. He led the league in wildness.

But so anyway, we had a few laughs and it was really one of the highlights that somebody out of my past would come and say hello. Do you still watch baseball? Not that much. I was going to say, you'll never see another 10 inning, one0 shutout as long as you live. Those days are over.

I always remember Jack Morris in the big playoff game going 10 innings. Wasn't that the best pitching performance you ever had to that point? That 1-0. I said it after. Greatest I'd ever seen. Yeah, the twins.

And it's wild to think now you don't see any complete games at all anymore. It's just the game has changed so much. Okay, we're going to get back to baseball. But when do you realize baseball might not be the career for you and move to media? How does that pivot happen? When the White Sox said, you're gone. I knew it was over then.

But it took me another couple of years to forget about it or get it out of my mind. It was tough. It really was, yeah. How did you get yourself into media? And why? Like, is it just, hey, I'm a handsome guy, I can talk? I got a job in Calgary as a cameraman.

Okay. And I had a job. I needed one at that particular time. Wasn't much money. And then I applied in Lloyd Minster to become a sportscaster. And, of course, this was like about $200, $225 a month. And I took it. Well, you needed a gig, Fergie.

So I was there for three months. And then I was hired in Moose Job by Kent Nunes. And the rest, I went from Nunes to Regina to Dick Irvin in Montreal and then to Johnny Esau in Toronto and Pat Marsden. Well, okay. We got lots of Pat Marsden questions coming up here. So how do you get to the, I mean, in this country, there's no bigger media market than the T-Dot Toronto here.

So how do you get your way to Toronto exactly? I got lucky. You know, I just, I really wasn't that good. But I was in the right place at the right time, whatever it was. Why do you think you weren't good? Is this just self-deprecation? Yeah, just the lack of confidence. But I tried to do the best I could.

Okay. Now, just to get a little context here, because you're sitting beside FOTM Carrie Oliver. By the way, FOTM means Friend of Toronto Mike. Fergie Oliver, you're sitting beside FOTM Carrie Oliver. By the way, FOTM means Friend of Toronto Mike. Fergie Oliver, you're now an FOTM. Okay. It's F, okay. And you can wear that with pride. Yeah, as long as she is, I am too.

Yeah. Well, I'm taking him to get his tattoo later. Okay, good. What number is he again? This is, we got to make sure we get the right number. $1,298 is the tattoo number. Yeah, maybe we should have waited for $1,300. Oh, you're so close.

So close. I think $1,298 is a cooler number than $1,300 here. Okay, so just so we have some context, because we're going to kind of start seeing you. So just don't take this personally. So you've got a few wives at play here, right? Like, listen, you're talking to a guy who has a couple of wives,

but they're not concurrent, okay? So don't worry, everybody. So yeah, you were married to Carrie's mom. What's her name again georgia i know everyone thinks that i'm catherine's daughter but i clarify that i did thank you i so appreciate that if you do the math you realize that's impossible right okay so and we'll get to catherine because uh when we get to the just for uh just like mom portion of this uh conversation there's like different chapters in this conversation here. But we've got you at, so you're at CFTO now.

And who is it that, you said you got lucky, but who is it that tapped you on the shoulder and said, you're ready for the prime time, you're coming to Trump? Johnny Esau. Johnny Esau. Okay. Okay. So let's, before I get to all the questions about Pat Marston,

there's a hundred of them, but go ahead. Now, Ted Delaney, did he, was he your boss or? Well, yeah, he was the general manager of the station. But, you know, the Bassetts were the bosses. The Bassetts. Well, speaking of the Bassetts, okay, this might tie in nicely. What year is it that you joined CFTO? 1969.

So is it your relationship with the Bassetts? How do you end up in face-off? Well, they did the movie. Has Carrie seen face-off? I want to know. Oh my God. It's been a long time.

I remember George Gross in there, in that shot. I got my corduroy jacket on. And man, I'm in the movies. Kid from Moose Jaw. And Face Off. Wow. So you were playing a member of the press.

Yes. That's quite a stretch for you. Oh, absolutely. Watch out De Niro. Okay. So that's 1971, everybody, that Fergie is in Face Off. And people should, a lot of people i'm trying to think jim mckinney was uh jim mckinney yeah he sure was okay i'm thinking of fotms that

were in face off you're in a steam company there gorbster writes in please ask fergie if he worked with pat marsden we don't know the answer that and and how was that so again before you answer that because ken also wrote in and said from memory, Fergie Oliver used to back up Pat Marsden on CFTO Sports. And then he's wondering, was it Dan Matheson who took the spot after you moved on? But let's start by talking about Pat Marsden. Where do you start?

Take your time on this. People are very excited to hear this chatter, because Pat will never, sadly, Pat will never make his Toronto Mike debut. It was the greatest experience of my life. He was a character. There's so many stories about Pat, and I said to Kerry,

God damn it, I wish I could, well, he's the one in Calgary, you know, where he went into a Chinese restaurant after the football game out there. Yeah. And they found him the next morning

just sound asleep on the sofa in a chinese restaurant upstairs around his table he had a good night oh yeah and so that story made made its way all over western canada the character pat was really a good-hearted guy he treated me. He backed me up in everything I did. His wife, Terri Ann, is a princess. Well, you both got kicked out of the gardens. Oh, we got kicked out of the gardens? Oh, I need that story. That's why Carrie's here. And Harold Ballard said, I'm going to make

heroes out of you guys. The fact that I'm kicking you out, and a week you'll be back, and everybody will be talking about it. I never forgot about it. What kind of guy was Harold in your interactions with him? I really liked Harold Ballard. Not many people did, but he was honest with you. There's no bullshit.

He just came, did your job, and Jim Gregory was a great Leaf organization. You know, it's one thing that he was a son one thing that you know he was a son of a bitch but he you know he was a son of a bitch to your face right as opposed to behind your back so there is some uh code there yeah harold ballard there is a mikey mentory a toronto mic mikey mentory out there uh where people share their stories of harold ballard uh is there one story that you can share i know a lot of times when it comes to telling stories about Pat Marsden or Harold Ballard,

it's like, oh, I can't put that in public, but maybe there is a story, any story at all with Harold Ballard. I'm thinking of all the stories I've been told over the years from people like Gord Stelic and Ken Daniels and even Rick Vive. Like any Harold Ballard story. What was it like going down to the gardens and doing a story?

Did you ever get into it? He lived in the gardens. He had a suite there. Did you ever get in there? Oh, yeah. Okay. I've been in a suite. There we go.

Going to the gardens, I had to work the night show on CFTO. Okay. So if I went to the gardens, I can only stay until about 8 o'clock. So I'm only going to see a half hour. So I didn't go that often. I watched it on the TV, and then I had to report about it. You weren't hanging out in the hot stove? Pat and I got drunk in the hot stove many times.

Many a time. What did you do to get booted from the Guardians? Nothing. What did we do? We criticized them. You called them a second-rate team. You went on the air, and you called them a second-rate team.

So you got in trouble for telling the truth. Yeah. Because I remember those Harold Ballard-led Leafs teams. Well, I guess it's once they got rid of guys like um sittler and mcdonald it was a tough time what a shame that was the worst thing ever to happen to the leafs to get rid of those two so let's take a moment here you're doing great fergie and uh i'm gonna play i want to shout out an fotm who's in the FOTM Hall of Fame, Retro Ontario, because Retro Ontario sent over some commercials that you narrated. Now, I think Tiger Williams is in one of these. So sit back. This is a few minutes, but I think it's worth the visit. This will let you catch your breath. We're going

to listen to some Fergie Oliver commercials. This is the face of the meanest player in the NHL. They call me Tiger because I'm tough on the ice. Then, when I'm home, I try to be nice. But I can't take these bags that can't take my garbage. So I got this from Quickie. It's new and it's tough. You buy it and you try it. Garbage bags from Quickie. They're Tiger tough.

That's a great one. God damn it, I don't even remember that. Okay, there's more. On all fine products. Way to go. I wonder how much you can pay for that. Robin Hood's new baking liquid is the faster, easier way to add deep, rich, chocolatey taste to your home baking. Give it a shake, squeeze, and measure.

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and we would do commercials in the Constellation Hotel or the Prince Hotel? Oh, okay, the Constellation. Yeah, and we would do the commercials around the pool or something, and the kids would be in it because he'd lived there. I can tell you what I did, a little short tennis series. At the Prince Hotel, I got, do you remember? No. But the Prince Hotel was beautiful.

It was first built, and you were living, that was your residence yes you were a baller so is this between marriages we can talk about that I wish you had told me about this so I wasn't embarrassed

no I got to surprise you it's all fine to surprise you. No, that's okay. Okay, well, Bassett. Now we're back to Bassett, right? It's all tennis and curling and all that going on there. Didn't he used to call you for the sports scores all the time? Yeah.

Oh, yeah. The personal life. So, okay. So, I have a question from Retro Ontario who sent over those old ads here. He wants me to ask you about, I hope I say this right, Camp Onondaga? Onondaga.

Onondaga. Onondaga. He says that was at CFTO, Aging Court in that era. Yeah, it sure was. Oh, no, the camp is actually up on the reserve. Caledon, not Caledon. I go up there to get my cigars. Okay, okay. Okay, the Indian Reserve. Caledon. Not Caledon. I go up there to get my cigars.

Okay. Okay. Okay. The Indian Reserve. Up north. Right. But anyway, that's where it's at. But they were a sponsor from day one.

Okay. And it was a beautiful place for the kids to go. It was, what was it, for four or two? I don't know how many kids we sent. But, you know. But you were involved in so much charity and so much really making sure that kids were, you know, taken care of and the award. What was the award that you got in Ottawa?

Yeah, Volunteer of the Year Award. Yeah, all right. And that was a pretty big thing. All right. in Ottawa. Yeah, Volunteer of the Year Award. And that was a pretty big thing. Alright, well, speaking of taking care of kids, I gotta ask you about Uncle Bobby. That was my first television appearance. Holy smoke. Itsy Bitsy

Spider. Okay. How old were you? I don't know, four or five, six, something like that. And then I used to, then we could go into Uncle Bobby's treasure. Why are you laughing? Just the memory. Well, let's hear anything you have on Uncle Bobby.

He's a frequent subject on this show. This show that we watch, it's just fascinating to hear the behind the scenes. Apparently, Uncle Bobby, Bobby Ash, he drove a school bus, I want to say and uh there's just it's just any stories you have an uncle bob i don't i don't honestly i just remember being on it yeah i saw him i saw him in the studio all the time but uh nice guy oh yeah he's a terrific guy all right i don't know is there any bad stories about i don't need a bad story uh any story is interesting when it's Uncle Bobby alright, well let's segue over because probably the most

questions come regarding the Blue Jays please, for me, this is for me because Gilles LeBlanc and many others have the same kind of variation, which is be sure to ask Hal about those Blue Jays but I want to hear it in Fergie Oliver's voice let's hear it Fergie well I used to try to get excited

when I came on the telecast. I felt I needed to say a saying, and that was it. How about those Blue Jays? And that's the way we started. Well, now I need more energy, Fergie. I will in a minute. To start off the telecast and pump it up

for the people to get them excited. How about those Blue Jays? Oh my God, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to cut that out and I'm going to make sure that's the cold open there. Mental note to go back to the 24 minute mark here. How about those Blue Jays? What's the origin of that phrase?

It was just something that you could say to hype yourself up at the beginning of a telecast? Something I thought of. That's all. Very simple. Well, it's stuck, right? I mean, I got a great note from FOTM Dale. Dale writes in, I met the fabulous sports babe.

Now, we remember the fabulous sports babe because they simulcast that on the fan, I believe, the 1430, maybe 590 as well. But big personality. So Dale meets the fabulous sports babe in a Seattle bar before a Jays game in 1992. And he showed me a picture of the signed card. And the signing card said, how about those Blue Jays? So Dale thinks that fabulous sports babe

was a big Fergie Oliver fan. All right. Good for her. I had one. So how did you end up on the Blue Jay telecast? Well, the fact that I was a former player, when I went to CFTO, we ended up with the rights. And I figured I might as well be one of the rights. And I figured

I might as well be one of the guys. It really was Pat that suggested it because he knew me and he And he wasn't a baseball guy. He was a football guy. No, he was everything. But I'm trying to

think of the guy that hired me john hudson okay it's all with john hudson and you sorry carrie but john hudson uh was a my an old miler from england who came to canada and became the head of cbc sports wow and And he started out with CFTO and did all their track meets and that, and just the prince of a guy and a gentleman. So that's how he called me up and said, listen, we want to make you part of the team. And that was it.

That's how I got started. So when you started, what exactly was your role? Were you doing like analyst? Like what exactly was your role were you doing uh like analyst like what exactly was your role this and this is on the cfto telecast yeah well cfto carried all the games and that's one of the reasons i was on it but uh back then there were lots of games carried by no television yeah i was the guy to do the interviews basically introduce the show started do the interviews and then sign off can you tell me the story of uh i don't know what the dollar amount was but i've had many many many the 50 story yeah tell me the 50 story because many many a broadcaster would tell me a story

they come over and then they talk about how they went to interview i don't know george bell let's say and george bell, where's the cake? And they're like, oh, this is for me. Tell me about this. That was the famous words, where's the cake? But that's why John Hudson's idea really was the right one. And the $50 was the right one. Because these guys weren't making the big money in those days. And there's only one guy that uh wouldn't take the 50 and that

was george orta after all the 50s you know 16 years yeah at uh you know 10 interviews a game he was the one guy wow only one guy yeah and lou Lou Whitaker was a guy I could never get until one day he changed his mind. He said, I'm going to do it. And I was the only guy to interview Lou Whitaker. Sweet Lou. Yeah, at that particular time. Man, I hated those Tigers teams. Speaking of Jack Morris, now we're going way back again.

Now, so what's the deal? Was it an American 50? Oh, absolutely. No, it was American north and south of the border, period. we're going way back again now so what's the deal was it an american 50 oh absolutely no it's american north and south of the border period that was another part they really liked and so how did the because it's simply you slipped it in their hand before they uh before the interview is that just like i'm just curious how this transaction transpired? Because that's not happening today. No, I told them, let's see, either way it worked. Sometimes I prepaid them, sometimes I paid them when they got there.

Okay. Was it ever 100? No. Did anyone hold out for more cake? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wow, okay. So you're at CFTO, but at some point, you're an analyst for TSN ballgames, right?

Not an analyst, but you were on TSN broadcast, right? I was the first guy to sign on TSN and do the play-by-play on their very first game. That is a fun fact. First telecast, yeah. Oh, boy. With Bobby Maddock. Former Blue Team manager. Yeah, boy. With Bobby Maddock. Former Blue Jay manager.

Yeah. Tell us about Bobby Maddock. He was as sharp as anybody. He was his age, 80s. He died right around, I think, when he was about 90. But he was fun to be with. He could tell jokes. He could just talk.

He could make you feel so comfortable. And he loved to play golf. Wasn't any good at it, but neither were we. So it was a good team. Amazing. More Jay's questions for you. First of all, PJ Pat writes in, Fergie is Canadian sports broadcasting royalty. I'm looking forward to it.

Isn't that nice? There you go. And that's from PJ Pat. Way to go, Pat. Way to go, Pat. Eric writes in,

have you have, has, sorry, has he stayed in contact? You're the heat here. Has he stayed in contact with Tony Kubik and Tommy Hutton? Tony Kubik. We talk at least once a year.

He's the guy that really, I think, made the telecasts in Canada. He was the first guy. He taught every Canadian the game. Right. And that's what he's most famous for. But he's a guy that is a true gentleman. The kindest guy you would ever meet

I love his stories about Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio and the old Yankees and I didn't know at the time because I was very young but I was watching my Blue Jays I loved my Blue Jays and I had no idea that Tony Kubik was this import but I think I caught him

I think I was watching an NBC telecast or some American national broadcast, and he was calling the game. And to me, it was like a moment, and I go, oh, I see. Tony, he's not some Toronto guy. We imported some big American guy. But that's what John Hudson really did a great job of.

Let's bring in the best. And he was the guy that was on NBC all the time, from day one there to, oh, yeah, the Marilyn Monroe story. Here he was playing for the New York Yankees, and he tells me this story. He said that we're out in L.A., and we're walking around the hotel lobby, and there's a page,

Tony Kubik paging, Tony Kubik. So he goes, answers, and it's Marilyn Monroe call. Wow. Okay. He's on the team that Joe DiMaggio's there. This was his last year. Right. Now Tony gets a call, and Marilyn wants him to come up and chat for a bit.

And, well, of course, he didn't. I mean, Tony is, but it's a great story. Here's a great little, so, you know, thanks to you, Fergie, allowing me to turn on the cameras because we got some people on the live stream. And that camp, Onondaga, how can I have a struggle with the name? It's in Minden. So we've got, thank you,, I have struggled with the name. It's in Minden. So we've got,

thank you VP of sales for chiming in. And YYZ Gord says, it's great to see Fergie in person. It's been far too long. It has. Well, thanks Gord. You can see why though. Well, tell me. Over the hill.

You know what? How old are you? 80. 80. A week ago. Okay. I would like to look that good at 80. You look like you could beat the shit out of me. I'm ago. A week ago. Okay. I would like to look that good at 80. You look like you could beat the shit out of me.

I'm ready. You know, I'm ready. Yeah. We got back up here. Matt, who's Sadi on here in this fight here? He better be on mine. Matt's got your back, Fergie. Okay.

And it's happened. I'd like to see three generations together. Like this is a family affair as we kind of waltz down your history. Oh, and Moose Grumpy also on the Pirate Stream. And again, I didn't promote the Pirate Stream because I actually wasn't planning to have it. So the fact that there's anyone on the Pirate Stream, I see Dan's there.

By the way, Moose Grumpy says, it's great. I'm glad he was willing to be on camera. I did not promote it. So you'd have to sort of like go there and be surprised, I suppose. But here we are, lots of people checking out Fergie Oliver on the PirateStreamLive.TorontoMic.com.

So keep it up, Fergie. You might need to do a dance or something. Tommy Hutton, any stories about Tommy Hutton? You know what? He was a true professional. I think Tommy's still working in Florida with the Marlins. Is he? I don't know. I'd have to with the Marlins. So is he? I don't know.

I'd have to give him that one. He has a great family. I think somebody actually did tell me they heard his voice the other day. Yeah, he's still working. No, no. He's one of the few guys that sent us a Christmas card. Did that. He was the only one, really, when you think about it.

That's a classy move. It was. Oh, that's nice. No, it was terrific all right now this is uh again shout out to ridley funeral home uh here's a gentleman i used to listen to growing up watch growing up and sadly we lost him too soon but do you have any stories this is also from eric do you have any stories involving don chevrier oh chef Oh, so many. And take your time here. Do you know that Chevy's girlfriend at the time caught the bouquet at my wedding? Wow!

And he was really panicked. He was upset because he'd have to pop the question. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He might have taken it out and tried to sell it. That is true. There's a story. He didn't pick up the bill very often. Is that what you're trying to say?

He had deep pockets. He couldn't reach. Short arms, deep pockets. Chevy was as tight as could be. He would never reach in his pocket. He'd make some excuse. When the bill came, forget it. He's gone.

All those days at Giorgio's? Yeah. All those meals there? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Chevy used to, I always invite him to our opening day party, okay, in the first few years. And one time, the first time I didn't invite him.

Yeah. one time, the first time I didn't invite him. Yeah. He said, how come I didn't get an invite? Because we serve lobster at our place, those open day parties. He's a flight in from Boston. It was beautiful.

Wow. I said, you know what, Chevy? You've never invited me to your house after all these years. So I ended that with him. Right, right. And besides, my wife susie bet a hundred dollars that oj went simpson was going to win his case and chevy took the bet and wouldn't pay oh that's the worst come on uh oh man you gotta you can't yeah you went to make a bet. You got to pay up on that bet. Peter Gross taught me that.

Any Peter Gross stories? I don't know. I only met. He phoned me yesterday. That's why I'm thinking Peter. Yeah. I met lots of times. That's the only place I'd meet him would be at the racetrack.

Yeah. He loved it. That's where he is right now, I think. Yeah. He just went with Jim McKinney. So I mentioned Jim McKinney earlier. Peter Gross just did an 11-day trip to Saratoga with Jim McKinney. And they do whatever. It's like an annual event, these two guys.

Yeah, wild. Okay. How nervous. This is from Andrew. How nervous was Buck Martinez for his first game as an analyst for TSN in 1987? How nervous was he? I can't imagine that he was. I've never seen him as a nervous guy.

Like I am today. Nervous as shit. You took 15 years off. You got to ease back into it here. Oh, I do have clips. Okay, so again, shout out to Retro Ontario. So we played a bunch of ads earlier. I'm just going through my inventory here.

I have to, let me, this is a bit quiet in the mix, but I'm going to boost it in post, but hopefully you can hear this. We're back at Boston's Fenway Park, and with us, Willie Upshaw, the Labatt player of the game. Willie, a home run, a single, three RBIs. You know something?

I look at your stats in spring training. I saw you down there. I didn't think you had a particularly good spring training, but here today you look like you're in mid-season form swinging that bat. Well, that's right, Fergie. I didn't have a real good spring training. Basically, I didn't play too much. You know, I was just trying to get my game together.

I was swinging at different pitches. But about the last three days of spring training, I really got my game together. And today, you know, it just, it all came to me. You didn't have any pressure on you in spring training like you have had in the past. You know, when you had Mayberry pressing you for the job at first base, or actually you were pressing him. Yeah, that's right. I was real relaxed this spring for a change. And you know, I knew that I was going to get to play this year, and it made a difference. When the season starts, I knew I'd be ready,

and I'm just happy it turned out good today. Bobby Cox said in spring training defensively that you're as good as any first baseman in baseball, if not the best. Does that put a little pressure on you, Willie, when he makes a statement like that? Oh, well, not at all. As long as I have DeMasa over there helping me out, there are not too many balls going to go through that end field. I got good speed, so I got a chance to play deep and cut off a lot of balls that would be base hits otherwise.

Tell me about your weight program. I know a lot of the guys went on a weight program in the offseason. What about you, Willie? Well, for me, I tried to put on weight. They wanted me to come in a little heavier, about 190, but it just didn't work out. I played a lot of racquetball, but I went to spring training, and I took a lot of vitamins, and they really helped, and it helped me keep my weight up to about 185 where I'm at now.

That's what I like to play at. You know, spending about three weeks in spring training myself, I have never seen it on a Blue Jay club. The spirit, the optimism that's here right to the man. You can sense it in the dressing room. You can sense it really at spring training, and it really has carried over. Oh, yes. You know, last year we came off a good, fine season,

especially the latter part of the season, and it just carried over. You know, we're all young, and we had a year together, and this year we just feel like, you know, we can do anything, you know. Once we get a couple of games and win a couple of games, you know, no telling how far we'll go. Willie, thank you very much. Congratulations for being here. God damn it, I do good interviews, don't I? That was a good interview.

I was going to say, actually, that was an excellent interview, and Willie was a great sporting partner there. What a gentleman. Willie, just a first class guy. His family. Who did you love to interview? Who were you looking forward to i mean i know you and george bell had a had a great relationship but i like to interview everybody yeah really uh we had i had a great relationship with george george just

no bullshit with george right ask the question he it. And he'll let you know if he wants you to kiss his purple ass. Yeah, I want to say that was. But no, George was certainly one of my favorite players. And he'd always do interviews. It wasn't the money. You know, I became

good friends with George. I used to go to his golf tournaments down in Santa Domingo. I don't know where it was. Wherever it was. Yeah, Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic. Very good. Yeah, I watched two of them with Paul Beeston, Herbie Soloway.

I want to ask you about Paul Beeston, but I got to play this five-second clip of George Bell. It's very important for you. Yeah. Hi, I'm George Bell. You listen to Toronto Mike. Way to go, Georgie. Thanks to FOTM Mark Hebbshire for getting that audio

for me. He was at a golf tournament with George Bell. I was a big, big George Bell fan. You should have been. He deserved it. He was great. That was a time again, going way back uh i think my favorite blue jay seasons are like 85 you know the mid 80s late 80s and of course finally winning

the two world series you were there for all of it but that was a time when like 27 homers was a big deal like now i think we laugh like if a shortstop hits 27 homers we're like oh nice but back then 27 homers was a big deal big deal deal. Oh, yeah. It sure was. Wow. You know, he's talking about vitamins and all of that. That's the whole steroid controversy. It was awful. In the room, baseball was awful.

You had a lot of thoughts about that. And so many players were on it. And they had, why not? They weren't throwing them out until they finally got them. It wasn't even against the rules, right? No, it wasn't against the rules. So I don't throwing them out until they finally got them. It wasn't even against the rules, right? No, it wasn't against the rules, so I don't blame them. With all that money at stake,

it's tough to not do it. But now you've got players like, for example, Roger Clemens, say, for example, or Barry Bonds. You have players that are simply, I would say, blacklisted from the Hall of Fame because they took a performance. And they should be. I think they should be. And it's up to the voters.

I don't think they're going to change. I really don't. Well, we'll keep our eye on that. But you mentioned Paul Beeston. What was your relationship like with Paul Beeston? It was great. And the worst thing that ever happened to the Blue Jays when Eddie Rogers fired him,

he was the heart and soul of the organization. Guys really wanted to play for Paul Beeston. He had everybody in such a great mood. He was happy when he came in and happy when he went home, and it rubbed off on everybody. I've never met anybody like him in my lifetime and how about his departure when he talked about the box that's it i'm sorry thanks thanks carrie but eddie rogers uh the worst mistake he ever made i don't honestly i know they've got a good team, but it's management that does it, picking the right people.

Like he had Alex Anthopoulos as a general manager, okay? And once he fires Alex or Alex leaves because Paul was gone because Paul brought Alex. So Alex goes to the Dodgers for a year and then goes on to Atlanta and is, I have always thought from when he was here, he's the best general manager in baseball. And he's proving that today.

He loses Freddie Freeman, his first baseman, signs with the Dodgers. And by the way, the Dodgers lost to the Blue Jays last night. Right. And Alex doesn't miss Freddie Freeman. They both cried when Freddie left. But Freddie got more money. Alex couldn't match it.

But Alex and Atlanta are going to win again. And they're going to win this year. And Beeston is the guy that asshole, Eddie Rogers, for doing what he did. I love the rant here. Fergie, let it out, buddy.

Yeah, see, you've warmed up now. You know, I've thought about this. Go ahead. No. No, rant away because, you know, don't hold it in. It's good to let this all out. But you're right. And I will say, I think, I can't remember now if it was 2015 or 2016,

but they were both playoff years for the Jays and both exciting years for the Jays. And it was 2015 when Alex Anthopoulos like really went for it at the deadline.

And then we had that surge and then what a season that was, you know, 90 feet away from going to the World Series. But they brought in, they hired Mark Shapiro

out of Cleveland and Alex, no, it was handcuffed. He wasn't able to call his own shots. So basically, I would call that constructive dismissal of Alex M. Pumlis. It was. I'm just broken up by the Beeston situation.

It ruined baseball. They had a great system going, and the right people in place. And Eddie Rogers finally gets power to run the organization and then makes that move. I guarantee you it's going to be a long time before the blue Jays win. And it's because of Beeston. Okay. There's a prediction there. Because they are probably

a playoff team this year, but they probably, you're saying they lack the horses to win. It's all about pitching, but I don't know if the horses or chemistry is bigger than anything. I've found out over the years, it really is.

Look at the Leafs, how bad it is. They can't win. You know why they can't win? They don't have the proper management in place. And it's always like that in any sport. They hire in, bring people in, oh, they're going to do it, they're going to do it. They don't. Starts at the top.

Yeah, it does. Eric has a great question here about Sportsnet. So this is hypothetical, obviously, Fergie, but I'm very interested in your answer. If Sportsnet were to approach you to do a one-time only guest spot as the on-field reporter, okay, so Hazel May take

the day off, we're bringing in Fergie Oliver, similar to what you did at CTV there, would you do it, Fergie Oliver? I know I wouldn't. I've been away from the game so long, you know, and I don't know that much anymore. Well, you know, they just fake it until Fergie Oliver. No, I wouldn't. I've been away from the game so long, and I don't know that much anymore. Well, you know, they just fake it until they make it. Yeah.

Well, there's one other question. How much are you going to get paid? Hazel's amazing. Where's the cake for Fergie? He wants the cake here. By the way, give you a chance to give one more of those how about those Blue Jays, and I think a lot of people would love that.

Yeah. I can remember the day I got fired from TSN. Paul was with me and had to break the news. What year was this? I'll have to think about that one. Mid-90s, maybe? Give me a minute. I'll get it.

So they tell us the story and everything else, and that's it. Now I get a check, and it's a big one. Stick it in the old pocket. And driving down the Don Valley Parkway with tears in my eyes, and that was it. End of an era. Yeah. Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that. Valley Parkway with tears in my eyes. And that was it. You know, so. End of an era. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that. But any reason? Is it just, was there any reason? No, they went with Dan Shulman. He's the best. He really is. Yeah, no shame, I guess, if you're being replaced by Dan Shulman. He's, you know, Dan deserved to be there, and he's still there,

and should be there forever. You should hear how good his son is. Oh, it's Ben Shulman? Yeah. Yeah, cut from the same cloth. So you and Dan Shulman in the same exclusive club, you're both FOTMs, as is Hazel May, by the way. But okay, got to burn

through the jay's questions because we're you know get get comfy there and i have some gifts for you i'm going to give it a moment but craig m says uh first of all this is craig m talking i didn't know fergie was a ball player what was it like we already talked about tony kubek but uh he wants he says he considers tony kubek very knowledgeable very credible, and he wants to know if he was easy to work with and open to sharing his experiences playing ball. So we've kind of covered a lot of this ground. I'm out of order here. Here's what Tony did.

No matter where you went, I was with Tony. He introduced me to every player in baseball. We feel so comfortable being there. baseball we go it feels so comfortable being there um and he has like don mattingly was pissed off at george steinbrenner so he did an interview with me because of tony nice okay and they had it in the new york times the next day where don mattingly is criticizing george steinbrenner criticizing George Steinbrenner. Who's the, Wade Boggs? Wade Boggs. Wade Boggs.

Wade Boggs, yeah. Same thing. Remember that incident where he stumbled or whatever it was with his boots, putting them on in the morning? There was some damn excuse for what it was. And he was late or I don't know what happened, but something serious happened.

But he came and did an interview with you because of Tony Kubik. Tony was the guy with all the connections with everybody, and what a great ride with him, you know, to be introduced around the world, all these players. Love it. Istan Leafs, Istan Bull Leafs is his handle on Twitter. He says, Fergie Oliver from How About Them Blue Jays

he's an 80s icon 90s icon as well Fergie but he wants you to know you're an icon well I know there was an iconic moment when you got that interview with Nolan Ryan at the 7th no hitter

oh that went against the Blue Jays. Yeah, that was a very big deal. This is my best story, I think. Okay, I'm going to sit back. All right. Nolan pitches his seventh no-hitter. And we're the only television station doing the game.

For some unknown reason, we knew the reason, but I forgot about it. Texas didn't do that game. Okay. Now he's pitching his no hitter and the game is on every stadium in every ballpark that they're playing a game that night okay that's the kind of coverage you got yeah so anyway after the game i get to interview you know in the dugout and And I said, Nolan, I need a favor. I need you to sign two autographed baseballs for me.

Sign a date. And this is the seventh no-hitter. Yeah. And that's what he did. Wow. So I picked him up. After the game, I took him home. My wife Susie, one of the first deals was

she always wanted an autographed Nolan Ryan baseball. I mean, she didn't realize it was going to be the seventh no-hitter. Now here's the end of the story. Brought these two baseballs home, and I went and auctioned them off. I went to a Loblaws auction at the Sky Dome and Dick Curry bought the ball. It was $25,000 I think he paid for the auction.

And then I went to a trucker's convention out in Brampton. And I mean, I don't know one person there. I don't even know why I was there. Somebody organized it. And I sold the other baseball, Nolan Ryan's. And I got $2,500 for it. Oh, $2,500.

Okay. All right. Okay. All right. So, there isn't a day that goes by in our marriage that I don't hear about the Nolan Ryan baseball. You got 10% on that one. Yeah. Oh, wow.

No, that's, guy that bought it out in Brampton, the truck diver, for Christ's sake, call me in all office. What's the word? Speaking about pictures, listen, you know, tom hanky i know you and tom terminator very close and he was he was a very big deal for you and you spent a lot of time with him fishing many but i love the story about you and about tom and duane ward. What a time. So, of course, Hanky, you know all about Tom Hanky and Dwayne Ward.

And Wardo goes to see him and he says, I want to have a meeting with you, Tom and I. Wardo organized it, okay. Tom Hanky doesn't say a goddamn word. He's going to the meeting.

Right. So door closes, the two sit down, and Wardow said, I think I'm good enough to be the closer. And Cito said, you're going to be the setup man, and Hickey, you're the closer. Now get your asses out of here.

That's the end of it. Three-second meeting. Wow. And Wardo always thought he was better, but he never was. Hanky was the best. But it was a great combination, the two. Well, in 92, okay, in 93,

Wardo does become the closer because Terminator goes to Texas, if I remember correctly. But that 92, the first World Series, and I'd love to hear your memories of 92, 93 once I get through these questions. But 92, that is the magic time where if the Jays had a lead heading into the eighth, you knew Dwayne Ward was getting the ball for the eighth. You knew Tom Henke was getting the ball for the ninth. And you knew that W was on the board. What a time. Yeah, it was. Now when G jordan romano's up there i'm uh biting my nails i'm like i don't know what's gonna happen but and he's pretty damn good too okay i'm gonna

burn through these questions because i promise these people and then i want to wrap up the baseball and then we got to talk just like mom after i give you some gifts because you gave so many gifts and just like mom diamond dog wants to know and it's similar to what carrie was asking you earlier but the the flip i guess who was the toughest blue jay player to interview oh to interview i thought you were going to say who's the toughest player i was going to say well who's the toughest player now george bell okay tough as nails no it was never uh listen when your hand as you'd say when you're handing out the cake, they all line up. I can remember one time in Detroit.

I walk into the ballpark. We're going to televise that night and set up for an interview. Everybody's yelling, Furry, take me! And Sparky's at second base, Furry, here I am! Come on! I don't know. That $50, what a difference it made. Made my life a lot easier, believe me.

And it was fun. But who was the toughest interview? Like, who did you find? Oh, the toughest? Yeah. Bo Jackson. Oh, wow. Well, it wasn't a tough interview.

What I did with Bo was, Bo, we're going to do the interview. If you don't like it, we'll do it again. Because he had this stutter problem. That's why. And he was self-conscious. Oh, he was terrific. Okay, because Bo knows this and Bo knows that,

but Bo don't know Jack. He was still, I think, the greatest athlete that I've ever seen. The speed, you know, he hit a routine ground ball and he was there. I think the greatest athlete that I've ever seen. The speed, he hit a routine ground ball and he was there. I want to swing my hands, but he was

just a stick of dynamite. He really was powerful. You knew what he was like as a football player. That was a wild time when Bo was playing with the Raiders, I guess, and then the Kansas City Royals. What was Ali like? Muhammad Ali.

Yeah, Muhammad Ali. Wow. I went down to Louisville to interview him one time. I went to his fight out in Vancouver against Shavalo. Shavalo actually had Ali in trouble at one time. And Ali, if he's alive, he'd tell you that he was the toughest fighter he ever fought. Couldn't knock him down. Yeah, couldn't knock him down.

But no more, well, there was one or two. Knock Ali down. But it was the toughest. Yeah, I had George's son on, Mitch Chiavallo, and we dove deep into this. And yeah, the toughest fighter that Muhammad Ali ever fought

was George Chiavallo. And a great guy too, George. Still with us. Everybody knows George. God damn it. What a tough life George had, man. Just think of that tragedy he faced. Wow, okay.

Rick A. writes in, when Bishop Desmond Tutu visited Toronto back in the 80s, did you, Fergie, really ask him, how about those blue jays? Did you? No. I might have. I don't know.

That's inconclusive. Yeah, I said I don't even remember. I remember doing the interview, but, you know. Because Rick remembers you doing that. I don't have any footage of it doing the interview, but, you know. Because Rick remembers you doing that. I don't have any footage of it. If somebody remembers it, I did it. You might have done it. Because I can't.

I believe that you did it. Yeah, okay. How awesome was it for you to call the winning out when the Jays clinched in 85? Oh, it was fantastic. And I kept hearing it over and over years later you know what's the memory and that's the george bell on his knees basically and then tony fan is going out giving him a high i remember it so vividly because we almost clinched i think it was the night before and then i think tom that was

a night where tom hanky might have allowed a uh a home run in the ninth i think and we ended up losing in extras or something but and i do remember being glad i could see the game on tv because again that was an era when there were many a jay's game was radio only like it's almost difficult to believe in 2023 but i have to tell my kids yeah this was the thing i don't know about that line because i everything was on tv okay i feel like okay maybe i just didn't pay for these uh maybe i because i didn't pay my own bill. That might be it, Fergie. I needed it on CFTO or something.

Basic cable there. Okay. We're going to get to Just Like Mom. Kim McDonald, friend of Kerry Oliver and FOTM. Is there any, she would like to know if there's any road trip glory days stories that you can share before we put a bow on the boobie. Well, you would travel with the team.

We started out traveling with the team, and then we had an incident on the plane, one of our reporters, and she was a newspaper. She had a problem with the old drinking, and I think it was Bobby Cox who said, that's it, you never travel with us again. Or it might have been Paul Beeson, I don't know. But there was a problem, and the players didn't need that.

So that's when it ended. I remember you talking a little bit about Ernie Witt. He was fun to travel with. Ernie's always fun. Yeah, no, he's, God, Ernie stories. We could spend all day talking Ernie stories. My brother's favorite player, by the way. And when they, you know, at Exhibition Stadium on the screen,

they would do, we want a hit. Like, this was a chant they put on people's heads. And my brother thought they were saying, we want wit. And I remember saying to my brother, you can't just, he's in an order. Like, it's not like he can just, oh, throw up Ernie wit. He's in the batting order, batting eighth or something. We did some videos. And one of them was on Ernie,

and it's really a good one. Can you play it? I have something here. Now, okay, so Retro Ontario wanted me to ask you what the heck this was, and this might tie into, because I feel like Paul Burford might have told me about this, and we're going to get to Paul when we get to the Just Like Mom, but let me play this and just find out what it is. I can't play it all because it's like 15 minutes here, but I'm going to start

it here. Let's hear this. Tell me. Well, Fergie, as you know, pitching is the heart of any ball club, and we're lucky to have four of the best starters in the Major League. Steve, Clancy, Leal, and Morgan. But you know what? What I'm looking for right now is a southpaw for the bullpen. Hey, Skip, some lefty just showed up in camp. He's a big

guy. You've got gotta give him a walk. And Skip, you mind if we get a look at something else besides all this field? Bobby, why don't you let them go to the new Epcot Center at Walt Disney World Resorts? Ah, Fergie, you're a prince. He's a prince and I'm a frog. Ah, come on, Bob. Is that a nice thing to say? And who will we ask for, Froggy? Well, Dave, you can ask for Catherine Swing.

She's the hostess of Just Like Mom, that Canadian game show for kids. You know, our big prize in that show is a trip for two to Disney World. And Catherine is there. She knows all about the new Epcot Center at Disney World. Have fun, eh, guys? All right, guys, hit the trail. Okay, thanks, Steve. See you in a couple days.

Now where's that new Southpaw? All right, I'll bring this down. This might be a nice segue to Just Like Mom here, but first we've got to take a little break here. But I think that was like Dave Steeb and Ernie Witt. It sure was. Wow. So is that tied in with Just Like Mom? Is that what we're hearing there? Because Retro and Cherry almost didn't know what the heck that was. Wow. So is that tied in with Just Like Mom?

Is that what we're hearing there? Because Retro Ontario wants to know what the heck that was. No, it was tied in simply because we had some money and we could make some money and we all made money. Everybody got some cake. That's what you're telling me here. Yep. Yep, yep. All right, burning a clip I forgot to play earlier,

but just a little taste of what you sounded like on CFTO. We went through CFTO pretty quickly there. A lot of ground to cover. Highlighted today's racing. A driver's biggest fear has to be fire, and it caused Naz Peters and Jimmy Hilbert to go to the hospital. Let's watch that. All right.

Potato quality audio. I apologize for that. But this is you talking about a crash at the Dayton track, I guess. There was a car crash. But that was a little taste of you delivering some sports news on CFTO. Was there any pictures of that? Yeah, there's footage there. I'll send you the link here.

I'll definitely get that link to Carrie, and she can send it over here. But again, thank you, Ed Conroy, for everything. So let me give you a few gifts here before we get to Just Like Mom, because as you can imagine, I have a bunch of questions there uh and do we satisfy kim mcdonald i don't want kim mcdonald mad at me she's a valuable fotm where we she we satisfied her i just don't know i don't know what drunk reporter sounds pretty good drunk reporter okay well that sounds like a typical day for a reporter back in the 80s i think but okay so uh fergie i have a large lasagna for you in my freezer upstairs and it's courtesy of palma pasta oh isn't that nice you

can take that home with you suzy loves him okay suzy and suzy just so i track it all we talked about georgia because georgia is carrie's mom yeah hello georgia okay georgia and georgia and okay how long since you talked to Georgia? I can ask you. As a divorced man, I can ask you questions. A couple of years.

We get together every once in a while. Yeah, everyone's all friendly. Everyone's friendly. Carrie's house. I love it. Okay, and Susie, Susie is your current wife,

am I right? Yes. I'm just tracking it all. And then in the middle, there's Catherine Swing, who is your co-host on Just Like Mom. And many people erroneously, people who don't do the math,

think, hey, that's Carrie's mom, but they don't know what they're talking about. I'm here doing the math, and that's not true. Thank goodness you're here. I'm here to settle the score. So we'll get back to Catherine, though, when we talk about Just Like Mom. I got the lasagna free from Palma Pasta.

I mentioned the beer from Great Lakes Brewery. I actually have a flashlight over my right. I've got to grab it here before you go, but a flashlight courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home. They've been pillars of the community since 1921. Hopefully, Fergie, you don't show up at Ridley Funeral many times soon. Hopefully. Thank God.

Doesn't it feel like the Just Like Mom days? I don't have Robin Hood flower though I remember taking so many of those Florida trips there would be a few extra at the end of the year so we would be so lucky to get to go yeah some of the prizes that weren't won okay well wait hold all that Carrie I need all

the just like mom information in a moment here I want to shout out the moment lab I'm happy to introduce anyone listening to Matt and Jared at the moment lab They have a great team to help you if your PR needs. A lot of FOTMs you know and love work with the Moment Lab. Getting hip to the hip. I want to take a moment on this because this didn't exist as a sponsor when you were on, Carrie. So this is new information for you. There is an evening for the Downey Wenjack Fund on September 1st, downtown Toronto. They're going to do a live recording

of Getting Hip to the Hip, the hip being the tragically hip. And there is a cover band and there's giveaways. It's going to be a fantastic night. Go to gettinghiptothehip.com and use the promo code FOTM10. You save 10% and I'll see you there. That's September 1st

come on out to getting hip to the hip my event this is me now shameless plug for my own event is the last day of August August 31st

from 6 to 9pm you're all invited you FOTMs Great Lakes will buy you your first beer Palma Pasta will feed you that's a free event just come on out

and hang with some you know lovely FOTMs well that was Matt's birthday you see so you can come and celebrate Paul Mapas is on me Great Lakes is on me bring your fiance I know she wants an IPA from Great Lakes

and we'll do it up right that's what we're going to do and last but not least recycle my electronics.ca is where you go if you have some old electronics some old tech some old devices you need to throw out. Don't put it in the garbage. Those chemicals end up in the landfill,

and that's a bad thing for everybody. Go to recyclemyelectronics.ca and find out where you can safely drop off your electronics to be recycled properly. Did you, Fergie Oliver, ever meet any members of the Tragically Hip? I never did. I'm not into music period. No music.

Not even Tony Bennett. I met Tony Bennett though. Okay. Well, we just lost Tony. Was that a good experience? I heard he's a sweetheart. Well, it was in Las Vegas and it's quite a few years ago. Okay. Lots of Elvis concerts.

Elvis, I loved Elvis. Elvis was a hero to most. Okay. Well. Lots of Elvis concerts. Elvis. I loved Elvis. Elvis was a hero to most. Oh, yes. I had on this program a few years ago, Paul Burford. He's been on a couple of times, but he was on his first time

with Paul Burford. Shout out to his driver, Tim Herron. Paul came on and talked about the Just Like Mom origin story. And that's when i learned because i did not realize you are not the original host of just like mom you came in for season two is

that right for you yeah we hired uh steven whatever steven young steven young okay what happened with steven young we had ted delaney said you, this is a guy I would recommend, but you didn't have to take him. So we took him. That was my mistake. It had really not anything to do with Paul because Paul wanted Jim Carrey, and I don't even know if he remembers that. I can remember Paul bringing a picture to me,

and it was a picture of Jim Carrey, and I said, well, said we just we can't okay I'd like to hear Paul's uh answer that damn it well he's gonna hear this let me tell you something about Paul Burford yeah best guy he's he saved the show he did everything possible worked uh many many hours organized the organization was great i mean more than great it was fabulous did jim carrey ever audition for you no he was just the picture but i when i listened to you and he paul talked about it and i saw he might have forgotten about it but i remember one of the things I do remember. Jim Carrey, who had been a very young Jim Carrey. Wow.

I'd call Paul and ask him. I will. By the way, say hello to God. He sounded great. Paul's going to be at TMLX 13 on August 31st. If you come, Fergie, there'll be a reunion. He'll wear his Just Like Mom sweater. He's got this great sweater.

Oh, he's got one of those? Yeah, he's got a great custom-made Just Like Mom sweater. He's got all the swag. Oh, he's got one of those? Yeah, he's got a great custom-made Just Like Mom sweater. He's got all the swag. Oh, he does? Yeah. Great. Wow. Okay, so shout out to Paul Burford.

So, Paul, am I right? For season one, when Stephen Young is the host of Just Like Mom, are you the announcer? Yeah, I was the announcer. But he was doing drugs, kids. When I fired him, I can remember, they left the mics on upstairs. They left his mic on. They left my mic on because I went into his clubhouse

and I kicked his ass out of there. I said, you can't do this in front of kids. And that's exactly what happened. And it was real quick. Well, this is some real talk, Fergie. I had no idea. Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay.

And you fired Stephen. I had no idea. Yeah. Okay. And you fired Steven. I absolutely did on the spot. What kind of drugs are we talking about here? I have no idea what he was taking. I wouldn't even know. I've never taken a drug in my life. I love to drink but it's no druggies. Not even cannabis

now that it's legal for you. Well I might get into that now. I know somebody that has some. Maybe a little gummy. Want to do a little gummy? There you go. Live on Toronto My Dad. I used to have a cannabis sponsor.

We'll bring him back for you. So Paul Burford was not doing any drugs. I just want to make sure that was Stephen Young doing the drugs and he had to be fired. And then you got the gig with your wife at the time. So this is wife two of three. Am I tracking this right, Virgie? Yeah, this was number two. Okay. So this is wife two of three. Am I tracking this right, Fergie? Yeah, this was number two.

Okay. And this was a former Miss Canada. Mm-hmm. Okay. And again, we won't dwell too long because X's are X's for a reason. So I can read between the lines. But I have questions about Just Like Mom and I need details. So we talked about Paul Burford.

Do you remember Kate Wheeler on kate wheeler oh i sure do well she was with the show from day one and she was kind of you respected everything she said that's all she said let's do this and she did everything right she worked at the kitchen i feel like she did it all okay so she there's an episode of toronto mic'd with kate wheeler as it's christine bentley and kate wheeler but we definitely have a chat about you and the program. How's Christine Bentley doing? Well, you know, she got the tap on the shoulder. No kidding, I remember.

We use this expression on Toronto Mic'd because of Christine Bentley, because it was spun for the public that Christine Bentley was retiring. They literally had, I think, cake on the air and they said, good luck in your retirement, Christine. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to idiots like me, Christine Bentley wanted to keep working on CTV, CFTO, I guess.

And she got the tap on the shoulder that time was up. Her time was up. And that's when I started to, that's when I realized, oh, I need to get the real stories on Toronto Mike because we're fed bullshit by the PR machines. I'll guarantee you Ken Shaw never wanted to quit. I wouldn't take that back.

But, hey, you take the package or else, that's all. It's big business you're dealing with. But sometimes here, because Kate Wheeler wasn't given the option, because Christine was given the option. There's two ways to do this, they said to her. You can be walked out with a box, which is

what happened with Kate Wheeler at CFTR, walk her out with a box. Or we can spin this as you're retiring and you can save face or whatever. And she chose that latter. But the problem with, and she expressed this very clearly, the problem when you spin it as you're retiring is that nobody offers you

a job because they think you're retired. Right? And they need to keep working. Christine needs to keep working. So it's a blood sport, right, Carrie? If anyone taps you on the shoulder, you come in here right away. Yeah, I better keep looking over my shoulder. Yeah, yeah.

No taps for Carrie. No, you don't. This gal is the best. I was going to ask you, how do you feel? She followed in your footsteps and became a media maven I'm just so proud of her

it's that simple she's just perfect she really is well I wish I had that clip thanks dad did you listen did you listen to Carrie's appearance

on Toronto Mic when I played the clip of who was it but somebody brought up Kelly Gruber 19 year old Carrie Oliver you know what crush I had on him.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Todd Stottlemyre, too. I mean, how could you not have a crush on Todd Stottlemyre? Yeah, it's difficult. And I know how that broke you up when he left, right? Yeah. Went over to Arizona and all that.

He called me and he was crying on the phone. He wanted to come back so bad. But he ended up with a six-year contract, 30 grand, or 30 million. 30 grand was the money they were paying in the 70s. We forgot to talk about the legendary parties we had.

Well, do that now, okay, because we can put a pin in Just Like Mom. We're going to close with Just Like Mom. But tell me about these legendary parties. I don't want to leave any story on the cutting room floor here. You would have an opening day party every year. All the lobster would be flown in from Boston. They were massive. And everyone in town came.

These parties were just star-studded and filled. It started out with the coaching staff. Okay, the first year. Well, guys, come on over. I called Susie, I don't know, around 6 o'clock. I said, I'm going to bring the coaching staff over. And that's how it all started. When we finished was, we didn't miss a year,

all the way right up till 93 or 94. But it turned out the most people we ever had in our house was about 170. We had a 3600 square feet condo down on Queens Quay. Well you could see the dome. You would walk to work. Oh yeah. So to have 150, 170 people in there, it was so comfortable. Okay?

One year we had a turnstile brought over from the pool. Put it on the front. Put it on our front door. Yeah. But Susan would organize all these parties. Started out, she did foods of the world. Then she did Mexican food. Nobody makes Mexican food better than her.

Period. She came from California where across the street from her was this old Mexican gal who taught her everything. Right. You know, so. But all the players, you know,

you'd have all of that. I mean, everybody showed up. They were so fun. Anybody who was, they all did. Everybody. Everybody looked forward to it.

That's why Chevy was so upset that he didn't get the invite. Now, I just popped in because I had, you know, engrossed in this conversation, and then I popped over to the live stream, and there's so much activity on this live stream. People are so happy to see you, Fergie. See, I told you. You know what?

It took a lot of convincing to get him here. He did not want to come, Mike. And it was all because of you. You know what? It took a lot of convincing to get him here. He did not want to come, Mike. And it was all because of you. And I told him that this was going to be a really cool... This could be my last interview, okay? Well, then we can't leave any stone unturned here. Hey, hey, hey. Let's not talk so prematurely.

Well, he's not coming back to kick out the jams because he's not a big enough music fan. But here, I've got to burn through these things and then I want to hear back. So Moose Grumpy, we did figure this out eventually, but Tommy Hutton is still with the Marlins, so he's still working there. Canada Kev just wanted to say

take down that Ted Rogers statue at the Dome. I think a lot of people think, like, maybe put up a statue of Joe Carter or something. Why is Ted Rogers mad? You're goddamn right. Let's do it together, Fergie. Can we just say where I work? Oh yeah, we have to be careful. Let's just be clear here that I love my job. You're goddamn right. Let's get together, Fergie. Can we just say where I work? Oh yeah, we have to be careful. Let's just be clear here that I love

my job. You know what? We'll trash Rogers when I'm not here. On your next appearance, you can do that. That's right. On your next appearance. You're right, Carrie. I need to be sensitive. Now, Al Grego, who hosts this fine podcast with

Mineris, for three months, I gave every guest a wireless speaker. And then it's like three months on, three months off. So we're in the off. But he just chimed in a live stream and says, give Fergie a Mineris speaker. He says, it's no bag of Robin Hood flour. But he said, how's it do? And now maybe this ends up with Matt,

because I can just see the future where Fergie's like, how do I connect this Bluetooth speaker okay so hold on all right geez this is the big time dad you're getting a speaker you can give this to anyone you want matt carrie you can keep it yourself but this is a monera speaker because al grego said so i do whatever he says and that is a quality speaker thank you there you go thank you for you and uh i did promise you earlier the flashlight from Ridley Funeral Home. So here it is. Look, Fergie. So just to burn through these live streams, Dave is on the live stream. He says,

was Fergie in the booth when Tony Kubik said a fly ball was just caught by someone from Scarborough? And then he was asked, how do you know that fan was from Scarborough? And Kubik said he was just joking. So I don't know if you have any memories of that. It's just a saying. Who gives a shit where he's from?

Moose Crumpy says, wow, look at everyone here for Fergie. This room is only this popular for Toast episodes. I have a story from a member of the Toast team in a moment. So shout out to Toast. There's one coming up. He says, the love for Fergie. She says, the love for Fergie.

And the brother point wants me to talk about just like dad but that's going to tie into bob willett's story so let me get back to my notes i just wanted to check in on the live stream so kate wheeler there's a great episode of trying to make of kate wheeler talking about you fergie you've already heard the paul burford episode of talking about you fergie jeremy is there any uh here i'll read this. Rick A says, did any mother ever throw up during the taste test? At some point during the series, the questions changed from multiple choice to open-ended

and was this done due to suspected cheating or was it to get more spontaneous answers? Any recollection? Because they cheated. I know they cheated. They definitely cheated. I'll be the one putting all the ketchup in so make sure you eat that one. So you were working on the show too, right, Carrie?

Well, I was in and out there. Helping out with Kate Wheeler and the gang. Here's what everybody forgets about, just like mom. Those were good prizes. Like a trip. Who the hell was giving a trip for four? A trip to Disney World. To Disney World.

It was definition. Yeah. Really. Yeah. That was out there at that point. It was good prizes, right? But you guys did the first real product placements.

You were king. And I know that that was what Paul was into, but you were a salesman through and through. That's the one thing I could do. Well, we heard those voiceovers for Robin Hood. I actually am going to go buy some Robin Hood flower later today, thanks to your voiceover commercials Robin Hood. I actually am going to go buy some Robin Hood flour later today,

thanks to your voiceover commercials there. Well, good. But you would go out, like you did that big Dominion, the dollar tickets. Yes. What was that called? For the general admission. For the general admission.

Because that's how a lot of people got to see the ball games, and they don't get to do that now. And I think that's such a tragedy. I've got to be honest with you, Carrie. I didn't do that. I had the connection with Dominion at the time. Right. I had the connection.

But they did it. I can't take credit for that. Honestly, I can't. Oh, I thought you would. No, you were. I know you were. We're giving you credit regardless. You can't say no to that. Okay, so I'm going to play just a bit here.

How about Where's the Beef? Oh, that's one I forgot about. I still have that poster. I still have the poster. Dominion stores. Yeah? Mainly because of the meat. Yeah.

Because Where's the Beef is Wendy's. No, but he did. We did a Where's the Beef. Okay. And he was holding a prime rib and these were posters that went all through the Dominion stores. All right, because I remember

it's mainly because of the meat. That was the big Dominion thing. All right, let's listen to's mainly because of the meat. That was the big Dominion thing. All right, let's listen to a bit of this to take us back. Raise your glasses for Cheers, Wednesday night at 9 on CFTO-TV. Look out, Mom. Here we come. The surprise is yours on Just Like Mom. I'm just Mommy and Daddy. Oh, that was Allison.

Thank you, Allison. Hi, everybody. Welcome again to Just Like Mom. Catherine, we've got a couple of young rascals back here today. And one sweet little girl to keep those rascals in line. Let's meet all three of our stars. Here's Bobby, Melissa, and Jeff. Boy, look at this, Bobby. You really look like a little tough customer.

Do you get into many fights? Oh, yeah, all the time. All the time? Yep. Do you win them? Not always. No, all the time. All the time? Yep. Do you win them? Not always. No, no. You ever been beaten up?

Dad. No. That's good. In other words, has anybody ever punched you? Yeah. Yeah. Does it hurt? Jesus.

There's some real talk from Frigga. We're going to get that. Okay, so just a little taste of that. Doing a hardcore interview there. I mean, my God. They were messing around on Just Like Mom. I watched an awful lot of Just Like Mom as a youngster. Yeah, I mean, it was what we watched.

It was great. Did you ever want to be a contestant? You know, I don't know if I ever thought about that. I think I always thought if I was a contestant, I would be the kid who put all the ketchup in the food or whatever. But meanwhile, I think it was Kate Wheeler who said, yeah, every kid had that plan. The food you're tasting with all the ketchup, that's mine, Mom.

But okay, I'm going to read a story now from Bob Ouellette. And this will segue over to another Just Like Mom related thing we need to discuss. But Bob Ouellette, I should tell should tell you bob willett is a member of toast so once a month rob pruse and bob will let visit here and we kick out these thematic jams and toast is very popular uh shout out to coin vance but bob willett says in 1983 i was eight or so i was on a very special week of just like Mom with my dad. It was Dad Week. How often were the Just Like Dads recorded? Once in a while. Yeah, I don't know.

Honestly, I couldn't tell you that. All right, well, let's get through the Bob thing here. But we had Just Like Dad. It was usually a week's worth. Right, like you do five in a row, right? Is this how it works? No, we did seven shows a day. Seven shows a day.

Oh, yeah, you're burning through them. You know, Alex Trebek only had to do five a day. Did he do that many? Yeah, I think they recorded one day and he'd do five, I think, on that day. And that's why everyone had to have changes of clothes. If they won, they had to go change their clothes. They didn't look like the same day. Okay.

I had good luck. Okay. This is Bob Ouellette talking. Okay. It's a long story, but it's worth it. I had my good luck ET with me, which I said was E.T. Oliver. Catherine thought he was cute. Here's my memory.

While they are at commercial break, Fergie would let the kids read the question that was coming up. They were hand-typed on a recipe card. And my question was, what do you think dad will say on the night before Bobby gets married? I was in isolation when my dad answered.

Isolation for the kids, by the way, was the shipping receiving area of Channel 9. I like this pulling back the curtain, Bob. I love it. Anyway, I couldn't think of a thing. They blew the whistle, which meant I am out of time and I got to answer something now. of a thing they blew the whistle which meant i am out of time and i gotta answer something now and my mind went back to the weekend before when my family was at a church basement wine and cheese with some friends of my dad's at work friends who had older daughters and the mom said to me as i was being dragged onto the dance floor by their 12 year old daughter bobby always remember the man leads so i answered always lead the dances and fergie

lost his mind he laughed so hard and gave me the head rub like attaboy this ranks second on my most embarrassed uh i've ever felt list first was when gordon and bill wilichka at much music's interactive and intimate interactive we talked about Much Music's Interactive and Intimate Interactive, we talked about what happened with Gord Downie and Bob Ouellette on a previous episode with Bill Wilichka. Bill, and then Bob again, just closes by saying, and this is going to introduce a topic I want to talk about. For what it's worth,

Fergie Oliver was not a creep. Go watch Richard Dawson back then. And yes, he goes, I won. I was one click away from a trip to Disney World. go watch Richard Dawson back then. And yes, he goes, I won. I was one click away from a trip to Disney World. I ended up winning a black and white TV and a Mix Master. We baked chocolate cherry drops. There's your...

Dun-dun-dun. There is your Bob Woodland story. But now, Fergie, how are you feeling right now? We're almost done here. You're doing fantastic. How are you feeling?'re almost done here. You're doing fantastic. How are you feeling? I'm having fun. You're having fun.

Okay. Good. Good. Because he said, he pointed out that you're not a creep. And I know why Bob Willett is pointing out that you're not a creep. Even though we heard from Paul Burford and we heard from Kate Wheeler and we've heard from Kerry Oliver. But several years ago, somebody made a supercut video and put it on YouTube.

And this causes many people to think you're a creep. And I wanted to give you an opportunity to address this. Graham, for example, says, head to YouTube and look up clips from Just Like Mom and ask him what he was actually doing to some of those children. I think it was grotesque behavior that was Graham talking. So, Fergie, please address for us all the video that these people are referring to.

Well, they slow-mo'd it. They just kept slow-mo-ing it. And it was awful. Okay? I don't know if somebody will even do that. Other than that, hey. It's been hurtful.

It's been hurtful. I want to talk about it because it would be easy not to talk about it. But then I actually, I don't think I could have Fergie Alvaro on and not ask about the video. Since lots of questions came, even Jeremy Taggart from Our Lady Peace. Lots of people who see that video and they make judgments and assumptions. And this is an opportunity to hear from you because you said awful so these videos this isn't this is a unfair portrayal of your activities back then in these super cut videos that are slow slowed down and carry help them

out if you want because i know this is a tough one but uh we just need to hear from fergie remember our link letter yeah of course they course. That did the great kid show? Of course. Kids Say the Darnedest Things. Is that the one? That's it, yeah. Well, he's from Moose Jaw. I did not know that.

I'm from Moose Jaw. Right. Okay. So I'm going to just say we love Moose Jaw, and I would like to say the big word to these guys that use that, but is, or was Art, was he a pedophile? Not that I know of. No, I don't think so.

I'm not one either. Never have been and never would be. So people can think whatever they want, period. Yeah. I'm glad. i'm really glad that you said that because it's just so important for you to to address that this craziness and it's really it's just been such a an unfair attack and i'm just i'm happy that you're going on record just going listen you know like what are you going to do so my question is I've ignored it all these years yeah so I've but I don't think you should ignore it I think you need to to punch it in the face do you think

the existence of the video so again I mean you just said that these are this is untrue these allegations are untrue and you're you're you're not a pedophile I didn't think you were and uh as far as I know there's not a single contested in the history of just like mom who has come forward and said there was anything inappropriate so there there's zero you know allegations or uh exactly yeah and everyone i've talked to on the show i ask about you all time because i watch a lot of mom they all say that you you were a sweetheart and that that was an unfair video and none of that is true mike can you just um recant that that that story that you told just in terms of how that came down okay so this is my theory i thought this was a really

really good theory yes in fact uh because i'm a canadian i have to quickly google by the way there was a recent just like mom revival right right uh either could have been okay you didn't i didn't take part i wasn't invited but it was your show my old show all right so here was my pet theory that yes i got the name right here because this gentleman was not known in north america but he was very very famous in the uk and he was a children's entertainer very famous person his. His name was Jimmy Saville. My feeling from where I sit here, you know, is that there was a conflation going on. So Jimmy Saville, it was found after he passed that Jimmy Saville was a pedophile.

In fact, the sexual abuse allegations against Jimmy Saville are quite awful, just catastrophic. Just if you dive into it, there was a popular Netflix documentary that kind of made more Americans and Canadians aware of this. But absolutely, Jimmy Seville, very bad man. Okay, you can find the details on your own. But he was a children's show guy in the UK, and I felt that the timing of the video that was released on YouTube,

that supercut that made you look creepy basically it makes you look creepy that conflation I believe is that there was sort of you got caught up in that Jimmy Savile storm as we it came to light what exactly Jimmy Savile was doing and the BBC was kind of burying this

and kind of protecting Jimmy Savile because he was extremely popular and again the most horrific things he was accused of and guilty of protecting Jimmy Seville because he was extremely popular. And again, the most horrific things he was accused of and guilty of. So I feel that you, Fergie Oliver, were caught up in that wave. Because it was around the same time. Yeah.

So I don't know. It emerged in like 2012. It emerged about Jimmy Seville. I believe it was like 2012 when it came to light. And I believe the timing is such that you got caught up in the Jimmy Savile wave. This was like 30 years ago.

What years did we do just like that? Mainly 80s, I guess. Yeah. It was... You're Richard Dodson. Anyway, I'm so happy that you just mentioned it. And again,

we had to discuss it and i know how uncomfortable it is but every time it did come up on a show with kate wheeler or paul burford i shared my feelings on it which is i believe you got royally fucked by that super cut and i i think it unfairly uh tainted your legacy and i wonder now if the 15 years of silence and for reggae oliver has anything to do with the existence of that you know i wanted to say fuck too you can swear you can swear on your mic yeah say whatever you want yeah if that video had never been uh published would you have waited 15 years to chat about your legacy um there's a fucking cocksucker out there that did it. I have no idea who it is. And that's been my forever.

Goodbye. Drop that mic. Okay. What have you been up to since you left broadcasting in whatever that was, mid-90s? Can I get you a Great Lakes IPA? Almost done here, by the way. Maybe a Palma Pasta.

Like, what have you been up to? And Craig wants to know what you've been doing post-broadcast career. Just give us an idea of what you've been up to. Oh, let me think about that. Nothing. Here's one of my problems. My wife Susie had a serious accident. Oh, no.

She fell. Two broken shoulders. Her kneecap. Her wrist turned sideways, shattered elbow. So you've been busy rehabbing. I've been really busy. You've been, yeah, okay, you've been... I'm with her all the time,

24 hours a day. Except for you, Mike. Except for you. I pride you away. So thank you, Carrie, and thank you, Matt, too. It was nice to meet you, Matt, again. Don't leave a vote on my PA for your fiance. And congrats on the engagement. I pride you away. So thank you, Carrie, and thank you, Matt, too. It was nice to meet you, Matt, again. Don't leave without some IPA for your fiance.

And congrats on the engagement. That's exciting news. Big thumbs up for Matt over here. Susie wanted to come, but she couldn't get down those stairs. I would have put this somewhere. I could have relocated, I think, for Susie. You wouldn't need a longer podcast if Susie came. Is that right?

Yeah. Diane Leifer says, what's next for you fergie like uh because diane wants to know why you made yourself available but we know it was all carrie that uh twisted your arm it's all about carrie yeah i really listen i know there's a lot of fans out there and it and it's it's all of our piece of our past and you know the good old days and i meet so many people who ask me about you, you know, have a story, you know, whether it's how about those Blue Jays or it's they grew up and they were on Just Like Mom

or they remember it. So thanks for doing it for me. I'm sorry for using that word, but that's how mad I am. Well, that's how mad you are. Again, this is an anonymous person who cut up, cut out of context too, because I was told by somebody on the inside of the show that there was a category called hugs and kisses or something.

And this was sort of like the gimmick tied to that. And again, the 80s was a different time. I mean, you look at it with 20, 23 eyes, you're like, oh, that wouldn't fly today. But I think if you put that super cut together like that with the slowing down and whatever the music behind it, I believe it unfairly would tarnish your legacy. And I wanted to get you on to talk about it.

So I appreciate you doing this, Fergie. It would have been easy for you to just ignore it and never come on any podcast ever, but you chose to come on. And I just want you to know I appreciate that. Thanks, thanks. And before I play, I'm going to play us out, except I'm worried that you're going to be driving home

with Carrie and Matt and you're going to be like, I forgot to tell this story. Is there anything that you wanted to say on this episode before I play us out? Any story, anything you wanted to share? Anything you wanted to say about Cito? This is anything at all. Cito Gaston.

Well, I told you the Cito story, but he was the best manager ever. And that's another story. You know, they let him go. My favorite. But they did bring him back. I'm sorry. Yeah. Well, my favorite

guy, player, was Tom Henke. When we got Tom Henke, he set the stage. We needed... It was the closer. And any Blue Jay baseball fan would say the same thing. Because when

Henke got here, they started to win. And so if you asked me to pick the most valuable player, I would pick Tom same thing. Because when Hankey got here, they started to win. And so if you asked me to pick the most valuable player, I would pick Tom Hankey. And he's a gentleman. Everybody loved Tom. I could tell you this. There's an FOTM named Gare Joyce who writes about sports.

And Gare Joyce got married once in Florida with Tom Hankey as his best man. Oh, boy. I heard nothing but good things about Term as his best man. Oh, boy. I hear nothing but good things about Terminator Tom Henke. Oh, boy. And, Fergie, you know, just for the record, I hear nothing but good things

about you, you know. Bullshit super cuts on YouTube aside, when I talk to human beings who work with you, Paul Burford, Kate Wheeler, there's so many people who, you know, even Bob Ouellette

wants to chime in that, you know, everybody who encountered you says positive things about you. Paul and I never had an argument, ever. That's amazing. It is. You know, you'd think somebody would get mad, especially with my temper. But I knew that all the things Paul did, he did them right.

You love what you do. You loved it. And you do you loved it and you were great at it yes but that's another thing maybe I'll get the final word on this which is that yes the Just Like Mom

which I watched and enjoyed with you and your wife at the time Catherine but the Blue Jays telecast like how about those Blue Jays you were great at that you brought me my favorite team and I fell in love with baseball

and you're a big part of that and thank you for that yeah I think you were their baseball, and you're a big part of that, and thank you for that. Yeah. I think you were their biggest fan. Are you kidding me? That drive of 85? Oh, yeah.

It was. I didn't miss a game in that drive of 85. And then we lost to the Kansas City Royals in seven. But the previous year, that was a best of five. Never should have pitched to George Brett. You're right. Never should have. You're right. He killed Never should have pitched to George Brett. You're right. Never should have. You're right. He killed us in that series, George Brett.

And Jim Sundberg, I think it was a bases-loaded triple off the top of that fence in Exhibition Stadium. Okay, now you're haunting me with this. The only thing that makes me angrier is the last couple of series in 1987 when our boy George Bell went something like 0 for 40 in his

MVP season. That collapse in 87 still haunts me, Fergie. Wow, I forgot about that slide. That's because you're smart to forget about that. You're smart. Thank you, Fergie Oliver. Thank you, Kerry Oliver. Remember, you and Kim McDonald are coming

on. We've got to talk about when that happens. I can't wait. And thank you, you Matt for being security in case somebody tries to barge in here I appreciate it he's got your back and that brings us to the end of our

1298th show that's the tattoo Fergie Oliver is getting 12 at 98 you can follow me on Twitter. I'm still going to call it Twitter. I don't care what Elon Musk says. No threads. And no X, okay?

They rebranded Twitter X, and I'm not here for that. And I still call it Skydome. Sorry, Carrie, plug your ears for a moment. Yeah, don't, no, no, no, no. Not the Rogers Center, okay. I'm at Toronto Mike. Fergie, you're not on any social media are you? no

that's smart follow me at Carrie Oliver follow Carrie at Carrie Oliver our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta Getting Hip to the Hip is at Getting Hip Pod remember that promo code FOTM10

at gettinghiptothehip.com buy a ticket or two and join me for that great event. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. The Moment Lab are at The Moment Lab. And Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. See you all later this week when my special guest is Chris Tate from Chalk Circle, the first rock band

I ever saw live. I saw them at the Ontario Place Forum. Chalk Circle. You're no April Fool, Carrie. See you all then. See you then. is gold but the smell of snow warms me today and your smile is fine and it's just like mine

and it won't go away because everything is rosy and gray well i've kissed you in france and i've kissed you in spain