Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - George Stroumboulopoulos: Toronto Mike'd #103

Episode Date: December 21, 2014

Mike chats with Strombo about his years at The Fan 590, CFNY Edge 102, MuchMusic, CBC and his current gig at Hockey Night in Canada. There are laughs, tears, The Wire references and almost two hours of open and honest dialogue with Canada's boyfriend.

Welcome to episode 103, I mean episode 102.1 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from torontomic.com and joining me this week is television and radio personality George Strombolopoulos, Canada's boyfriend in my basement. Hello, sir. How are you? Very good. Thank you for coming on over.

Happy to be a part of it, man. If it's all things Toronto, then I'm thrilled. Well, why do you cheer for the Habs so passionately? What could be more Torontonian than be adversarial about your sports franchise? Now it makes sense. It finally makes sense. I thought maybe you were a big fan of the John Cordick-Russ-Courtney trade. I was. Obviously, I went to the first game in Montreal

as Montreal Forum had standing room seats for the first time Cordick returned to Montreal and Russ-Courtney, I believe he scored in that goal too. It was a wrist shot from just between the blue line and the hash marks. On Bester or Regget? I don't remember. Or Tim Bernhardt maybe?

Maybe Tim Bernhardt. Or Rick Sincroix? Could have been that too, but that era was a dark period in Toronto sports no doubt. Thank God for the Blue Jays at that time. First, thanks for Wendell and tiding us over to the Blue Jays who won back-to-back. It was so important. It was so important. It was so important.

What do you think of that Canada's boyfriend thing? You don't like it, right? I started it. I thought it was funny. You started that? I did it on purpose. I did it when I was at Much Music. And I was doing a show called Much News where we had to constantly talk about

what I thought would be music news. It turned out to be who's dating whom and relationships and the silly part of the music business that I just couldn't stand, part of the reason why I left much. And one day I went on the air and said, you know, I'm your boyfriend,

George, as a joke. And I just kept doing it. Then when I went to CBC, I did it as a joke. And some guy wrote me a letter saying, don't call yourself my boyfriend. It confuses me.

So I just started doing. That was Stephen Harper. It could have been. Yeah. Yeah. No, he'd be all right with it. But no,

yeah, I did it all the time. And, um, and that's, that's where I came from. I just think it's kind Stephen Harper. Yeah, it could have been. Yeah, yeah. No, he'd be all right with it. But no, yeah, I did it all the time. And that's where I came from. I just think it's kind of funny. Yeah, it's funny that it stuck because, yeah, first thing, hey, there's Canada's boyfriend coming up to my home here. I think it also was a little message to people watching that I'm in on the joke, that I get it, that I don't

have any... That's important. Yeah, false understanding of who I am on TV. I'm just, listen, I'm your boy, let's get into this. I was talking to Mike understanding of who I am on TV. I'm just... Let's get into this. I was talking to Mike Wilner, and I asked him, because I'm the fan. We're going to get into your time on the fan, and I want to get into that much time,

but they used to do this bit. I'm trying to... Landry and Stellick used to do this satire of Wilner where he just woke up, and he's always tired or whatever, and Wilner hated it, because we were talking about it. He hated it.

He did. Yeah, he didn't like it. There's times when you don't... There's times when you're trying to do something, and you get satired, that you just look at it, and you go, okay, I get it. You know what I like? I don't mind being satired at all, but I'm less interested in it when the jokes are easy. I'm cool with anybody satirizing me. It doesn't bother me whatsoever, but too easy, not funny.

Jeremy Taggart always taught me that line, too easy, not funny. Jeremy Taggart always taught me that line. Too easy, not funny. Former guest. Yeah, and an amazing guy and very inspirational in a lot of ways. And he always used to say, too easy, not funny. And that's what I'm like. If you're going to do comedy, then get it right half the time or whatever it takes. But if you're going to do comedy where you have somebody specific that you're targeting, better be funny.

Yes, that's it. If the joke doesn't land, then take it elsewhere. That's good advice. And do you ever listen to podcasts? All the time. So do you ever listen to Taggart? He's got Torrens and Taggart. Yeah, I do. A lot of good Canadianity, as they'd say.

I love that. I listen to Radiolab a lot. I listen to a whole bunch of Buddhist meditation podcasts as well. I listen to those every night. It feels like every night. And that helps you fall asleep or just relaxes you before you... I like exploring

that part of my brain, that part of my mind, the idea of the middle path and surrender and all those things. I like that. When you said surrender, I thought you were going to say serenity now, like on The Simpsons. Right, but I'll take Serenity Now.

You know, the marketing department gave me a call and they said, you know, Scott Turner is 102. He's episode 102. George is coming in. I wasn't going to do it. When I found out you had somebody else at 102, I was losing you. You were going to wait for 590.

Or 666. Yeah, well, who knows if I get to 590 or 666. And then I'm thinking, what do we do? We had this meeting, and we're like, well, this would be 103 naturally, but we can rebrand this 102.1. It comes after 102. It means you better have a 103. Otherwise,

I'll know the gig. I'll know the job. Shit, now I got to go back to the drawing board. But thank you for coming in, and I want to mention that while I had Jeff Merrick in these Toronto Mike studios, he was actively texting you while we spoke. Because I told him I wanted you in here. I remember that.

Our paths overlap a lot with mutual friends and stuff. You were a natural guest. I needed to get in here. I'm happy to be a part of it. So Merrick talked like, I'm buddies of Strombo. I will text him. I had visions of you coming over the next day. Well, Merrick can get me to do anything.

If Merrick asks me to do something, I'll do it. No questions asked. That's all it is. The only thing is schedule. He led me to Harold Ballard's grave. So I was in Park Lawn Cemetery. He put him in there. Yeah, he buried him.

Yeah. Best story. Best story. He literally put the dirt. He says everybody wanted to do something. Everybody was talking about it, and I did something about it. Everybody wanted to put him on the ground. Only one guy did something about it.

That's right. I met him at that time. That's when I first met Jeff was at the time. I don't even remember when he texted me. What month was it? Do you remember?

I don't, but it might have been June maybe. Oh yeah, I was away. I didn't even get back to Canada until late August. Then I had Ed DeSoc sitting there and Ed has no hands. It's difficult for him to text.

I know. But he did. The cigar. Yeah, he took that cigar and he was texting you as well. So thank you. It took a while to get you here, but you're the busiest man in the country. No, no. You know what it is?

I'm just one of those things where I try not to plan my life too much because I have so much work to do that I just go by the seat of my pants and hope that others are around me. That's why when you first asked me, I said, if you're open to being flexible, then let's go. That's why I texted you a few hours ago. That's why I should point out. I didn't know you were coming over

until a couple of hours ago. I was just recording my radio show at my home studio. And then I was sitting there and I was looking at my week and I thought, you wanted me to get in before Christmas. And I thought, man, I think this might be my only day. So I texted and said, yo, what's up? That's a cool, you had a Christmas shirt on.

It just came in the mail today. Get out of here. It was my Christmas sweater. Okay, later, I say this every episode and I only do a Christmas shirt on. It just came in the mail today. Get out of here. It's my Christmas sweater. Okay, later, I say this every episode and I only do it half the time because I forget the other half the time. I need a picture with you after

so I can put it in. Of course, of course. We're going to make that happen. Standing next to your Public Enemy t-shirt and the Wire DVDs. Favorite show of all time, favorite band of all time.

The Wire's the greatest television show ever made. Oh my God. Hands down. Can I kiss you? Listen, I'll tell you, I'll tell you a cool story. Who's your favorite character first?

Wow. It's impossible because there's like 50 deep. Yeah, but I mean, there's really only one and a half answers, right? You're going to say Omar? Omar and Bodhi. Yeah, that's the popular.

Bodhi's great. That's one smart-ass pawn. Bodhi, yeah. I always tell my son, one smart-ass pawn. That opening scene of the very first episode when they're talking about the death is not boogie. Yeah, it's America, man. You've got to.

You've got to. That's it. You know what? You're giving me chills right now because I've seen it through twice. I've only seen it twice, which I guess only because people go back and forth. But my son is 12. He's almost 13. I feel like he's almost there. We talk about it through twice. I've only seen it twice, which I guess only because people go back and forth. But my son is 12. He's almost 13. I feel like he's almost there. We talk about it a lot. He's close.

He's close. We're going to go. There's 60 episodes. We're going one to 60. I cannot wait. Do you know I did an entire episode of the TV show George Trombolopoulos tonight. Everybody on the show was from The Wire. Everybody. We had Omar on the show. Michael Kenneth Williams. We had Idris Elba, Stringer Bell on the show was from The Wire. Oh, my God. Everybody. We had Omar on the show. Michael Kenneth Williams.

Yes. Great. We had Idris Elba, Stringer Bell on the show. Stringer Bell. Lieutenant Daniels. Some bullshit. Right. Lance Reddick on the show.

Yes. And we did a comedy segment with, we did a cold open with Omar. We did a segment with Richard Clark, who was one of the writers of one of the episodes of The Wire, the entire program. I've got a Wire story that... Can you tell me now? Do you want now? We can add any other point whenever you want.

Okay, remind me to come back to it because I want to get in... I know you started in Kelowna, BC, right? You started at West. Yeah, I started actually in... You're right. In theory, I did. But that's because that's what I tell everybody. Okay, tell me the truth.

The truth is there was a guy that I went to Humber College with who had a great name. I think his name, well, I know his real name is Martin Fisher, but he changed his name, his radio name. It might even have been Holyfield Alexander, which were his kids' names. And he was very smart and very thoughtful. And what he did was he went to the Albion Mall, you know, in Rexdale. Of course. And he went to the mall managers Mall, you know, in Rexdale. Of course. And he went to the mall

managers and pitched them on this idea. Let me take over your mall PA system. He had built a mini transmitter, right? A mini one transmitter. I think it was like half a watt and said, we'll play Christmas music throughout the entire Albion Mall

and he'll make money by going to the different stores in the mall and selling them commercial time. Good idea. So somebody would go on and say, hey, if you go to the Hallmark in ILL right now for the next 15 minutes, you'll get a deal, two for one on Christmas cards or whatever. Wow. And he then came to me at school and said, would you be one of my DJs? This is in Humber College Radio. And the Albion Mall was a huge part of my development as a young boy.

You were a Rexdale guy. Yeah, was there. Like a huge part of Rexdale and Malton. Jane and Finch, Jane and Wilson was when, until about five years old. And I remember those things clearly. Then Rexdale and then Malton. And the Albion Mall was right in the middle.

So my mom, so much of my upbringing centered around that mall up till the age of about 16. So he said, do you want to go on the air? And I thought, of course I do. So I started to my first radio station, radio gig in this mall at the Albion mall. And I was the guy that would read the commercials and back sell the songs. And there was those like very special Christmas compilations had all come out. So I was about to, I just couldn't breathe anymore. The amount of times I had to play Wilson Phillips and things like that. Yes.

That was really my first gig. Then I got very quickly a job at the Fan for one day before I got an internship in Kelowna, and then I went to Kelowna. Okay, so you had a day at the Fan, 1430, I guess. 1430, taking phone calls, putting callers on the air. There you go. Then you headed out west. Not that I'm not interested in the Kelowna stuff,

but I'm very interested in getting you at the Fan 590. That's the Toronto angle, yeah. Yeah, and my station, personally, I listened to a lot of, I was listening on 1430, and I was there when they switched over. I was in the control room the day they switched over, and Ian Radar Cunningham was the technical operator, and he played ELOs, Don't Bring Me Down, Don't Bring Me Down, as a signal to we're going down the dial.

Right. And I remember the program director, Nelson Millman, couldn't get 590 AM in his office. It was this really funny moment. The fan, it'll never be repeated what happened there. And, you know, with the exception of maybe a couple of months with a couple of day parts and new jocks, I have listened to the fan consistently from the

moment it launched and i started i was there i think six months after it launched to today so you still listen every day every day and even when i'm in la i spent half my time in la i have the fan on when i'm in los angeles cool the fan is is like i mean my god it's my family yeah you know it's my family and when i do hockey night in can. And when I do Hockey Night in Canada now, Merrick, Damien Cox, Elliot Friedman, and the producer, Brian Spears, and sometimes in the other show, Gordon Stelic will be there.

We all worked at the fan in that era, and I still work with them now, or I'm newly with them again. And the fan is just family. That's awesome. You know, Greg Brady and Andrew Walker were on the show previously. You like that morning show? You'll listen to that one? I listen to it. Yeah, yeah. Totally.

Yeah, cool. Of course I do. Yeah, yeah. And I listened to it when, when Jim Lang was on it as well. It's coming up. Yeah. And I remember when Jim was, when John Derringer came to town, Jim was producing for John. And when John was doing the morning show at the fan. Right, with Marsden. Pre-Marsden. Pre-Marsden. Pre-Marsden.

Okay, because he came back from Montreal. He came back, right? So John came from Montreal. His last show in Montreal, they played a sound effect of a car starting up and revving and revving and revving where he announced that he hated the Habs and was then said, go Leafs, go.

Nice. The sound effect of the car appealed away. John came in to do a test show with Jim Lang. And John, it was like two o'clock in the morning, three o'clock in the morning. And I was the op. And I, part of the reason I'm in radio, one of the significant reason I'm in radio is because of the six o'clock rock report with John Derringer and Bob Mackwitz. Yes. Senior. And then also Andy Frost and that whole Q run, right? Was mega to me, but Derringer and Macko. And so there I am, my program director

is Macko and the guy who's show I'm mopping is Derringer. And there was a moment, dude, where I just closed my eyes behind the board and I just listened to Derringer speak. That's awesome. It was so great. So are you, are your buddies with Derringer or is this a... Yeah, I mean, I don't see him often, but you know, when, you know, and every now and then I tried to get him on my TV show a while back and he wasn't, he wasn't available. Um, but he, what we talked, yeah, Derringer has always been good to me.

I knew my whole time, you know, those early days of the fan, I was, I was a kid, dude. I was a kid. And you and Merrick, are Merrick's there at this time? Merrick, uh, showed up about five months later. So like right after he threw the dirt on Ballard, he kind of, or shortly thereafter. Yeah, so Matt Gossinger had hired me to be a, I was already there doing stuff with Jim Richards' show, and I was doing stuff. Spider Jones hadn't

started yet, so it's just Spider Jones, Rachel. So behind the scenes, and Spider's amazing, and he said, you want to make a little extra bread? Macko used to always say bread. Some of the guys said, hey, we'll make a little extra bread. Why don't you work in the promotions department to hand out these tickets? Like a big ticket. When I was in Kelowna, I was doing a metal show called High Voltage. I was on the air, but I was also in the promotions department to hand out these tickets? Like a big ticket.

When I was in Kelowna, I was doing a metal show called High Voltage. I was on the air, but I was also in the music department and also handing out tickets. So I thought, and I was dressed as a lizard at the time, so I think I said to Mac,

I'd have to wear a costume. He's like, no, don't be crazy. I said, yes, just go out there. I had a sweater. I still have that same sweater, the Fan 1430 sweater. I still have it, man. I should have worn it today.

That's crazy. But he said, listen, my son's roommate could probably use a job. Why don't you give him a call? And he gave me his number. And I still remember that phone number off by heart. And I called it. It was Jeff Merrick. Crazy.

And that was the beginning of my relationship with Jeff. And he came over and started handing out tickets with us. Life's funny, eh? It is. Our business specifically, I mean, everybody is, but our business specifically is filled with cynical people who are just, just more abound by the fact that it didn't turn out the way they wanted. And they've all missed the point, which is that life's incredible.

Not for what you do, but for who you do what you do with. Right. Who your pals are, who your brothers and sisters are, right? I mean, I look around at Merrick and Mako and Jim Richards, and they're all my friends now. You know, daily I'm texting with all of them. 20 years later. It's crazy.

And it didn't matter what we did. It's that we did it together. You know, Richards, Jim Richards, who I'm a big fan of him. I think he's freaking funny. Everything you see me do on the air is directly inspired by Jim in that I got into radio because of those other guys. Yeah. But when I was trying, you know when you're riding a bicycle and you have your training wheels and then you find your own voice. My training wheels were Jim.

Nice. I would sit and listen to Jim and I've always said that I want to be the oasis to his The Beatles. So everything I do is, like my whole personality on the air, my personality, my core values, they're me and my family, but my delivery and all that, it's Jim, man.

It's all Jim. Last time I saw you was at the Horseshoe for the Humble and Fred 25th, and you and Jim were hanging out there. I go everywhere with Jim. You know what? I go everywhere with Jim. Is he always wear the hat, like the toque or whatever he's...

Jim is worn, when I first met him, he had a reverse baseball cap and I think I've probably seen Jim without a

cap maybe like 20 times in 20 years. I had him on this show but he didn't want to, I don't know

if it was too far for him to go so we did it on the phone. Oh he didn't come in? No I couldn't

get him in. He's the only guest except for a guy down goes brown in Ottawa because I'm a big

fan of his hockey writing. Great Twitter handle. Yeah. What? Yeah. Other than Down,

Stellick, by the way, is doing the color on that when Bonesy does the Down Goes Brown call. Stellick's doing the color. After Sylvain Lefebvre knocks out Robbie Brown. Yes, Sylvain Lefebvre, yes.

And then, and after Bowen yells Down Goes Brown, Gordon Stellick perfectly adds on to it like he wants shot. And you notice how you lose Bowen for like half

a second. He literally knocks down the microphone. Yeah, I've got the story. Well, Dan Goes Brown tells that story. It's the greatest sports. You know, based on stakes, touch them all, Joe, is the greatest thing that we've ever heard in Toronto sports. Absolutely. Dan Goes Brown is

the second. The third is not from Toronto. It's a game in Minnesota when J.R. Down Goes Brown is the second. The third is not from Toronto. It's a game in Minnesota when J.R. Ryder delivered a slam dunk. Kevin Harland was doing a play-by-play, and it was something to the end. It was around this time of the year. It always seems to be. And it was something to the effect of, you know, J.R. Ryder

goes, and Kevin Harland just goes, oh, oh, oh! And as he nails the third ho, you hear the rim slam as J.R. Ryder drives home the slam dunk. And Kevin Harlan, beside himself, just screams out something to the effect of, you know, just call him Santa Claus because J.R. Ryder just delivered the goods, baby. Oh, that's good stuff. And I was just, I was overwhelmed by that call. It reminds me of the call when Doug Flutie does the Hail Mary pass.

Boston College. Yes. That call. When the internet first arrived, I found a WAV file somewhere. And it was like, this was what the internet was created for. I can hear this again. And it just gave me shivers, man. Hearing Chris Cuthbert's call of City's Goal is amazing.

Hearing Gord Miller's call of Jordan Eberle's World Juniors. Oh, Eberle was like money. Incredible call. Although in the repeat of that call, they've edited it a little bit. Did they? Yeah, something's missing from it, but they've edited it.

But I guess networks can do what they want. And we did it this past, like recently when I was doing hometown hockey, I come onto the commercial break and I say, now we go to Detroit. I said, now we go to Chicago. And of the sounds of Bob Cole. And Bob Cole just said, hello, George. And I thought, oh, my God.

Bob Cole's voice makes me feel like a kid. Why doesn't he get more Leaf games? And I'm almost, I want to get to the, you know what, yeah, I'm going to have you for three, I just realized,

I'm going to have you for three hours. We spent this long on the fan. I'm cool with it, man. He, Bob calls a lot of games,

but I think. Not lately, he's not getting, I listen to, I watch every Leaf game in Canada. He's not getting them. I do,

I watch a lot of Montreal Canadiens. I watch all the games, really, but I really focus on the Hab games and even on last year and the year before,

Bob did the Hab games. So I didn't miss it. That doesn't help me, George. It helps me though. It sure helps me. I love that call. Everything is happening. Like no one calls.

Go ahead. Maybe it's my bias showing. Listen, you have young broadcasters listening to the show, I hope, right? Yes, I hope so too. And well, they should be because the amount

of broadcasters you have on here. The thing that Bob Cole does, which I think is so important and not as many broadcast play by play cats do it is he inflects up at the end of a sentence all the time. So, but you know, Castle,

I, everything feels like it's life and death. Everything has stakes because he doesn't just tell a story. He's telling me the third act. Just knowing better. All the time. Don't tell me, don't give me the second act. The first act and the second,

the first act is my relationship with the team. The second act is all the research I've done on the team. The game is the third act. The game is the machine of the gods at the end. I only care about the game. Give me the end. And Cole does that like that. Bless you.

Listen, I have arguments all the time on my blog in the comments of people who feel because he's older and maybe he doesn't have the right name. I personally don't care if you get the name wrong maybe once in a while. Oh, I don't care about that. That timber. No, I don't care at all either.

No one has that timber. No one brings that. Keep in mind, and I'm sure you know this as a sports fan, and I as a gigantic sports fan and as a guy who works in sports now, you will not find a bigger group of passionate people, but also

a bigger group of haters than Canadian hockey fans. Full stop. We're going to get to this very soon. We're going to get to this. We got to get back to that exact point. There's a great play-by-play guy. Tell me. Have you listened to Eric Smith

this season cover the Raptors? Eric and I appeared in a Roots ad together. Did you really? We know this shirt and this pants I'm wearing now. Courtesy of the gift card I got from Roots. They came over, photographed me. You met my baby upstairs for a Father's Day spread. And there were three Toronto personalities.

And I don't know how I got in this mix, but Eric Smith was there. Dude, Eric's done a great job as the play-by-play guy of the Raptors. Him and Jonesy together. I love the Raptors and those guys are great together. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay, so

590, you're with these, yeah, Jeff Merrick, who, by the way, Merrick has the record right now for longest episode ever, so we could take that crown from him if he wants. How long did he go? About an hour and 45, I want to say. We could kill that. Yeah, if you want. And I only wrapped it up

because I felt like people won't listen, but I'm at the point where I don't care. I'm listening. Well, yeah. I mean, you're only making this for yourself anyway. That's all we do anything for, truly. Staying local on my laptop. You didn't know that?

No, I love it. I don't mind that. Did Jeff tell you about all the people who worked at the fan on that era? Remind me, but yes. But I want to hear you tell me. So in that era, never mind the fact that me, Jeff, and Bob started there. Jim Richards, whose ratings are the biggest right now.

He's a crush. That station did very well. Very well. He did great. Jim Richards. And he was a swing guy. He did weekend mornings. Who runs the score right now?

Greg Sansoni. Very good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nelson Millman at Rogers Sportsnet. Dan Schulman, one of the great play-by-play guys in the world. Speaking of great play-by-play guys. He's from there. Yep.

Bob McCowan, Gord Stelic, Damian Cox, Mary Ormsby was on the air. Steve Bacon, whose show is fantastic. Yeah, the TV Ontario. The TV Ontario show is incredible. The Agenda. That is correct. Was on it. Bruce Dobigan was on it.

show is incredible. The Agenda. That is correct. Was on it. Bruce Dobigan was on it. Spider Jones. Mike Hogan. Roger Lajoie, who's still on it. All part of that show. Jim Lang, I said, was on the air. Don't forget the late night vampire. Well, and I was going to get to Rue. So Norm Rueck is maybe the most gracious guy

at that time. And still is. The guy that gave so many of us an opportunity. so many of our first breaks came with richardson rumak and and i mean i'm forgetting it but there's so many other people barb de julio barb de julio todd hayes yeah was a part of it um todd hayes was like you know mitch kersner who works on hockey night in canada with me now yeah he was at the fan and left to go to tsn just before i got there think of all the people that came through that lineup. And that's just so people know, that's actually Ed the Sox brother.

Right, Mitch Kershner. So Steve Kershner worked with me last year on my TV show, and this year I get to work with his brother Mitch. Tim Haffey was so funny on the air, man. There were things that were said on the air that were unbelievable. Mike Richards was there, was he? Now, at the time, Mike Derringerer came over and Mike was doing comedy bits for Jim and them for up for Derringer in the morning and he was doing these really

funny bits where he pretended to be the Beatles and all that and a lot of voices and you know the fact is Bob Cole right he does Bob Cole he did John Lennon he's done every his Bob Cole's pretty whoa baby so good yeah that's stage in the line I'm sure I'm forgetting names. Mike Weller came later, but was still a part of it. Tom Cheek, Jerry Howarth. I mean, everybody that came from that station has found a way to continue to work. It's incredible.

That's awesome. Dan Dunleavy, play-by-play guy, really good play-by-play guy, did TFC games. He was there. It's hard to believe. The one that gets me every time is Dan Shulman, because he kind of comes from Barry. He's very good, and he gets the Blue Jays gig.

But today, you know, next to like maybe the Dodgers guy. Vince Cully. Vince Cully. Like, you know, your go-to guy could be Dan Schulman. He's fantastic. Sunday night baseball is such an incredible experience. Even if you don't like sports, if you love radio and you love stories. And baseball is perfect for radio. The best for

radio. Yeah, when some of the great baseball calls too, Jack Buck was incredible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow night. That's right. And his son did the same one, the same call. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, for game six, game seven, right? Right, right, right. All you hear is, see the picture, we'll see you tomorrow. So, I mean, you're not much older than me.

You might have a couple years on me, but no more than that. How old are you? 40. I'm 42, yeah. Okay. So, I mean, you're not much older than me. You might have a couple of years on me, but no more than that. How old are you? 40. I'm 42, yeah. Okay. So, I, and we'll get to that, too. In fact, I'll tell you now. So, the funny thing is,

we're talking about how, this is when I had Jeff Merrick on the show, the Rogers deal had been signed and everything, and you guys had been hired, but they hadn't started yet. And we were joking that you guys are the fresh new faces, the fresh young new faces of hockey

in this country are in their 40s. McLean was 26 when he got the job. Dave Hodge was 26. Yeah, we've upped that. Where was I going with that? Dantle and Rogers. We went to Rogers. Yeah.

When I was a kid, I fell asleep most nights in the summer listening to Tom and Jerry called Blue Jays Games and I would fall asleep to it. And sometimes I'd get the whole game in and I'd fall asleep to maybe the post-game wrap-up. And often I would wake up in the middle of the night to the sounds of your life. It might

be like... Music of your life. Tony Bennett or something. I don't know. Music of your life. That was what it is. It was CJCL 1430. Yes. And this is my radio memory. Falling asleep to Tom and Jerry and waking up to some sappy music of your life. Do you remember who was doing the show Jays Talk back then? Okay.

Was it Scott Ferguson? No, it was the greatest, Bob McCowan. Bob McCowan was doing Jays Talk. At some point, Scott Ferguson is doing out-of-town scoreboards and stuff, because I remember him. He's the one that told me that baseball, the national league,

he said, over on the senior circuit. Senior circuit, right. I know it's been around longer. I was like, oh, there we go. That's a lesson. I was him. He's the one that told me that baseball, that the National League, he said, over on the senior circuit. Senior circuit, right. What does the senior circuit mean? The NL's been around longer. And I was like, oh, there we go. That's a lesson. I was 21. So that's one of my stations. One of my stations, Fan 590.

Again, I could do two hours on that. But at some point, you end up, and tell me if I'm missing something in between, but 102.1 CFNY. Yeah. Tell me, do you go from the fan to there? Yeah. That's what happened.

So what had happened was I was working at the fan and I had changed a bunch of my life and decided to not hang out anymore, not party anymore, not do any of that anymore. So what I did was I would go to work. And on my days off, I'd go to work. And all I did was fake a radio show every day for years i would there was a we only had one station in our in our in our building right there was 40 holly street in toronto the fan but across the hall was a coast to coast overnight show that played good music it was like 70s and stuff but it was another radio station was just a satellite radio show that went out at night

what the hell was the guy's name? I can't remember his name. Foster something was the name of the guy. And so that guy was on the air. He would go to the bathroom, or another guy would go and have a cigarette, and I would go into the booth. I would steal the playlist. I would photocopy it. I would run it back before he returned.

So I had a copy of a playlist. It was pre-internet, right? Right, right. The internet was still just for the military. And I would take this playlist into a production studio, Prod B, Prod 2, is what we called it, and I would draw the blinds, and I would wait until the clock turned 8 o'clock

for whatever time, and I'd fire an ID, and I'd fake a radio show. And I just kept taping it. I kept taping it, taping it. I'd have Jim air check me, and he would always lie to me and tell me it sounds good, but he later told me that they were terrible. And what I did was one day, because I just kept doing it and doing it and doing it.

So I was doing sports and I was doing music, the two things that always drive me. And I called the program director at CFNY. It was a guy called Stu Myers. Yes. And I didn't give him a demo. I just called him. And I left a voicemail. I said, hi, my name is George Strong.

I'm working at a radio station called The Fan 590. If you have time, can you call me back? And I, you know, to his credit, I think he did. In fact, I think he was the only, I called a bunch of PDs all across Canada. And almost none of them called me back. Stu called me back. And he said, what's up, Stu? He goes, George?

Yeah, Stu. That's it. Like, hi, and he said, what's up? Stu. He goes, George? Yeah, Stu. That's it. Like, hi, Stu, and I was super nervous. Sure. And I said, Stu, here's the thing. I'm not calling you for a job. I'm not asking you for a job. I'm not saying I'm ready for a job at your station.

But I'm on the air in Toronto. I do a show, a, a trickle game. Uh, and then I had a show called the end, which was on Sunday nights. Uh, Eric Smith and I had Saturdays. I said,

I do this overnight show. I just want you to know that I'm in the market. You're in Toronto. I'm in Toronto. I just want you to know I'm here. And if you ever have a chance to listen, that'd be great. And he said,

no problem. That was the end of it. That was all I called him. Right. And we're so funny. It's life is so strange, man. So then six months later, somebody had told me that my name came up in a meeting at the edge. Uh, I found this out after the fact, but he had a meeting with this girl and her name was Karen and Karen, he said to Karen, you know, every good program director knows who his next jock is or her next jock is before there's an opening. And she said, who's your next jock? And he said, it's some kid called George Strombolopoulos. He's over at the sports station, but I didn't know that at the time. I found this out later. Right.

Then all of a sudden I get, I do an overnight show on the fan and I get a phone call from Stu. He said, Hey, come meet me. Okay. So I went down and I sat like in the waiting room where the edge was, which is at 1 Dundas. So it's basically where the Eaton Center is. And I sat there and he comes out to greet me. About six months earlier, he was in the fan front office. He had a meeting there and I was sleeping on the couch doing an overnight

show. And I had just woken up. I was sleeping in the lobby. I just woken up, gone to the bathroom, wash my face in the station. Cause that's where I would sleep there all the time. And at Elliot Friedman's another guy.

Yeah, absolutely. And I washed my face and I was sitting down in the, on the couch. I had just woken up in cause I was going to go talk to my boss and see if he would air check me. And Stu was sitting there beside me and we talked a bit about radio. Right. I didn't know he was Stu Myers.

Interesting. He didn't know I was the kid who called him. You never know. You never know. You never know. So there I am walking into Stu's office like six months later and he's like, I know you. And I thought, I know you too. And he said, yeah, yeah, I was there that day.

And he goes, I remember that. And he said, yeah i was there that day and he goes i remember that and he said here's the thing and it's actually i think to date the strangest radio meeting i've ever had in that he said he just kind of talked around it for a bit and then said all right i don't have a job for you and i looked at him like okay i don't know why i'm here then right Right. Okay. I don't have a job for you, but how about you just come work for me and I don't have a job, but hang around for a couple of weeks. I'm going to tell everybody that you're hanging around and I'm going to tell everybody that you're given tickets away.

Okay. I thought me and the tickets again. Um, and that's all I'm going to say, giving tickets away. I thought, man, the tickets again. And that's all I'm going to say. But trust me. And I walked out of that meeting. Remember, my whole life at that point really had been the fan.

I was still working as a movie theater rusher. I was working as a fan. But in my career, regardless of the other two jobs, the fan was my life. And I walked out and I thought, okay. Okay, I can do out and I thought, okay. Okay, I can do that. I can trust you.

So I shook his hand. And I walked out of one Dundas and I walked into the Eaton Center. And the Dundas Square, which exists now in Toronto, wasn't there. It was still super cracky and druggie back then. Gene Machine. Gene Machine had the t-shirts everywhere. And I liked the energy better than Young and everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everywhere.

And I liked the energy better than Young and Eglinton, which wasn't my scene really. And that was it. So I go to the fan. Hardest thing I ever had to do was quit the fan. I told Nelson I was leaving. So you quit for no job.

You quit to hang out basically. I quit for no job. That's some faith right there. What a flyer, man. Wow. Like what a flyer. And then I go to the edge. He calls me and he says, what are you doing?

It was a weekend. I said, oh, I'm going out to my friend's cottage. I was going to Ottawa. He said, cool. Listen, have a good long weekend. Come in on Tuesday and you'll start. No problem. I walked in on the Tuesday.

I met with him and he said, at the time it was 204 Yonge Street was the street front studio. He said, just go hang out there. I'll put you on a promo shift. Concert tickets winners will come in and you just have to hand them tickets. I said, no problem. There would be people I'd hand to. One woman in particular I got to know quite well because she won

tickets all the time. And just recently I interviewed her daughter. Basha Ballat. Basha Ballat. Basha Ballat, the great singer in Canada. Her mom used to win concerts. That's crazy. That's how I met,

what is her name, the actress? She's so funny. She's in reality by Janine Garofalo. She came to get tickets from that show as well. One,

Eddie Vedder called in to make a request. Really? That's the kind of stuff that would happen. My next favorite band after this. Pearl Jam,

incredible. Yeah. Incredible. I didn't take that call. Another guy took the call. It's the word of the story. He didn't play the request. And I looked at him.

I said, why didn't you play the song? He said, well, Stu would kill me. I said, Holmes, if Eddie Vedder ever calls you ever. There's an Eddie Vedder exception to Holmes. It's unwritten. So I go in there and I start handing out tickets for a couple of weeks. Stu comes down one day in the afternoon and he says, tonight, 2 o'clock in the morning

until 5 in the morning, do an overnight shift. I remember even on the bulletin board he put a little memo on the board. He said, I just hired this kid. He's going to hang around. He's going to hand out tickets. Maybe one day he'll do some yakking on the air. I remember him saying yakking. That was it. That was all. So I said, okay, I'll do it.

So that night, no, it was the next night, 2 in the morning that night, I think, I went on the air and I did, okay, I'll do it. So that night, no, it was the next night, two in the morning that night, I think, I went on the air and I did the radio show. Yeah. I recorded it and I slipped it under his desk, under his door in the morning and I went home and went to sleep. I came back that next day to do my hand-in-out ticket straight. Right.

And I'm sitting there and we had bleachers in there at the time, but every great rock star sat on those bleachers. And I'm doing my shift and Stu walks down and I see him outside having a cigarette and he waits for the host to finish their show and throw to the studio upstairs. So it's just Stu and me in that room. And he's sitting on bleachers and he says, okay, I heard your show. Thanks, man. What'd you think? And he said, I heard your show thanks man what'd you think and he said I don't want it to sound like I'm bragging no no no let's hear it he just said okay this is the best

first show I ever heard I think you should do it again tonight so I said okay I'll do it again tonight and then I did it and then I had a meeting with him same thing I slipped my it wasn't a bad show by any means I think he just said it's making me feel good to empower me for that night and then I ended my next shift, my next tape.

He came back down the next day and said, okay, so, um, you're going to host the Thursday 30 and the all request breakfast, which was, and the Thursday 30 is with Martin streak. That's where I began my friendship with Marty. And, um, and then that was it, man. And then the thing with Stu and I, Stu's like, you know, Bob Macko senior and Stu Myers are the guys that I have, I can owe this entire radio career to in terms of how they got me going. You know, Nelson Millman played a massive role as well.

Nelson massive, but Stu kind of turned me into a hard edge jock. Like he taught me how to, he taught me how to he taught me how to do the job Mako taught me how to find my voice and started me on the path to do my job but then he had left and so Nelson continued to give me opportunities and then Stu took this raw fireball and said, now why don't we reign this part in? And everybody told me that Stu's role was to tell every new jock to just do the basics. Never told me that. He never told me to do the basics.

He said, here are the basics. Do them around the stuff you do. Right. And Stu, like it's, it's, I'm almost emotional when I think about Stu,

what he taught me as a jock. I mean, I learned like what I do on TV. I got more guidance from Stu than I'd gotten from people on television. Right. That's awesome. That's how impactful that, you know,

he was as a, as a rock jock for me. It was, it was just absolutely incredible. That's awesome. Uh, you brought up, uh,

Martin Streak. Yeah. Uh, tell me if you don't mind to just a little bit about, about Martin and your relationship with him. Martin was, it's just, I don't even like talking about the past tense. Um, Marty, you know, when I met him, he was always good to me. He was a little, we were, you know, there was a, I think he felt a bit

competitive with me at first because here I was this new guy, we both had long curly, dark hair. We had similar outfits. We had similar tastes in music. I was more into hip hop and classic rock, and he was more into some of the new wave stuff that had come out. So that, but we, we met at the clash and we kind of grew out from there.

Right. And that's a good meeting point. It's a really good. Yeah. It's actually the band. Lennon calling came out 35 years ago yesterday. On Sunday, that's right. In the UK, yeah, that's right.

And then this summer, well, when this airs. That's right. I shouldn't speak here. You're a smarter broadcaster than I am. The anniversary of Joe Strummer's death has just passed. Right. So Marty and I started doing the Thursday 30 and we would battle all the time on the air about music, but we never battled about each other's role.

It was really interesting about Martin was as tough as he was to impress. And he really was tough to impress. Um, Martin was like Makowitz in that. And like Makowitz still is. You could throw, do you swear on this podcast? Yeah, you can swear. You could throw a fucking heater, like a fastball right down the middle,

or chin music right up in the face, and Marty never dropped it. And Martin, I think he started to respect me when he started throwing heaters at me, and I wouldn't drop it. And he knew that I was listening to him, and that I could debate him on stuff and he could debate. He knew way more about music than I did.

Certainly that genre music than I did. Um, but we built this real bond. I remember him and I sitting on his couch. He lived on King street. We were sitting on his couch watching fear and loathing in Las Vegas one day. Uh, and both passed out on the couch and we had to go in the air that night and

do the Thursday 30. And we have Marty, you know, when Marty died, it was a real, I mean, it was one of those things, you know, and I was texting with him the day before. But there's a certain generation of people who grew up hearing Martin on the air, and some of them knew Martin with him and I together, but Marty's club nights, never be another one like him. There'll never be another one like Marty. Keep it locked. Keep it cranked. Locked and crank together, but Marty's club nights never be another one like him.

There'll never be another one like Marty. Keep it locked. Keep it cranked. In fact, if you listen to the Strombos show on Sundays now, you'll hear me say the Chemicals brother instead of the Chemical brothers. That's a nod to Martin. Every now and then I'll call them the Beastie brothers. That's a nod to Martin. And every now and then

I'll call them Nirvana and Nirvanskwe. And that's a nod to Marty. And every now and then I'll say Locked Nirvanskway. And that's a nod to Martin. And so every now and then I'll say Locked and Crank. It's just for Martin because Martin was the first rock jock that I co-hosted a show with where I just, I learned. Passion, man. Yeah. Tough, tough, but generous, loyal. And yeah, and lovely.

Like just lovely. I think it was episode 82, but I but on the fifth anniversary of his passing, I put together sort of a, I called it Remembering Martin Streak, and I talked to David Marsden, and I talked to Brother Bill, and I talked to- Did you talk to Robbie Johnson?

Yes, I talked to Robbie Johnson, and I talked to Captain Phil. Phil and I were texting today. Oh, yeah. He's on this. I saw Phil last week. Phil's incredible, man. Phil was like the, you know, to Stu's bad cop,

Phil was good cop. He was the promo director, but he was the good cop in that station. So you had Phil, Stu, and a guy called Chris Sizem, who was the sales director. The three of them, they kept us in line. But anyway, you're saying the Marty thing. Basically, yeah. I mean, I won't drop more names, but I did have conversations with Alan Cross

and people like this, and we talked about... Because I did not know Martin Street personally, but I did have conversations with Alan Cross and people like this. And we talked about... Because I did not know Martin Street personally, but I was a big fan of Marty's. And I had the unfortunate place where I basically broke the terrible news on my blog. I heard. I know. It became sort of... I became

part of the story. That's how I heard about you. Was that right? Because Robbie J. called me. I was in LA. Robbie called me. I was in LA. Robbie called me. I was paying my rent and Rob never calls me at that time of the night. And he just said,

yeah, Marty's done something. And I knew right away. And I was like, oh no. And he told me. And then Jason Rouse called me, who was a good friend of Marty's. And he was, I happened to be in LA. He said, are you here? I said, I am. And I said, what happened? And then I went home and I went online and I read your post.

Well, that night when I got, because I got word and then I had to do all this. I'm not a journalist by trade. I'm just a guy of a blog, but I had to do all this, I guess, vetting and checking out, like, who is this guy? Like, because my first instinct when I got the news was, yeah, right. Somebody called you? A gentleman who used to work at CFMY and is now at The Rock in Oshawa wrote me an email to tell me what he learned from Earl Jive. So Earl Jive told him.

How did Earl Jive know? I don't know. I don't know. But Earl Jive told this gentleman who told me, when you Googled, at the time, if you had Googled Martin Streak's name, I was number one.'t know. I don't know. But Earl Jive told this gentleman who told me, when you Googled at the time, if you had Googled Martin Streak's name, I was number one. I know. And that's the reason I got that email.

That's the reason I got that email. It wasn't like, I need to tell Toronto Mike this. It was... Right. So I get the note and I'm vetting it because I'm not about to... You know, I've been blogging for 15 years. I'm not about to write something like that

without knowing this is true. Right. It wasn't anywhere. So I was in that and then i basically discovering that this guy was who he said he was and he wasn't about to pull my leg on this on the earl jive story i wrote about it and that i'll never forget that night i'll never forget it never forget it yeah man it was the beginning of the end. Like, I think I changed a bit that night. Actually, I know I did for sure.

Rouse and I were in such a state, and it was still shock before the depression hit in, and we were having a drink at this bar that no longer exists on Sunset Boulevard, talking about him, and then he got a text message and he said, let's go down the street to the comedy store. This is now probably one in the morning. And we walk in the comedy store and there's maybe, I don't know, man,

12 people in there just like, you know, late night, just a bunch of cats doing comedy. And Dave Chappelle comes on. It's a surprise gig yeah crazy chapelle does two and a half three hours and jason and i we didn't laugh out loud a lot that night but that that little moment yeah i think's what saved us in a way it's surreal because

you're hearing hilarity that's an amazing guest to have unannounced come on stage yeah and we were in such a dark place. And so was Dave. Dave was in a dark place, too. Right. And it wasn't like stand-up that night. It was just... Cathartic almost.

I don't even know if there was catharsis because I don't think anybody learned from it. I think we were still on the descent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We sort of broke off and we were not at the bottom, but we'll see you at the bottom, boys. Okay, so tell me this. Fred Patterson, our mutual friend, he's a good example.

So I talked to him about Marty's state post. So he was let go by the fan. Sorry, why am I talking about the fan? He was let go by the edge with Barry Taylor. And then it was two months later that he took his own life. In that period, I've talked to many, many people who talked to Martin Streak about his state of mind and it sounds from from what i can understand is he was enthusiastic and positive about the future he had a fred was very clear about uh an issue he was

having with like severance from his employer uh at 102.1 and fred laid you know he put he told it like what he basically that this was really bugging him. But outside of that severance issue being, being let go by chorus, it sounds like he had ideas for the future and he was in good spirits. Yeah. I mean, I, it was Sunday and Monday we were texting. I was, it was a Sunday. I remember I was riding, I was in a car, um, riding up to Northern California to go attend a motorcycle race and him and i were texting back and forth because somebody on facebook had ripped me about

something and martin just came to my defense gotcha yeah hammered them hammered them and this person was an absolute ass and martin was there you know we hadn't talked as much for a while. We'd see each other. I'd go visit him at the club. So he had a Sunday night show at the Velvet Underground, which is right around the corner from my house. So often I would just, I wouldn't go into the bar, but I would just stand outside with Martin. We would talk on Sundays. And it was kind of like,

it was just, it was like necessary to be with your bro that night. You know, we did that a lot. Even after he was gone. And then after he was gone from the gig. And then, yeah, I don't know, man. It just happened. But the statistics are, for many people,

specifically men, decisions are made and actions are taken within an hour. Like the suicide rates amongst men. Yes, you're right. Because when men decide to kill themselves, they do it. Where a lot of times a woman, it's more of a cry for help. It might be an attempt, but they won't actually... Or sometimes when women do,

they mean it too, but it's planned differently. At least according to stats. Sure. I know. I mean, that's all. I really struggled with the Martin thing because I couldn't... You know, I just couldn't... Yeah, I think because I was so fucking mad at the edge.

I was so mad at the edge. It's okay. So I don't even know if you remember this, but on the blog, TorontoMic.com, one of the stations we cover, I cover closest is 102.1, only because it was my station. So I listened to it throughout the 90s. That's how I, you know, I listened to Humble and Fred. I listened to all you guys through the 90s. That was my station.

Remember that lineup? Humble and Fred, into May Potts, into Alan Cross, into me, into Brother Bill, into Vishna, into Marty, and into Bookman. You know, Bill's a free agent right now. I know he's a free agent. C-Fox, he's not there anymore. I know. I like Neil. Yes, that's right. Brother Bill is Neil Morrison. He'll always be

brother to me. Me too. I called him brother on the phone when we were doing our... He used to open his radio show with that drop from the Chemical Brothers. He'll always be brother to me. Me too. I called him brother on the phone when we were doing our, he used to open his radio show with that, with that drop from the chemical brothers. I'll hear it. Yeah. It's going to work it out. Yeah. The brother's going to work it out.

He was so good. That's my boy's PE here. Yeah. Brother's going to work it out. Um, where am I going? Oh yeah. So you had a show that was,

uh, syndicated. It's called the strong blue show. It's called the strong blue show. Yeah. I pulled it off the air after that. Right. And so, okay.

I'm glad you're here. And I don't have this in my notes. I'm going freestyle. That's okay because I'm doing this off the top of my head where I remember this going down in real time. It just didn't appear on the edge for a couple episodes. Tell me what happened with your show after

Martin took his life. I had taped a couple episodes. They were scheduled to run. got i think the first one i got the call from robbie i spoke to not the guys in toronto i didn't speak to the toronto guys and i haven't really except for a couple times since then but when martin was gone i was like all right i'm done mean gone, uh, cause he was fired and then two months later. Well, when he was fired, I stopped going in to do my show. Okay. I started taping it. Okay.

And giving it to them. Okay. And then Chris Duncombe, Dunner from Vancouver. Great, great radio guy. Great radio guy. Um, I called him and I said, dude, I can't do it anymore. And he says, I totally get it. Like I can't do it.

And I don't know if they aired, I don't think they anymore. And he says, I totally get it. Like, I can't do it. And I don't know if they aired. I don't think they aired any more of them because when I taped Martin Was Still Alive, I think I remember them calling me and asking me to talk about Martin on the air. And I remember being disinterested in that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, my only connection to that station really is Rob Johnson.

Robbie Jay is an incredible, and I met Robbie. I just heard from him after the Humble and Fred episode aired. I heard from him just last week. Robbie is kind of like, if anybody ever really wrote a book about the edge, it'd be Rob. He was really an important part of that. I actually met Rob.

He was dating a girl that, in the beginning of the internet and chat rooms, I, you know, we were doing these chat groups and this girl and this other girl, me and my buddies were just talking and Robbie J was dating this girl. And I remember his, my, my email address was dead and his was sticks. And that's how we met. And yeah, Rob's like, Rob's an incredible guy. And that's how we met.

And yeah, Rob's an incredible guy. But after he told me, I think Rob was the only guy that I was in contact with at that station after that. Yeah, I mean, for no other reason except that I thought it was shitty that they got rid of him. I thought that, I don't know what anything behind the scenes, that's none of my business.

I don't know what it was. Stations make changes, that happens. But I thought, you know, this country, but specifically this city, Toronto Radio, they don't really understand legends because none of the people who run them generally come from legends. They come from business. But Martin was, him and Bookie were like the defenders of the faith. Right.

You know, Brother Bill as well. But Neil goes to Vancouver and, you know, improves that market. It's a good market there, but Neil's incredible on the air, Brother Bill. Bookie's still a genius. But Marty was like the guy. And I just didn't want, I didn't feel, I didn't feel right. CBC had been trying to get me to move my radio show to them for two years. And I kept saying no. Um, and I called, I talked to Chris and I'm like, I can't do anymore. And Chris to his credit was like, I totally get it.

I totally understand. Um, and then then I called CBT and I said, hey, why don't you just take my show? And they went, no problem. Done. Nice. And that was how the Straubel show was on CBT, which I think is like five or six or six years now we've been on that station. Yeah, well, that was five years ago. I just aired that five-year retrospective.

So five years of July was when Martin passed. Five years. So yeah. Do you remember, do you have any memory of a conversation on the phone with me at this time? Because I was writing about, I was doing some speculation because it looked to me. I don't think I told you very much. No, I mean, I wasn't going to write anything you told me anyway. I only talked to two people and only one person did I let them print anything, which was Lisa Lattiser. Oh, with two eyes, right?

Yeah. Lisa has two eyes. Yeah, because she knew Martin well and I somebody had called me from another paper and I remember saying to them this is not a spectacle. No I assumed we had an off the record chat like I never wrote a stitch of that ever but it was interesting

to have the conversation with you because it looked like it was looked like you basically didn't want your show on Chorus' Airwaves. That's true. It just looked like that. But that was true. That's right. Absolutely true. Which, you know, it kind of shows that you have some integrity. Yeah, I mean,

maybe. I think for sure. To me, that is... I was loyal. I'm loyal. Even though Martin and I weren't in touch that often, you know, lives grow when you do other things, but, you know, Martin had me go back and do the Christmas. They did the edge electric Christmas. Right. And you know, that station had changed a lot and the personnel had changed a lot. And the spirit was most

definitely gone from that radio station. And I don't say that it had bitterness. It was not better at all. It's like, it just changed. It just changed. It didn't have the same values that it had when we were there. Right. Definitely true. And Martin said, called me and he said, Hey, listen, I'm doing this edge electric Christmas. will you come on stage and present with me and i said yeah man whatever you want like no problem bro and i remember going on stage with him and we were talking to the crowd and he gave me this little wink like we did an old inside joke and i remember laughing somebody's got that photo because they posted on facebook and when marty died i blanked all my facebook and twitter and all that and i just put that picture up um and that was it are you sure it was electric christmas you're you know why

only because okay i was at the it used to be called the electric christmas i don't know what they called it now but it was always called the electric christmas all right it was a christmas thing i was uh well i was at the cool house uh for a casby awards was that what it was always called the Elijah Electrical Christmas. It was a Christmas thing, wasn't it? Well, I was at the Cool House for a Caspi Awards. Was that what it was? I was there. I was super close to the stage. And I remember when Marty was giving out an award. I actually think the award might have gone to Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker for some reason.

Maybe I'm misremembering that part. Only because Ash was just here. And maybe it's all like... I remember you going on stage. A big surprise was you came on stage with Marty to hand out the award. And I remember that moment. I was like 20 feet from the stage. Yeah, that was you came on stage with Marty to hand out the award. And I remember that moment. I was like 20 feet from the stage. Yeah, that was the night.

Was that the Caspies? The Caspies Awards, yes, for sure. Canadian artist selected by you. I remember Bedouin Sound Clash performed. This is how I'm remembering it. No, you're right. I'm not questioning you. No, you're right.

Because who am I? I just assumed it was around Christmas. But when was it? Well, the thing is... I was wearing a vest. I couldn't imagine. You know, I blogged it, so I will tell you later, which won't help a lot for the audience. I only remember because I was going with my buddy

Mike Kick to the show, the Caspian Wars, and he bailed at the last minute. He got cancer and died on me at 32 years old. I'm not trying to bum everyone down listening to Marty and this. Life's tough. That's not bad. I went alone to the show.

Wow. And I'm 20 feet from the stage. You and Marty are up there. That's the last time I ever saw Martin Streak. The last time I saw him, I saw him a couple times on those Sunday nights together, but that was the last time Marty and I were on stage together with microphones.

Yeah, it would be the Caspys. And I remember being at that event, looking around at the people. Cool house, yeah. Yeah, and I looked at people and I thought, yeah, man, this station doesn't...

This is chain room. This is, yeah. This is not my vibe. But Marty, that's why I did it. It was for Marty. Cool. Yeah, yeah.

Oh, God, I miss that guy. He was good. Yeah, by the way, I'm sorry for your loss. I know you were close. Yeah, man, listen. Five years. It's one of those things

where, you know, and I know this is my buddy who passed away from cancer because... Five years as well for you. I know, because he didn't pass for many years later, so it's actually still kind of fresh.

He passed actually in April. He passed three days after my son was born. Do you know what? I got two children. One's 12, one's 10, and then a newborn. And so me and I wanted to introduce my son and my daughter to their new baby brother. So we're at St. Joe's Health Center meeting Jarvis.

Actually, I can't talk about it. You know, I can't talk about it. But I got to, yeah, maybe we got to move on. This will be, maybe Oprah will come in here and she'll be passing me some Kleenex. Basically, if I tell it quick, it's real fine. I get a text message to come say goodbye, like he's going. And I took my kids straight from St. Joe's to Big Cancer Hospital, Mount Mount Sinai.

Anyways. On University. Princess Margaret. Yeah. I did the ride for them just last summer for that. Wow. And it was,

I remember the juxtaposition of here's your new brother and we're holding this angel in our hands. Let's go say goodbye to my body. It was just too much, too much heavy shit.

It is too much, man. That's life, man. But that is life. And you don't, and I remember my wife saying, you know, maybe they don't need to see him on his deathbed.

And I'm like, no, because this is really happening. Like, this is real. Maybe they do need to see it. They do need to see it. And then afterwards,

she said to me, Mike, you were right. They needed to see that. And they were fucking amazing that night. Wow. So, yeah,

sorry about that. Don't apologize. It's real talk, man. Real talk. How do you end up, yeah, sorry about that. Don't apologize. It's real talk, man. Real talk. How do you end up, here's a change of gears. How do you end up on Much Music? Oh, so I was doing,

I was doing, so at one point, Stu gave me Live in Toronto and I was hosting Live in Toronto and Byron Wong was the host of the new music and I remember seeing Byron do an interview on Much.

I didn't grow up with Much Music. I didn't have cable as a kid. I didn't watch much music. I had watched the new music because it was on City TV. Yep. Even when it was on Channel 79. And I watched an episode

of the new music on City. And I saw Byron as the host. Cool show. Yeah, and I thought, he's a good host. Because I remember Abby Lewis, Daniel Richler, Myra,

and of course, you know, JD and Jeannie. And Denise Halstead and Jan Lynn White. There's such a great, great lineup of people. I mean, Myra, and of course, you know, JD and Jeannie. And Denise also and Janalyn White. There's such a great, great lineup of people. I mean, Denise is unbelievable. Janalyn, the whole lineup of people who are part of the New Music Room. It was a great show.

And I saw Byron and I remember saying to Jeff Domet, who was the producer. Chicken Shawarma. Chicken Shawarma, live in Toronto with me. He said, I said, go get Byron Wong, get him on the show. And so we called Much Music and they were surprised that we called and said i'd like to interview byron long he'd done this thing on world music and i thought it'd be interesting to interview him i remember the guys at the edge gave me shit for it because they're like why would you promote something that's on another channel at eight o'clock at night when you have your own guys on and i said i get it but if we show the world is bigger,

our audience will trust us. It's like the miracle on 34th Street, man. Yeah, I saw it the other day. Where's the real Santa, right? The bags are arriving, man. Love that. You got to do that. And anyway, the Edge guys were cool with it,

so we put Byron on, and then that was it. And then not that long after that, I got a call on a Saturday. I was doing, you know, they moved the New Rock preview. There was a Saturday version. The Saturday 30 was called New Rock 30 with me and Brother Bill. And that show had ended.

I kept doing the evening. And I got a call. And I was getting ready for Martin to do the live to air. He was at the Phoenix. And I got a call from this guy. He said, hey, Byron Wong's leaving Much Music. Do you want to go work at Much Music? And I got a call from this guy. He said, hey, Brian Wong's leaving Much Music. Do you want to go work at Much Music? And I remember saying, eh, I'm going to be into that,

but not really because I don't know what I would do. I don't want to be a DJ. I don't want to play videos because I don't tell my thing. And I loved my job at Live in Toronto. I loved it. And he said, no, no, be the host of the new music. And I said, okay. So he passed my number along to John Marshall,

who was the producer. We met. Nothing came of it. And then i think it was around christmas again i was doing the thursday 30 with marty and that was you know we still have all these kids that would come hang around the open studio if you've ever been in that storefront yeah which i haven't yet yeah and you know they had these staunch in that there are these poles and barricades, sort of friendly barricades, theater barricades around that I would always take down and have the kids sit with us.

Nice. Marty as well. They'd come sit with us. Cool. You know, you build a relationship with them. And there was a guy who was a little bit older who was floating around. And at the end of the show, he said to me,

hey, dude, it's David Kynes. So do you want to come and talk to us at MuchMusic or not? Are you into this or not? And I was like, oh, yeah, sure, I'll come talk to you. And I went and met with him. I had sent him a video of an interview I'd done with Noel Gallagher. And then all of a sudden they offered me the job. And I didn't really, I wasn't sure what to do with it.

But I thought, you know what, I think I want to do this. I think it would be interesting. I didn't know how it would grow. Stu was very kind to me. He said, listen, I sort of envisioned you and Carmen Melville, this guy who I worked with on my show, becoming the new morning show. When Humble and Fred moved to 680, you guys will get that show.

And I remember saying, okay. 640. 640, yeah, you're right. 640, yeah. It'd be interesting, though, if they got the 680 gig. You know, it was traffic and weather together. I almost actually doubled up to shift at 680 when I was working at the40, yeah. Because Mojo had one. It'd be interesting, though, if they got the 680 gig, you know? It was traffic and weather together. I almost actually double-opted shift at 680 when I was working at the fan, yeah, back in the day. But so they went to 640 to do Mojo, but this was before they were talking about going there. And Stu said, you would do the morning show here. And I said, okay, but call me then.

I'm going to go do the new music, I think. But I said to Mojo, I'd like to stay on the edge and do my punk show every Wednesdays and my metal show on Sundays. And they said no problem. Stu said no problem. Oh, that's cool. So I was able to do both.

So I stayed at the edge off and on forever, like seven, eight years I was on the air, but only in earnest for three. Wow. And on the Much, you had, in addition to that new music gig I have written down here, the punk show and Much Loud and Much News. Are those the four? it didn't have a host at the time. And they said, no, it doesn't need a host.

And I said, I really, really want to host that show. You see, you guys don't have anybody here who knows anything about metal, and it's an important show, and I know a lot about metal. You should put me on that show. So they agreed. So I took that over, and then when I started being on that show,

I started to add more and more punk songs, and I said to them, you're going to have to make me, give me the punk show, a punk show. They're like, what do you want to call it, Much Punk? I said, no, it's called The Punk Show. Nice. They agreed, and that's how that all started. And then one day, what do you want to call it, Much Punk? I said, no, it's called The Punk Show. Nice. They agreed.

And that's how that all started. And then one day, I think there was somebody else that was hosting Rapid Facts. And I think she had a fight with the boss and she walked out one day and they said to me, do you want to host it? I went, sure. And that became Much News.

At some point, you got to get rid of the word facts, right? Right, there were no faxes anymore, right? Phone, fax, and email. That's right. And then, yeah, that happened. That much run, that five years of Much Music was what a blast. No, I mean, I grew up with Much Music,

so I remember all the VJs, you know, Eric M. and Steve Anthony and Michael Williams, who I recently met at a Spoons concert of all places. Amazing. Yeah. With the drummer is Derek Ross, who is a great record rep guy, and he was a drummer of Spoons.

Marty used to play Nova Heart every Sunday night from Whiskey Saigon. You know, they had a lot of big, I mean, when you hear them in concert, you realize how many radio hits they had. Are you kidding me? Of course. That's wicked. Okay, awesome. And at some point you go from much music to CBC, the mothership here.

Yeah, so I had gone about, you know, much had changed a lot at that time. And they started to do more and more reality contest-y shows. And not the good ones like Test Pattern. No. Right? You remember that host? Dan Gallagher. And Bill Carroll.

Yes, that's right. Bill Carroll, great radio guy. Wow, that's great. Dan Gallagher, I remember that, yep. Miss Dan Gallagher. One day, his buddy lived on my mom's street for a while, like in the mid-90s or something. And he complimented our sprinkler.

We had a crazy sprinkler. Dan Gallagher walked by and complimented it. And I thought I was, like, touched by greatness here. Like, that's Dan Gallagher. Dan Gallagher is amazing. Yeah, and so much had changed, you know, a bit. And I wasn't as interested in what I was doing there. I thought it was kind of...

We did a show called Fandemonium, and I remember thinking, this is the lamest thing that I've ever been a part of. Well, look where it is now. Like now looking back that was like the Yeah it was crazy. And at that time I got a call. I was gonna I was down in New York

meeting the guys at ESPN and ESPN and I were talking about maybe doing something Well. We didn't know what it was gonna be but there was a couple things. ESPN 2 The Deuce was starting to pick up a lot of steam so they're looking at people for that. And I got a call saying, hey, they're looking at launching a new show on News World.

You want to talk to them? And they had earlier offered me a chance to, let's see if I wanted to host that show. It was called On the Arts, which later became Play, and they offered me that show. The Uncle Meshie show. Yeah, they offered me that show. Or they started talking to me about it.

But they never, like in typical CBC fashion back then, they never really said what was on their mind. It was always just rife with obfuscation. They said, would you like to be considered for this job? And I said, what do you mean? I said, would you? I remember there was much music in CBC on the same street. It was John Street.

They said, would you like to be considered for this job? Would you like to throw your hat into the ring? And I said, are you offering me the job? And they said, well, we're looking to see who is willing to go for it. And I said, and it was so strange for me because I came from private radio. On private radio, you identify somebody you want and you hire them. Right. Right?

You don't dance around the silliness. I'm scared. But that was the CBC way back then. And I understand why. It's not unlike an RFP in business. You go and find a couple options and you present them. But I remember saying to them and to myself, I said, you know, thankfully,

I host the new music and I thought that was the best music TV show going. And it was. Yeah, and I just had no interest in going and trying it out at CBC the way they did it. And Laurie Brown, who was a host of the new music, who was incredible, was the the way they did it. And, um, and Laurie Brown, who was a host of new music,

right? He was incredible, right? Was the host of on the arts. Laurie Brown's amazing. She's another name for that, for that era. That's right.

And I thought, meh, I don't think I want to do it. So they ended up giving it to Gian and I didn't want to go do it. Uh, and then I, I think I got offered the, I had conversations with them about the evening news to do like the six o'clock

newscast. Crazy. And with an excellent producer called Cynthia, we were talking back and forth about what that could be. And I said, I'm not right for that job. I don't want to do it. And then they called me and said,

we're doing this eight o'clock time slot on news world. Do you want to do it? And I said, no. And then they said, no, let's talk about it. And we just kept talking and I kept saying no. I just didn't believe them. My earlier meetings at CBC, I remember thinking, those jokers, like, do you want to win? I'm in this to win. Right? I want to win. I want to make the best thing in the world. I don't want to make a thing.

I want to make the best thing. Yeah. But I met a woman called Jennifer Detman who was there, a heat and iron, Cynthia Kinch, the one I had met earlier. And the three of us went out for dinner. And I remember walking away saying, I called my manager, Michael Sugar, who's, you know, you know, my guidance. I said, great people. I don't want to do it. I just don't believe them.

I don't believe it can be done. I believe that they want it to do. I just didn't believe them. I don't believe it can be done. I believe that they wanted to do it. I just didn't think it could be done. And he called me back. I had gone to Vancouver to shoot a show for Munch. And he called me back laughing and he said, they're not really taking your no. They'd like you to meet them one more time.

And I was like, bro, I don't want to. All right, fine. So I was doing a Munch News hit and had an hour in between Munch News hits. So I walked down John Street into CBC. I met with them. And somewhere like eight or ten minutes into that meeting, and had an hour in between much news hits. So I walked down John Street into CBC. I met with them. And somewhere like eight or ten minutes into that meeting,

I thought, maybe. And I walked away and I said, okay. And I called Michael and I... So I thought about it for a while. And I got Rain Mater from Our Lady of Peace and I were going to Sudan to do some stuff in Darfur. And I remember sitting on the plane at Pearson, looking out the window of the plane, and it was looking onto the tarmac where I used to drive a forklift

when I worked for a cargo company when I was a teenager. And I looked at that, and everybody in my life had said, don't take the job. My then-girlfriend was open to it, but she wasn't sure if it was right for me, but she was a great journalist, so she was very into helping me make the right choice. And I looked over at Rain, and I said, hey, what do you think if I quit much music and I go launch a show at News World? And he said, well, what would the show be? And I said, I don't know. He said, well, what do they want?

And I said, I don't know. They said we can hire our own team and we can build a show. And he looked at me and he said, would you do like news and current events every day? And I said, yeah. And he said, would it be live? And I said, yeah. He said, well, if it didn't work, no one would bat an eye essentially because it can't work. Right. He goes, but if it did, holy fuck, that would be huge.

And I thought, you're right. So I texted Michael, and I said, okay, we're going to quit much. We're going to take the job at CBC. And I turned my phone off, and I flew to Africa. Wow. I called him from a satellite phone later that week. That's crazy stuff. It was that week that Ashley Simpson had her meltdown on Saturday night. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because Chantel had called, Rain, and we were talking about that on the satellite phone later that week. That's a crazy story. It was the same, it was that week that Ashley Simpson had her meltdown on Saturday night.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Because Chantel had called Rain and we were talking about that on the satellite phone and then it passed the phone to me and I called Michael and we talked about it. That's crazy.

And this is The Hour. That's The Hour. We launched The Hour. Jennifer Detman and Susan Taylor and I and a bunch of people, Jane Wilson, we just launched The Hour and it was,

I mean, the best. Who named it? I think the name... Because you like names like that. Like The Punk Show, for example, is what you want to call The Punk Show. Yeah, The Punk Show, yeah. So I could see you pitching that name.

Well, no, I think... Take credit for it if you want. Well, no, I can't because I think Michael Sugar had it and Jen Detman both had it on their list of names. We were being pitched a whole bunch of names. Some of them were terrible. Some were okay. One was called Today Tomorrow.

And then The Hour came up and we thought, I think that's the one. But we were way late into the game. We didn't, we had to get a name. And it just became The Hour.

Okay. And that was it. And I was wondering because you had this hour as 22 minutes was on CBC at that time. Yeah, and it was less about that for me

because I didn't really, I mean, I love Rick Mercer and obviously Sean McJumper, but I hadn't watched that. Sean came out, I hadn't watched that show like growing up, right? I didn't, like I said. You know what, it wasn't ever, I never liked itcer and obviously Sean McJumper, but I hadn't watched that. Sean came out. I hadn't watched that show when I grew up, right?

I didn't, like I said. You know what? I never liked it. Am I allowed to say that as a Canadian guy? I mean, I thought I liked it when I watched it. I thought it was good. I thought it was really good. I thought Mark Critch was funny.

It was better than the Air Forest, which I never understood either. Also funny, but different. I guess so, yeah. Different demo, different thing, right? Or Kodko, because I liked Kizna Hall. Well, see, and I liked Kizna Hall, but I liked SCTV. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I liked SCTV and I liked Kizna Hall, but I didn't like Kodko. I went liked Kizna Hall. Well, see, I like Kizna Hall, but I liked SCTV. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I liked SCTV and I liked Kizna Hall, but I didn't like Kodko. I went from SCTV to no more comedy, except for films, right? I stopped watching comedy on TV because I just... I'm watching a lot of Magnum. Oh, SCTV is so good. But I like 22 Minutes. A lot of Magnum. And the great people that work there.

But it wasn't about that. It was this hour has seven days. That's right. It was a show that I had read a lot. But yeah. And that's where the hour really has seven days. That's right. It was a show that I'd read a lot. But yeah. And that's where the hour really resonated with me. And it was very literal. We were an hour.

Yeah. And why did you ever change the name, though? That's what I don't understand. Well, initially, the people wanted to, the guys who worked in Jen, wanted to have the show with my name in it, right? But CBC had never named a show after a person at that time. I didn't know that. And the news director at the time

wouldn't let it be called after me. So Kirsten Stewart came in and wanted to change it. Then they made the show a half an hour and they still wanted to call it the show The Hour. And I remember looking at them with incredulity. Yes, yeah, you can't do that. Incredulity or whatever. What?

It's obviously got to be called Half Hour. Come on, who's the genius? So they called it George Trumbullopas Tonight. And you know, I guess it's fine to have your name in it, but I would have preferred it to be called the half hour. Come on. Who's the genius? So they called it George Trombopas Tonight. And, you know, I guess it's fine to have your name in it, but I never, I would have preferred it to be an hour long show with the hour. And then they made it an hour again, but we couldn't go back to being called George Trombopas Tonight. It was just like, oh, the hour.

So it was just like, oh, here we go. Yeah. You know, here we go. But it didn't matter to me what you called it really, because we were just doing the show that we wanted to do. I think you did a great job in that show, because you have interesting conversations with people. Like it just feels organic.

Like you're actually interested in what they have to say and you have a one-on-one. We were at our best when we were intimate with the guest and intimate with the audience. Stringer Bell, for example. I'm going to bring that one out there because I eat everything up. There's a show called The Affair. I don't know if you've heard of this show, but it actually stars

McNulty. Dominic West. There's a scene with Rawls, of all people. Rawls and McNulty. Dominic West. There's a scene with Rawls, of all people. Rawls and McNulty. I know that another good example is anything that Idris Elba does. That's Stringer Bell, but it's just amazing. Well, my manager's

then girlfriend was managing Idris. She knew what a wire freak I was and introduced me to him. And I said, when you come to Canada, you have to come on the show. And he's like, yeah, all right, man. And true to his word, he shows up in Toronto.

So you can get him in here? He can come and do a Toronto Mike podcast? Idris? I don't know. You never know, right? Yeah, I mean, I suppose I could email him. I don't know how to get to him. Omar. One day I've got to tell you my Omar story. Yeah, well, do you want to do it now? If you want to. Yes, please. Because Omar pissed me off. Not pissed me off, obviously.

Good, lighthearted pissed me off. All that Brooklyn stuff during the playoffs last year. Brooklyn kid made good, man. Yeah, I know. It's all good for him. I'm happy for him. But big Raps fan. Of course, me too.

So, booked Michael Kenneth via Twitter. We had a friend of mine, a girl called Phil on Twitter had tweeted out to Michael saying, you should do at Strombos show. He, he loves the wire, you know, and he responded to her. He says,

okay. And that was my window in, right? Yeah. Perfect. So we, we reached out, he was coming to town because he was promoting

boardwalk and uh and did the interview and was amazing it was amazing right then i think it was he he came back to town to shoot robocop i remember getting a text message one day from a number i didn't recognize and i just said what's up dinner question mark so i said okay i wrote back who this so you said okay first. Well, no, I was like, who dis first, right? And then he said, it's MKW. And I was like, oh, it's Michael Radke. It's Michael.

Okay, cool. So I wrote, of course. And in my head, all I thought was, Omar coming, yo. Yeah. And we went out and had a bite to eat. And after that, he said to me, it was so funny. He said, hey, listen, I didn't know the guy that well. I just met him. But he was so nice.

And he said, hey, you know, our show, Boardwalk, was nominated for some Emmys. Is there a place around here, like a bar that's airing the Emmys? And I looked at him and I was like, no. Because Toronto, there is no bar that is airing the Emmys. No, that is true. And I didn't want to say to him, you know, I have the Emmys at my house. I didn't want to say that to this guy.

He's like, why are you inviting me out? You know, like, what's going on? I don't know. Maybe he thought I was a serial killer or something. But he's like, yeah, man, I really want to watch the Emmys. And so finally I said to him, oh, my God. I mean, I have the Emmys on my home TV. And he goes, would you mind?

I didn't want to ask. I didn't want to be rude. So I didn't want to ask him. He didn't want to ask me. So he's like, no, let's go to your house. So we go to my house, and we're watching the Emmys. And on the Emmys end, Boardwalk, episode two of that season, season two. Pardon me, it airs.

It's Michael's first episode of the season. So he says, let's watch Boardwalk. And I said, okay. So there I am with Chalky White, Omar. Yeah. Sitting on my couch in my living room, my basement. That's surreal. Watching The Wire or watching Boardwalk.

Did you serve him Honey Nut Cheerios? I should have. I whistled though. That's, oh yeah. He was the best character on that show. But there's just so many. Every time, I mean, I can't wait to watch it the best character on that show. There's just so many. I can't wait to watch it the third time with my son. I walked into a house

in LA probably a year ago and I walked in and my manager says, hey man, come over. I said, okay, so I come over. Four people in there, five people in there. I walk in and I just walk on one guy. I guess they told him how big a fan of The Wire I was,

so he was prepared for it. Yeah. Because, I mean, I've interviewed celebrities for 20 years. I'm never, ever starstruck. I'm not fazed by it. It's never been my bit. I respect them so much, but I'm not caught up in it, except if you're in The Wire.

Right. And I locked, and all I wanted was, Wallace! Yeah, Wallace. Where's Wallace? Michael B. Jordan. Okay, every time I lose my wallet, I was, Wallace! Yeah, Wallace. Where's Wallace? Michael B. Jordan. Okay, every time I lose my wallet, I yell, where's my wallet?

Where's wallet? Like I do my whole bit. That's right, have a wallet. Yeah, absolutely. He's a good actor. Michael B. Jordan's a really good actor, man. Really good. And a great guy.

That's the other part. A great guy. All those wire dudes, man. I bumped into Andre Royal Bubbles in a bar and I was like, dude, oh my God, and I freaked out. Yeah, I mean, you know you're right. I don't know if I could interview a wire guy. I'd just be too nerdy on it like this, too.

Here's the thing. All the ones I've met love talking about it. I interviewed Steve Earle. He's going to come to my house to do my radio. Yeah, Waylon. He's going to come to the radio show in January, and we'll talk about the wire. You know, his NA speech in that show to come to the radio show in January. Cool. And we'll talk about The Wire. Yeah.

You know, his NA speech in that show. Oh, my God. The real deal. And that line he says about, it's okay to, well, you know, I'm going to fuck it up, but it's okay to have remorse, or no, it's okay to have remorse as long as you leave room for something else or something. He tells Bubz because when Bubz partner ODs, when he kills him accidentally. Well, and also remember that Bubz took the,

I think that was, was that around the time when he took the... The guy was being harassing him and he was going to poison that guy and he didn't know his best bud was going to take the bad, the poison basically.

And do you remember when Bubz took the AIDS test and it came back negative? Yes. And Bubz had so much guilt over it and didn't understand why he wasn't HIV positive. And that's when Waylon

really laid into him on that. Can you spoil the wire? I feel, I mean, this show hasn't been on he wasn't HIV positive. And that's when Waylon really laid into him on that. Can you spoil The Wire? I mean, this show hasn't been on in many, many years. We can't spoil this for anybody. It's been on for ages. But I love that scene in the finale when he comes up the fucking stairs. I can't even think about it. I can't even do it, man. I can't even do this. Michael, oh my God.

The podcast now has a record for most tears shed. Have you seen the episode of iCarly? No. So iCarly, the kid show. I saw it on Reddit. They had a clip of it. Yes.

When Snoop had her moment. Looking good. The hair looking good. Yeah. I saw this on Reddit. Yeah. It's incredible. Yeah.

Now it's about the wire. Yeah. It's just, yeah. Oh my God. You did something called The One, making a music star. And this was on ABC in 2006. Yeah, my God, eight years ago?

This thing was a big reality show by ABC that lasted two episodes, and then they canned it. Four episodes. Four. My source said two. Two weeks, four episodes. We did the performance and the results show, back to back. They don't, like, as far as I know,

networks rarely cancel reality shows like that. Usually they'll let it do its run. They cancel big ones. You cancel big ones. New management wasn't his show. And when there's a new bosses, they often cancel it. You know, the ratings were not great, but by today's standards, they're actually okay.

You know, we were doing five to nine million, right? Which is a big number in America. They'd like those numbers for shows um but at that time they yeah it was a lot there was a lot going on i think they thought it would go after american isle the shit was okay it was just more fun to do it was just more fun to do i loved it i was on a motorcycle riding from here to los angeles i was somewhere in you know where i was i had just visited Joliet, Illinois, and I went to the prison where they shot the opening scene of the Blues Brothers. Oh, yeah.

And I was just standing out there looking at the doors where Elwood met Jake when Jake came out. And I hopped on my bike and I started riding west. And I figured I was going to ride into Iowa and I was going to go to Des Moines and I was going to charge down towards L.A. And I stopped at a gas station, Owens, Illinois, somewhere like that, and I had looked at my phone, because my phone was in my pocket at the time, and I was riding a bike, and I'd

been on the road for days, right? And I had finished the hour, the TV show, The Hour, and I knew that I wasn't going to be back on TV for a couple months. But I had missed like 10 phone calls from my agent. And if anybody has an agent in America, they'll tell you. Your agent never calls you. Okay.

And if they call you more than once, there's a problem, right? Okay. Or something big. So he called me and said, hey, listen, there's this show they're shooting and they need a host and they want to meet you. I said, oh, sounds great.

I'm going to, I'll be there in like a handful of days whenever I get to LA. He says, no, you don't understand. They, uh, have interviewed everybody in America and they don't have a host they like, and they saw you and they want you to come down. And I said, great, I'll see you in a few days. And he said, you don't understand. There's a ticket waiting for you at O'Hare airport right now, Ride back to Chicago, get on a plane, they're going to meet you tomorrow. So I thought, okay.

So I rode back to Chicago. It took me forever. I think I got there at 7 p.m. The call came in at, I don't even know what time it came in, but I got there like 7 p.m. I got on an 8 o'clock flight. I left my motorcycle with all my stuff in the parking lot. And I remember because I named my

production company in the States, it's called Bears Nine. And I named it Bears Nine because I parked on Bears Nine, the parking spot. And I pulled the bike. I left it in a parking spot. And I walked into the... I took a couple of pieces of clothes in my hands

out of a bag. And I walked into... I said, I think it's a ticket for me. I handed them my passport. They said, you do? They gave me my ticket. Then I walked to security. I took my hand and my clothes. I dropped it on the card on the conveyor belt. I went through it.

I walked into one of those luggage stores. I said, do you have a little bag I can buy? I bought this little bag that had Canada on it. I put it in there and I flew to LA. Then I met with them. I got a call an hour later and they said, okay, you it. Nice. And I put it in there and I flew to LA and then I met with them. Cool. And then I got a call an hour later and they said, okay, you got the job. And then I was like, okay, when did we start?

And they said, now. Wow. The show was going to air in two weeks. Oh my God. So they were literally at the end. And I started shooting that show. And the deal I cut with them was, no problem. I'll do the show.

I'll do the show. You just have to get my bike here. Right. So I handed somebody in production the keys to my motorcycle. And on the day the show was canceled, my motorcycle arrived in Los Angeles. Perfect. But shows get canceled all the time. That didn't bother me that it got canceled.

No, I mean, I guess, of course it happens. But usually when you have a reality show like that, like you start it, people want it finished. Yeah, yeah. That kind of style of show I rarely see like you start it, people want it finished. Yeah, yeah. That kind of stylish show I rarely see. At that time, ABC was really struggling. I mean, there was a lot of issues. And, you know, every now and then, like now we're in the era of NBC, right,

that had struggled for a minute. But NBC will bounce back and are getting better. It always just, ratings go through periods where a network just is in the toilet. And ABC, I think, was struggling. I even lost track. I used to know, like, the shows that were on NBC versus ABC or whatever.

I have no concept the TV has changed so much but at the time it really mattered it was 2006 remember YouTube was brand new

were we in HD yet or are we still in SD that's how I kind of that show was HD yeah I remember doing that show they were so they were so great

to work with I loved it that was the beginning like you know that's when I really learned the difference between Canadians and Americans

in the media American shows get cancelled and people go oh that show got cancelled right and then here's the next show You know, that's when I really learned the difference between Canadians and Americans in the media. American shows get canceled, and people go, oh, that show got canceled. Right. And then here's the next show. Canadians pile on. It's like we eat our young, right?

We eat our everybody. Yeah. We do. I've heard this. The difference between America and Canada, I think, is that there are shitty people in America, and they are loud. There are wonderful people in America,

and they are loud. There are shitty people in Canada, and they are loud. There are wonderful people in America and they are loud. There are shitty people in Canada and they are loud. There are wonderful people in Canada and they are quiet. Right. And that is the difference. And that's fine. No one says you have to be loud. But the people who generally like what you do and the nice ones are just generally quiet, loving their life. It's only the jagoffs who are

really hammering. The folk minority. Yeah. And in America, you actually get both sides, though. That's an interesting point. Because I have a lot of friends who are trying to make it in Canada with television programming or whatnot, and they always speak about this, Canada likes to sort of knock you down and eat you up. I have a theory, an unpopular theory about it.

It's the print media. I really think it's the print media that does it. You read television reviews. There are very few, like, you know, there's some that are, Vinay Manal from The Star, great writer. Yeah, yeah, great guy too. Great guy, yeah.

Great writer. Like, you read his critiques, his commentary, you go, I get it, I get it. There's a real thoughtfulness to it, the way Richard Krauss would talk about films, a real thoughtfulness to it. But for the most part, you just have a bunch of people tearing down

who have no responsibility to build. And what most people in the media in Canada don't know, and I'll say this having done it with a great team, is that to build in this country is next to impossible something new. Lots of shows are successful here, but they're all ripoffs of American shows. You know, they're, pick a reality show, pick a competition show.

It's American stuff, right? Which is good. So, you know, yes, American Canadian Idol was big. Or Dragon's Den or whatever. Yeah, it was big. But the heavy lifting has been done. Now, in the Dragon's Den case, they actually, it was big. But the heavy lifting has been done. Now, in the Dragon's Den case, they actually made it better than the originals.

And all around the world, people started to look at the Dragon's Den team and go, wait a minute. Let's do that. The Canadians are better at this. So who started that? Was it Australia or England? It's one of those countries, right?

I figured it would be England. I don't know. For the longest time, all the shows came out of Israel. A lot of them came out of... I keep thinking you'll be a guest on Dragon's Den one day. First of all, no. No.

Because I would like... I don't want to give you money to do what? Here's what I would do. I would pay money for people not to make stuff because I don't want any more consumerism and all that other terrible stuff. Too much stuff. I don't need another plastic thing in my life.

I'm with you. I want to be a part of selling experiences. That's why I like the hockey gig, man. It's experiences. Let's get to the hockey gig. The ABC failed reality show. Good shot. It didn't work.

But then CNN at some point. There's a CNN thing with you. It was so fun, man. It's Strombolopoulos. That's what it's called, right? Yeah. Aren't they confusing you with Stephanopoulos? I got a lot of that.

I got a lot of that. Again, I was at my home in LA just chilling out. I got a call from my agent. He said, hey, you should come meet the CNN guys. They want a lot of that. I was, again, I was at my home in LA just chilling out, and I got a call from my agent and said, hey, you should come meet the CNN guys. They want to talk to you. I said, okay. So I went down and just met with the CNN guys. Same thing.

I just met a couple guys, a guy and a girl there, and it was good. So they just saw you and liked you? Because it's unusual for a Canadian personality like yourself to go off and do a CNN show. Yeah, I don't know. I guess they'd heard about it, right? And so there weren't as many people as you think unusual for a Canadian personality like yourself to go off and do a CNN show. Yeah. I don't know. I guess they'd heard about it. Right. And then, and so, uh,

you know, there weren't as many people as you, as you think who are doing interviews, right. You know, as certainly on TV. So I had had a lot of television experience, you know, and I think, I guess my agent told him about whatever my experience and I went down and met them and I was on my way to go pick up a car. I bought a car, I bought a cop car. So was going down to buy my cop car at Miracle Mile. CNN is right around the corner from my house where I live.

I literally just went down the street and I hung a right and there's CNN. I've been driving by it for my entire time in LA, which is like decades. That was it. I met, it was very nice. I didn't meet about anything and I left. And then I got a call that night saying, Hey, they want you to go to New York. The next day, why don't you go to New York? They want you to meet the CNN people. And I knew Jeff Zucker was coming in the boss. I knew it was changing.

So I went and met this woman called Amy and Jeff, and they said, here's the thing. We have a show. I think I met Amy first. She said, we have, we're changing our network. We have a summer slot for 10 episodes for the summers. Do you want them? And I said, I do. I said, I have to go back to Canada to do my show in September.

And I said, cool. We only have 10 episodes. I said, gladly. I'll take the 10. And we shot all 10 episodes in four days in Tom Snyder's old studio on the CBS lot in Burbank. Or not Burbank, in Hollywood.

So it was right next door to the Craig Ferguson set. Oh, yeah, cool. And Craig used to shoot in there as well. When I got there, there was a Craig Ferguson mural on the wall and I asked them to keep it up. So when our audience came in, they stayed. I wanted them to see the Craig Ferguson because I wanted to honor it up. So when our audience came in, they stayed. I wanted them to see the Craig Ferguson

because I wanted to honor the studio. And I remember saying to them, they're like, we'll paint it up, we'll put your name on it. I said, don't put my name on it. I'm doing 10 episodes, but moreover, it's not that. It's Craig Ferguson's studio. It's Thomas Snyder's studio. Let's keep it.

So we kept it. And then I did the 10 episodes in four days and then I took off. That was it. Cool. People don't like... Yeah, go ahead. Although then I did the 10 episodes in four days, and then I took off. That was it. Cool. People don't like... Yeah, go ahead. Although, when I came back to Canada,

everybody kept saying, oh, your CNN show got canceled. And I remember saying, that was the media. And I remember saying, right, I forgot your Canadian print. Right. You don't realize that it was always the deal. It was always the deal.

They look for the... Yeah, and I'm sure they'd really want to shoot that one down, because this was like a Canadian boy thinks he can go and conquer the U. They look for the negative. I'm sure they'd really want to shoot that one down because this was like a Canadian boy thinks he can go and conquer the US. I didn't even want a press release to go up because I know what the press is like in this country. That's too bad. What's been interesting is that you have to go through

those moments where you get hammered a lot because you become a better person and a better broadcaster, I think, if you're strong enough to go through with it. That's a perfect segue. You're getting hammered a lot because people don't like change. Do you know this? Have you realized this?

I'm familiar with it. So I can't imagine what would cause more aggravation to people than changing their hockey telecast, especially on a Saturday night. I know. I personally don't even like it. I don't even like when Jim Hewson does the freaking game. And he's a fine broadcaster. He's a great broadcaster. I love what he does. I want Bob Cole to do

my games. That's what I want. Yeah. Tied to your childhood. Yes. It's what I want. And I wonder what it's like for you. You're actually essentially, I know not exactly, but you're essentially replacing Ron McLean, essentially as host of Hockey Night in Canada. And I just wonder, A, do you read these

reviews? Do you care? I mean, I can't imagine what he got when he replaced Dave Hodge back in the day. He got a lot of grief. Ron was 26 years old, and I think he had been doing weather and sports before. He was young. Yeah, you don't even,

because wasn't he balding though already? No, no, no. Okay, come on. Powder blue blazer, right? Well, I don't know if he wore it in the first year, but maybe. Yeah, Ron walked into a tough situation, man. And Ron got hammered walked into this. Powder blue blazer, right? Well, I don't know if he wore it in the first year, but maybe. They, yeah, Ron walked into a tough situation,

man. And Ron got hammered. Ron got hammered. I knew when they called me and said, do you want to do this? I remember thinking, you guys out of your minds. You know what's going to happen?

You're going to, you're going to take a prairie boy out and you're going to put a city boy in. You're going to put, you're going to take. And he's got piercings. Piercings. And also,

and this is not to be understated, I'm ethnic. And that only flies, you know, that's still a thing, being ethnic. I guess you're a little ethnic. It's a mild ethnic. I'm super ethnic. Oh, that last name? Exactly. Super ethnic.

And so you're going to take a city boy who's a super ethnic, who wears earrings, who doesn't come from the traditional path. That's right. Even though I had worked in sports, I don't come from the traditional path. That's right. Even though I had worked in sports, I don't come from the traditional path. You're going to change the broadcast company that makes it. You're going to change the panelists. You're going to change the set. You're going to change the camera angles.

And you're going to change the host. Yeah, it's a lot. A lot of change. It's going to be. And who are they going to focus on? Two things. Their cell phone provider and the host. Yeah, it's a lot, a lot of change. It's going to be, and who are they going to, who are they going to focus on? Two things, their cell phone, cell phone provider and the host. So I knew that was coming, but you actually, you know, it, it sort of bugs you a little bit because most people who criticize you, look, sometimes in the criticism, there's truth. Sometimes you listen to criticism and go, eh, you're kind of right.

But all the attacks that came after the first few weeks, well, it's the first few weeks of a 12-year deal. Right. And one of the guys from The Globe, I don't know his name, I don't read the stuff, but I eventually saw part of this, but he made an assessment after four or five weeks in, and I thought, four or five weeks in,

you guys are right. I went, oh, right, that's what the newspaper does. Right, that's how they do it. Investigative journalism in newspapers is incredible. A lot of the stuff around it can be a bit shifty. Same for television. Investigative journalism, television, awesome. A lot of stuff around it, shifty.

So when I single out, I'm not just singling out print. I'm just saying in this general in this country. So I knew I was going to get destroyed for it. And you just go, uh. What I actually was surprised by, though, I will say this. Tell me. Is how much the criticism was homophobic, sexist, and racist. Like, it's astonishing how much. And I didn't realize how bad style most people

must have because they got mad at my pants. I got a note here. I want to get back to the homophobic and misogynist stuff, but back to first the pants. It honestly is the number one thing I hear when people want to know. I don't even notice. I guess are they tapered or something? Are they

tight? I asked Ed the sock though. It sucks. I asked Ed the sock about your pants and he was hilarious and doesn't want to look at your pants but uh yeah the pants is a big one and the boots maybe i never wear boots shoes i don't know wear nice shoes i honestly don't know what those suits that i wear i actually think it's you know it's actually ridiculous that the conversation has become a little more close. Because what I'm wearing are really nice suits. I just wasn't wearing a tie. And the fact that my pants were skinny. Skinny, that's the word.

I'm the least, look at what I'm wearing. Roots, sweatpants. Skinny pants. And I remember getting all the, and I still get the grief about the skinny pants sometimes. And I looked at some of the people's timelines and I looked at the photos and I go, all right, I mean, I guess, Carl Lagerfeld,

thanks for your input. But what I'm wearing is only foreign to them right it's not foreign to the world and walk around toronto i wear the same suits that in fact i wear the same my pants are just a little bit more fitted than some of the guys i work with but just people wanted to hammer on something and they don't like what some people don't like what I represent. But remember, that's just Twitter. Tell me this, where does the homophobia come from? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not homosexual. No, I'm not. I'm straight. So, I don't even know, what are they saying?

Because you're fashionable? Because I have earrings. Earrings. And I wore skinny pants. These guys still exist? Is this Ford Nation? Come on, is this Ford Nation? Dude, it's all over, it's mostly, it's actually not really in Toronto. Not really in Vancouver, but it's kind of everywhere else in some of the other parts of the country that you get this stuff from. The nastiest though are from women.

Interesting. But you're Canada's boyfriend. Most of the women who tweet about my outfits, like most people on the street have no issues with what I wear. And why would they? No. If you're focusing on what you wear,

just whatever. No, it's a little like Don Cherry wears. But a friend of mine told me this great piece of advice. He says, most people hate the fact

that you're happy and they know you're happy and they're not. Like most people aren't happy and that's why they hammer on you. And it might be

the best gig in the country. You've got it. It is the best gig in the country and I'm the luckiest guy to have the job. And I take the job incredibly seriously. But the majority of the criticism is this.

Your outfits or you're not Ron. Yeah. What are you going to do about that one? What do I need to do about either one? Like, you want me to dress like your dad? I'm not doing that. I'm not dressing like your dad. I'm not dressing like you.

I'm dressing like me. There's still these guys. These guys still exist. Piercings, and they start with the homophobia. You're still getting this. Is this like emails and tweets, or is this like letters? It's only Twitter, man. Twitter's full of crazy people who think they mean their voice.

But Twitter is a group of people who are capable of so much, good and bad. Remember when Ward scored the winning goal against Boston? The racism. Come on. But you have to remember that these are people, right? So these are people. And this is what they say. So I don't worry about it

because the truth is, and there's lots of research that we do on it, that people like what we're doing. It's going in the right direction, right? But when it's changed, and I get it. A lot of people are stuck in jobs they don't love, stuck in situations they don't love, think that life has done them wrong. They sit down at night and just want to throw a beer at somebody and it's going to be the guy on TV.

And that's OK. That doesn't bother me. These guys, these guys on their Saturday night, they're going to watch, I don't know, Leafs versus Habs, let's say. And he's going to crack open his beer and watch his Saturday night hockey like he's always done before Don Cherry comes on. And there's a guy that sits in the chair who used to interview a politician or an actor. And he's like, what the fuck is that guy? And he looks like he should be walking on Queen Street in Toronto. Right. And they're all like, go to Ossington Street.

I'm like, first of all, how do you guys even know where Ossington is from Saskatchewan? But you know, I guess I know Saskatchewan, so maybe they know Ossington. Sure. But yeah, that's what it is. And they don't like what I represent. And what I represent is change. Yeah. You and your 40s are the young face of marketing Canada.

That's the craziest part. Yeah. If you think about it, Ron and Dave, who are incredible broadcasters, who basically turned this into the show that we value. I know Ward and Foster absolutely, but I didn't see those guys, right? I didn't either. Dave Hodge and Ron McClain.

Yep. They got into the jobs, as I said, young. I got into this job with 20 years experience. That's the only way I could handle what it brings. But the majority of the reaction has been positive. It's just, you know, some of the hate. But again, the hate, well, you're close. What are you going to do? What are you going to do? And that's where I'm not that, that's where I don't mind having a little bit of fun at their expense.

And a lot of these people, it's hate for hate's sake. Like, you're just an outsider because you're not a sports guy. You might be a sports fan, but you're not from the sports. Most people don't realize. Despite that fan 590 experience. Right. But most people don't realize that the host of the show has to be a host, has to be a broadcaster. You have hockey players and journalists to do hockey player roles and journalist roles. A host has to be a broadcaster. Did Chris Berman win a Super Bowl?

No, he did not. Did Dan Schulman win a World Series? Did not. Right. It's the same thing. It's you come from a path of broadcasters where your job is to steward this ship. You steward the ship.

To me, I'm just a guy, just a fan. I personally like how you communicate. It feels very organic and casual. It doesn't feel forced and phony. I hate the voice. I had a guest on and I grilled her about her reporter voice. I just wish people talked like they talk. They're talking to a friend at coffee.

What happens is you have a program director somewhere in your career who tells you to big it up. Yeah. Right. That happens all the time. I had one say it to me. I got an email from a GM at the fan. This is when I looked at the fan.

I thought, you guys are out of your fucking minds. Some guy emailed me. He sent me a letter in my mailbox. He had heard me do the sports update. And he said, the word nothing has a G on the end of it, not nothing. The score was not 5-0. It was 5-nothing. And I remember thinking, you very quickly will be yesterday's man.

And it was in the air, too. The NBA was exploding, right? Jordan and all that stuff. And you want to be authentic and you want to be real. Jordan and all that stuff. And you want to be authentic and you want to be real. Hockey, listen, man, and hockey broadcasting has been very similar for decades. CBC, TSN, Rogers all have their own handle on it, but it's not wildly different, right?

Rogers thought, why don't we prepare it for the future by making it different? If we're going to spend this money, why would we spend this money to do the same thing when the same thing was working, but will the same thing work in four years, right? In three years, how about in 12 when the deal's up, right? So why don't we go big and really change it up? Putting a guy like Kip Rios and I beside each other. Yeah, like Kip Rios. So much fun. The one thing that we didn't have to develop at all was chemistry. Right.

Day one. Day one. Elliot, Kelly, Damien, it's right there. Chemistry is right up there. And the criticism is fine. It's change. I get it. People don't want to be a part of that.

But we are providing a real... I guarantee you there have been more laughs by Good Time enjoying the games in the first eight weeks, ten weeks, first month of this show that happened in the entire last year on every other show that wasn't hosted by James Duthie. Because James Duthie

brings great jokes. And so does Darren Millard. They bring great jokes. But Hockey Night in Canada wasn't like, let's have a laugh, laugh, laugh. And some people go, I don't want laughing with my hockey. And I'm always like, you know what?

You do. You actually do. You may not know it yet. Right. But not Dennis Miller, okay? Let's not bring him in. But I'm not doing that, right? Dennis Miller was,

because here's what I never would have done. I never would have come on and been an analyst. Right? That's the thing. I was like, I'm not going to be. In fact, I used to do a show. People don't know this because it wasn't in Toronto, but I was on Leafs TV for a while.

John Shannon had brought me on Leafs TV. And I eventually, I remember saying to John, I don't think I can do this anymore because I don't feel right in the analyst position. You're just not comfortable. I knew as a hockey fan. People can smell a phony. Right.

Even though I was legitimately there and wanted to be a part of it, I knew that I was best served as a host. I just never thought, you know, hosting Hockey Night in Canada was ever going to be a possibility. And there's another part of me going back to how we started the adversarial thing. It's really kind of fun to be the fly in the ointment. Yeah, for sure. For sure. And when you interview somebody, your interviewing style I already liked.

You could interview whether it's a stringer bell or a politician or a hockey vet, a Johnny Bauer or whatever. It's interesting the way that you relate to these people. And I just want to hear the story. I just want a story. Tell me the story. Of interviewing? No, I mean in general.

When there's an interview and I'm watching as a viewer, I just want to hear a story. Because if you don't meet somebody at their presence, As a viewer, I just want to hear a story. Because if you don't meet somebody at their presence, that is to say, if you bring your own bullshit to the interview, your own prism all the time, then you're making it about you. I don't do that. I make it about us.

But more importantly, the host isn't the star. The guest isn't the star. It's that empty space between us. You know, that little thing that the audience relates to, isn't the star. The guest isn't the star. It's that empty space between us. You know, that little thing that the audience relates to. That's the star. That's what I do in hockey. That's the star. It's not about me.

Right. It's not about, it's not even about the player. Like, I know we go stars first, stars first, stars first. And that's true. It's important. We got to celebrate the stars of the game. Sure, we got to talk to Sid first. Of course.

And we should. We should. But why is that guy a star? Because he's great at what? Representing your team, that crest on the front as opposed to the name on the back. And why is that crest important? Because it's your relationship

with it as a fan. It's only a market because somebody's willing to pay for it. That's right. And that somebody's us. And I approached every interview the same way. Politician, actor, writer, social activist, religious figure. That was a bit more challenging. But, you know, I approached them all the same way.

I approached the job the same way. There are an enormous amount of times where I'm doing hockey on Saturday nights, especially the most recent ones where, because now that I'm getting comfortable in it, where I'm just talking to the guys in the listening tunnel and thinking, man, this is so fun. And I take it seriously. And sometimes when you get some of the criticism, people go, oh, you can't be laughing. This is serious business.

I mean, I'm not the kind of guy to say this, but I sometimes want to just remind them, when you've covered genocides and you've covered grave injustice right in this world you can cover hockey that's right this is entertainment people and you know who else really likes to change the players and the teams they like it i hear from gretzky i hear from other guys they like this they like what we're doing because they recognize that we love this game. We love it. And what we're not afraid to show how much we love this game. We're also not afraid to be critical.

We're not afraid to have serious discussions about it. But if you're not talking about concussions or player safety, that's like real serious stuff. We don't joke about that. But other stuff like a blown defensive play? Can't have a little bit of fun? Come on. Come on. Don Cherry lately has been

controversial because... Don's been great, by the way. His time... By the way, politically, we couldn't be further apart in our views, me and Don, but I don't miss a minute of Coach's Corner. I want to hear what this man has to say. Don, every Saturday, Don will be like, good job there, Georgie boy.

I'm glad to hear that. I really like the man. His time, I guess he's at five minutes now and he complains about this frequently. Yeah, but that's not new. Watch all the old coaches. Maybe it's more noticeable because

he's never been down to five sharp minutes. It seems like maybe it's more noticeable because he's never been this, he's never been down to five sharp minutes. Like it really is. It seems like a hard cut at five. Now I might be wrong. Yeah, listen, I'm in there. There's never a hard cut by the way. No.

It ends when they end, right? It ends when they end. It depends how aggressive his colleague there, Ron is. Ron is going to be. Yeah, no, they, listen, I don't know. That's not, that exists over there. It's a different.

I like the segment. I like Coach's Corner. I've always liked Coach's Corner. I know you do. It's a different. I like the segment. I like Coach's Corner. I've always liked Coach's Corner. I have vehemently disagreed with both of those guys many times on the things they say on that show. But that's okay. Me too. That's the case. That's what I like about Don.

But I've also agreed with them. I've also agreed with them. I think Ron has been incredible for the game. And I think Don has been incredible. We know Don Cherry is Don Cherry. And always interesting. Always entertaining. He's the most famous guy in Canada.

Is that right? Don is hands down the most famous guy in this country. And he's earned that for a lot of people. America said this, and he's right. The best thing about seeing Don on television is that it also means that you can grow old on TV. That's true. And in this business,

they kick a lot of people out when they're old. That's true. And people go, it's not just women, they kick people out when you get old. But Don is in his 80s. Yeah. Bob Cole's in his 80s. That's right.

They're on TV. And they're vibrant. Yeah. They're vibrant. And I think it's great. Yeah, there's no Coach's Corner controversy internally. I don't even, we just. No good to hear.

They do their part. And then Don, and then Ron has to go catch a flight that night or the next morning to do Hometown Hockey. Hometown Hockey, right. Which is Sundays on City TV. Which is such a cool show. I think that's a really interesting show. Yeah, absolutely. I like what they do. Very good. Just before we leave the Rogers Hockey, you did

mention misogynist. Like, who is complaining misogynist? It's the same thing. It's the same guys who use... Is it Christine Simpson? No, I'm just saying in general. We're talking about Twitter feeds. You go through the Twitter feeds of these people, and it's

usually bile. It's usually bile. They're mad at you for this. They're mad at you for that. They usually say misogynist stuff in there as well. They don't even know it's misogyny. That's the thing. A lot of them don't even know.

And they're not intentionally misogynist. They don't understand how words, well, some guy last night tweeted at me and used the R word, which I hate. I hate that word. And I looked at his timeline, and I almost never read these guys, any of this guy's stuff.

If someone's a total jack offoff, I just block them. Wait, hold on. The R-word? Yeah. You know the R-word. I'm not going to say it, but you know the R-word. And I just replied to him, and I just said, class never slumps. And I sent him a PSA about why you should spread the word to end the word.

Don't use the R-word. Oh, yes, I do know that. You know what? It did take me a good 10 seconds to realize what the R-word is. Because you don't use it. And I don't want to hear it. And moreover, like John C. McKinley, the actor, great actor. Great actor, absolutely.

Great actor, has this incredible line. He said this on the show once. He said, you can say the N word, but there's a tax. If you say it, well, you're going to pay. Consequences. How come there's no tax for the R word? It's a kid born a certain way, and you're going to use that word the way you want to use it? No, you're absolutely right.

You don't get to do that. And I know that a lot of people go, oh, don't be high and mighty and tell me how to feel. But listen, man, you don't get to dictate what offends people. And I don't mind offending people. Like, you can offend people for your content. But if you're using a derogatory term, a slur, that's not the same thing. That's not being politically correct. Being politically correct is also when you're curbing content.

Say and feel how you want to feel. But when you use a slur, fine, but there's a tax. And you see that stuff and you hear that stuff and I don't want to do it. You know, I mentioned on Hockey Night in Canada the other day about talking about kids and I talked about boys, girls, trans or other. And my job is to be inclusive, not exclusive. And to the people out there who want to keep

it exclusive, with all due respect, don't really care. That's not where we're going. We've evolved. We've evolved. And I have no hate towards these guys who hate me. I don't care. Everybody's got an opinion and you can share it if you wish. But if you think, if you want to attack me, cool. But if you want to just use certain words that hurt innocent bystanders, people who maybe follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Yeah. Oh, I'm not going to let that

slide. Yeah. That's somebody's son. That's somebody's brother. Yeah, yeah. And even if you're right, but even if it wasn't, that's just not what we do. Right. Have a little class. And people go, you don't wear a tie. That's not class.

No, no. Here's what class is. How you conduct yourself. Not your tie. How you conduct yourself. Absolutely. I couldn't say that better myself. Good news.

We just beat Merrick. Oh, yeah. We're number one in length. How long have we been going? I have it at an hour and 46, I think. Well, listen, Merrick is... I was going to make a joke, but I'm not going to say it. Oh, come on.

It's not... Never mind. Okay. After I stop going. Last question. There's a... With the show, radio show on CBCQ, I don't know if you follow the news. There's some controversy there.

Have you heard that? There sure is. There sure is. Yeah. Although they seem to still be calling it Q, they might rebrand it, but there seems to be a need for a new host, and I just wondered if you were even a potential candidate there.

No. No. I told Ed the Sock I thought you would be the best guy to come in there because of your George Straubel outpost. Well, I would love to work on projects with that team. You know, the real, aside from the obvious, you know, heaviness of the story and the realities of it, there was a lot of talk about the team at Q

and the culture on the team. Let me say this. There's a lot of great people on that team who are incredible producers, who are incredible writers, researchers. That show, like any show, is not a one-person show. No great show is a one-person show.

That's huge. Right. Except this one. Yes. But you're the unicorn, bro. Yeah, I'm the exception. The outlier. Right.

But there's great people who worked on that team. And I have worked with some of them. They worked on my show. But no. I don't think CBC would want that. I don't want that. I'm not doing that show. They've never offered it.

They've never even called me about it. I would fill in and help anytime they wanted any show on CBC because I really value them. How many companies are you working for right now? You've got the Rogers gig. You're on CBC because I really value them. How many companies are you working for right now? Like you got the Rogers gig, you're on CBC, anywhere else or is that it? My last conversation with CNN

is we still want to use you for stuff. Oh, cool. Okay, sure, whatever you want, man. Absolutely. I'm a big believer in honor the audience. Honor the audience. Respect your employers, your teammates,

but honor the audience. And if I can do music on CBC Radio, do interviews on CNN or elsewhere, wherever that happens, and do some hockey on the weekends, that's all right. That's honoring the audience, I think. Thanks for coming, man. Thanks for having me, pal. Might have taken a couple of years to get you in here, but it was worth it. I don't even really remember you asking me this summer.

I'm just kidding. A couple of years, a couple of months. What's here, but it was worth it. I don't even really remember you asking me this summer. I'm just kidding. A couple years, a couple months. What's the difference? Devil's in the details. It's a better story if it's a couple years. Thanks for having me, man. Oh, I appreciate it. Sorry for interrupting your dinner. Oh, no, you know what? I won't cancel my dinner for many people. When Strombo calls, I accept the charges. I sit here looking at a

banner of the Leaf Stanley Cup banners. The only consolation is it ends at 67. Oh, you know, I suppose in your basement, it takes more than one banner, I suppose. It does. Well, in my basement, the only really Habs thing I have is I have a chair from the Forum. Do you?

Yeah. That's cool. That's very cool. Thanks for having me. I always wanted a chair from Exhibition Stadium. I would love a bleacher. Bleacher. Dominion needs to buy $2 tickets to send the bleachers.

Honestly, I used to go and the last opening day ever when Jimmy Key pitched a 3-0 shutout, I skipped school to go there with my $2 ticket. $1 actually.

It was $2 regular. $1 with your Dominion. Amazing. Half price. That's incredible. Good old days, man. Two tickets for two. And that brings us

to the end of our 103rd show. No. Sorry. Sorry. 103rd. How do you say our 103rd show. No. Sorry, sorry. 103rd. How do you say it, though? 102.1.

102.1 episode of the show. Right. That's tough to say, though. You can do it. I'm not a professional broadcaster like you. You sure are. I believe in you. Does that mean there's a paycheck at the end of this day?

Well, it's a real radio. That means no. That's right. That's so damn true. You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike and George Strombolopoulos is at Strombo. See you all next week.