Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Gord Miller: Toronto Mike'd #1189

Episode Date: January 17, 2023

In this 1188th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Gord Miller about his career calling hockey games at TSN, calling Usain Bolt's 100m victory in the 2012 Olympics, working at ESPN and more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1189 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Electronic Products Recycling Association.

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and Sammy Cone Real Estate. Ask Sammy any real estate questions at sammy.cone at properlyhomes.ca Joining me today, making his Toronto mic debut, is Gord Miller. At long last. It took a while to get this together. Honestly, I would wait. I will wait for you. It's worth the wait. And it's a pleasure to have you here, Gord.

Thanks for having me. Were you named after Gordie Howe? Yes. I'm hearing this from Gords. I'm now learning. Most of the Gords I know were named after Gordie Howe. So my dad's favorite player and a connection because I grew up in Edmondson. The Edmondson Flyers were a Detroit Red Wings farm team.

So there was a Detroit connection to begin with. Right. And so, yes, I'm named after Gordie Howe. And was there ever a moment where you thought you'd be Gordon or Gordie, or did you just choose Gord? I don't love Gordie. I don't love Gordie, primarily because a guy I worked with early on when I started

would say, like, Gordie, and I didn't love it. Screw that guy. Gord or Gordo. My mother calls me Gordon. Very few people call me Gordon. Now, I've noticed just anecdotally, most Gordons I know are Canadian. It's a Canadian name, right?

I think there's an Irish sort of Scottish, but very few people in the United States. So when you say your name, you'll call a hotel, my name is Gord, right? Yeah. I think there's an Irish sort of Scottish, but very few people in the United States. So when you say your name, you know, you'll call a hotel. My name is Gord. Ward? No. Gord? No.

Gord with a G. And so it's a very, it's not a common name in the United States at all. But you can like rattle off like 10 famous Canadian Gords. Yeah. In Canada, it's very common. Yeah. I'm thinking Gord Downie, Gord Stellick, Gord Depp. We got Gord.

Gordon Lightfoot. Gordon Lightfoot, of course. Gord Martineau. Gordie Howe. Let's very common. Yeah. I'm thinking Gord Downie, Gord Stellick, Gord Depp. We got Gord Lightfoot. And Lightfoot, of course, Gord Martineau. Gordie Howe. Let's keep going. Gordon Rennie, who is a producer at CHFI.

Yeah. A lot of great Gords here, but Gordon Sinclair. Gordon Campbell. Yeah. But there is a Gordon, American Gordon. I'll just shout him out.

Gordon from Sesame Street. Oh yeah. I hadn't thought. That's right. Yeah. And one more, since we're doing this. Alf's real name was Gordon Sh Sesame Street. Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought. That's right, yeah. And one more since we're doing this. Alf's real name was Gordon Shumway.

I guess he's American. I don't know if Gordon was like his Melmac name. Because he was an alien, right? Yeah, he's from Melmac. Yeah, so I don't know if that counts or not. I'm going to allow it. Okay. Edmonton boy, I was just telling my wife upstairs,

because she was born and raised in Edmonton. I said there's a fellow Edmontonian dropping by. Can I ask you about something that shows up on your wiki page and you've got to elaborate on this? I'm going to read it to you verbatim. You ready? Okay, sure.

Miller fought in City Hall against a proposed curfew for children under 16. Yes. He collected over 3,000 names to petition the curfew and won. What's that about, Gord? So that's almost entirely accurate. I didn't personally collect all the names. I was part of the petition collecting group.

So the City of Edmonton proposed this curfew for people under 16 in the late 70s and i was outraged by it and a popular radio commentator uh and a newspaper writer named eddie keen who was like one of these classic old sort of like crusaders and you know and he had keen's crusaders and they were like exposed wrongdoing by companies and all kinds of stuff. Like our Peter Silverman, maybe. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, like he was always like, you know, on the side of the little guy. And so he got involved. His son was a little bit older than me, so he kind of recruited me.

And then one of the city councilors who was opposed to it went to university with my dad. And so he sort of looped me in with it as well. And what happened was Eddie Keene's son was supposed to speak to city council and he got cold feet. So I did. You stepped up. I was like 14 or something. And so that, that's from the Edmonton journal, that article, if you, if you do a search of me, it shows up, the article shows up. Um, and so, yeah, it's true. And we won. And, um, and I actually went, so the, the member shows up. And so, yeah, it's true, and we won. Wow.

And I actually went, so the member of city council was a guy named Percy Wickman, who was in a wheelchair. And I went to work for Percy after I got out of high school, and Percy helped get me into broadcasting. Okay, this is a beautiful segue, because Franklin Richards writes in when he finds out that Gord Miller's making his Toronto Mike debut, better late than never. Would love to know how Gord got his start in broadcasting.

And then he wants to know if you have any advice for the younger generation about how to properly get your foot in the door if they ever wish to become a sports journalist. So lots to unpack there, but give us that origin story. So it goes back to high school. So our high school had, the Commonwealth Games were in Edmonton in 1978, and our high school had the practice facility for track and field. So we had excellent track facilities.

We also, in our school, you had to do some community service. And so I was raking a long jump pit for a junior high school track meet, and it was raining, and I was not enjoying it. I don't like the rain very much. And the, no one showed up to be the announcer and the announce booth was covered. And I said, I'll do it. And so I did that. And then a guy came up to me and said, Hey, uh, there's a high school basketball tournament this weekend. Would you do that? I'm like, sure. And then there's this, and then the, and how old are you? Sorry. I'm 15. Wow. And so then the university of Alberta, uh are you, sorry? I'm 15. Wow.

And so then the University of Alberta, the guy that got me to do the high school stuff, said the U of A is looking for someone. So I did like the U of A Golden Bears basketball and hockey. I was their PA announcer. Wow. And then guys from CBC came along. John Wells, the late Peter Watts,

hired me to help them on a weekend because we had, Edmonton had a great satellite facility, which most stations didn't. So we would record all the games during the day and send the highlights out to all the CBC stations. So back in the day, Vic Router and Don Martin doing CBLT sports would take our feed. But it was just part-time work, and I was working full-time for Percy,

and Percy said, why don't you try broadcasting? Why don't you go to broadcasting school? And, and so I did, um, it, it didn't end well, but, um, I, I left early while I was asked to leave. And, um, and, uh, so that's kind of, and then the weird thing was I was already working at CBC part-time. My boss got me a job in Fredericton, New Brunswick. So I was going to start there in May of 1984. So I'm 18. Wow. And right before I'm supposed to leave, he goes, don't take the job. And I said, you got me the job. Why? I can't tell you this. I can't tell you, but just don't take this job. So I stayed. That was the summer of the Olympics in Los Angeles. John Wells and Peter Watts went down to LA to work,

and so I was anchoring the late-night sports. Now, you've got to understand how late this is. The Olympic coverage ends at like 1 a.m. Then the CBC National comes on, and then we come on at like 2 a.m. So you could essentially shoot a man on that broadcast and get away with it. But I did sportscasts. And then John and Peter left for TSN, which started in September of 1984. That's why my boss couldn't tell me.

Right. He knew they were leaving. And so we hired Chris Cuthbert to replace John Wells right away. And then they auditioned people for my job for the next two years while I was doing it. And so I just kept grinding away, grinding away. Now I had great local contacts, right? Because I had done all the high school events. I'd done the university events. I had good local contacts. And in the end, the guy that my boss, Dennis said to me, we're going to hire you full time. And I was 20. And, uh, and so it's very hard for me to give advice to young people to get into the business

because my path was so unconventional, but my, my thing is just do it. Just broadcast, just literally like read the paper out loud. Um, read, you know, go online and read news stories out loud, sit and watch a leaf game and, and make notes and, and go online and watch Sheldon Keefe's postgame news conference and write a story and see what it looks like. And then compare it to what was in the Toronto Star or the Toronto Sun. Like, just do it.

Just do it. It's funny, I was at my boy, my eight-year-old's house league game on the weekend. And I was thinking, you know, like, if you wanted to get your reps in and just do it, like, there's nothing to stop you from like live streaming the play-by-play of this house league hockey game you're at. Like, just do it. Like there's nothing to stop you from like live streaming the play-by-play of this house league hockey game you're at.

Like just do it. Yeah. Now it's hard if you don't know the players, but you can, you can fake it. But yeah, that's my, my advice is to whatever your passion is to try to do it. You know, talk to people in the industry, practice, you know, obviously if you're

interested in medicine, you can't do that. You shouldn't be operating on people in your spare time. Open heart surgery. Yeah. You probably shouldn't be be operating on people in your spare time. Open heart surgery. Yeah, you probably shouldn't be doing appendectomy in your spare time. But no, I think that my advice to people that want, now broadcasting has changed a great deal, right? I mean, this didn't exist when I was starting out.

Right. Right. So it was a very different sort of world then. And it's, so it's, and it's evolving all the time. So yeah, my advice is just to do it. That boss of yours who said, I can't tell you why, but don't take the gig, did you such a solid? His name was Dennis McVarish.

He was a great guy. And so when he hired me full time, he said, let's go to the bar and do your contract. I said, Dennis, you're a professional. I'm not going to the bar with you. And he said, okay, I can't do this with you. He said, I'm going to write down on a sheet of paper what I think you should make. And you write down on a sheet of paper what you think you should make. And then we'll exchange them. Okay. So I, I didn't know, like, I didn't know anybody made. And, and so I, my next door neighbor had just started articling, like my buddy

growing up had just started articling for a law firm. Or sorry, just started as a first year associate. He'd article, he was a first year associate. Okay. So I'm like, okay. I thought I don't, I should make what he makes. So I wrote down my number and we exchanged it. His was 10,000 higher than mine.

So who won? The higher number or the lower number? Split the difference. No, I should have just taken his offer, which would have been smart. But in the end, I remember thinking,

if I could just make this for five years, I'll be set. And of course, I was covering the Oilers. The Oilers were great in the 80s and there was all kinds

of stuff going on. Well, that was the city of champions. Right. Kurt Browning was the world figure skating champion. There was, the Edmonton Eskimos

won a bunch of great cups. It was just crazy, right?imos won a bunch of great cups. Like it was just crazy. Right. So, um, and so it was a great time. It just, and I got,

I literally got thrown to the deep end of the pool. Like I was, you know, I, I didn't know what to, you know, I was just learning on the fly. And so I,

you know, I would do stuff like, I remember one time early on, I went to a Chicago Blackhawks practice. Uh, they were playing Edmonton in the playoffs. And the coach of Chicago, Orval Tessier, said, our team needs a heart transplant. And I was kind of, okay, whatever. So I drive back to the office and I'm putting it in my story and that's not in it. And I just happened to look at the wire, which is the old teletype with the big,

the big roll, like the big roll.pe with the big, the big roll, like the big roll. And I went ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And it said,

uh, Chicago coach Orville Tessier says, you know, his players need a heart transplant. So I was quickly like, I'll, I'll put that as the lead in my story. Um,

so that was, yeah, it was, it was a great time. And it was, you know, I started working for, you know,

doing network sports stuff and I was really young and I looked really young and it was, uh, it was crazy. I mean, it's CBC, right? So this is a big deal. And did you get a special blazer or something? I got the orange coat. I also got the baby blue hockey night coat because I did some regional hockey night games.

And so I have the melon coat somewhere. Oh, man. I also have the navy blue. They had a navy blue one that was made of, I don't know what the fabric was. Well, it's polyester. It was blazing, like it was boiling hot in the summer and ice cold in the winter.

Like, I don't know how it mattered, but who knows what it was made of. I think if you put a lighter to it, it would have gone up in seconds. Yeah, you're not allowed to smoke in that jacket. I have a, upstairs in my closet, I have a shirt from the 76 Olympics. Oh, the exploding pizza shirt?

Yeah, the exploding pizza. There was some kind of alliance between TVO, TV Ontario and CBC. And then I had a contact at TVO who had one. And I wear it, like when CBC people come on, I'll wear it, like if Jill Deacon comes on or Matt Galloway or whatever. And that thing, it's like, it's polyester, but it's, yeah,

it's one of those, it doesn't breathe at all. If you put that thing in the dryer, it would probably come out like the size of a postage stamp or something. Actually, I'm afraid because Brent Bambery is coming over in a couple of weeks and I'm going to wear it for him and I want it to last that long. Do you mind, Gord, if I crack open a fresh craft beer? I presume. There you go.

All right. So what I'm cracking open is an IPA. It's called Burst. Okay. Oh, there you go. There you go. Audio and everything. Now, just so you know, there is a cold one there.

You can bring that home with you. You're going to bring home several cans of Great Lakes. Thank you. Very good. Rarely do I record this late on a monday so it's kind of fun you're also going to take home with you a large meat lasagna from palma pasta so that's in my freezer perfect for me that will not be empty when you leave and then since i'm just giving you the gifts all right in a row here ridley funeral home pillars of this community since 1921. That's a measuring tape. So this is what they measure for the casket?

To measure the cadaver or whatever. Ochre pine. And that's a flashlight. So see that white thing? Pull out the white thing. Yeah, good. And don't blind yourself, but turn on your Ridley Funeral Home flashlight.

I think it's a... No, you're breaking it, Gord. Here, pass it over here. Oh, here we go. Fix that bottom. Yeah, yeah. Don't stare Oh, here we go. Oh, jeez. Fix that bottom. Yeah, yeah. Don't stare into the light there. That's a powerful one.

I could go to a black light party with this. You might not want to do that. But so we have you at CBC 1984. How the heck do we get Gordon Miller to TSN? So in 1990, the late Jim Thompson, who I'd worked with at CBC, asked me to come and audition for them. And so I came out the Labor Day weekend. And Keith Pelley, who went on to be the head of TSN for a long time, who's now the commissioner of the European PGA tour, um, directed my audition.

And, um, and so I auditioned on, on Labor Day Monday. And then that afternoon they offered me a job. Uh, a guy named Rick brace was the VP there and Rick offered me the job and they offered me a salary that wasn't very good. And I said, no. And then Jim called me in the morning. I was flying out the next morning and Jim said, we'll, uh, we'll give you this. And I took it. And my contract was open at CBC. They'd not renewed it. I was just kind of working on an open contract. Right. So I literally, uh, went back to Edmonton, told my boss, I'm leaving next week. And I drove the Toronto.

I left on September the 11th, 1990, and arrived here on the 14th. And that night, turned up at TSN to watch them do Sports Desk, which it was called then. And I ended up doing it because someone was sick. Wow. So I had no idea. I didn't know how to do it.

Do you remember who was sick? No, I did the show with Chris Seidens. Um, and, um, yeah, I just remember, you know, that I do, I do sports desk. I never, and they, and they gave you the TSN blazer, right? So you had the Ted Baxter blazer and they also issued TSN shirts and ties. You couldn't wear your own shirts and ties. Wow. They gave you four shirts, four ties, and you had to wear them. And so, so they gave me a jacket, some shirts and ties. And I started that night and, uh, and, and thinking, wow. And then like a week later, there was an NBA preseason game in Toronto. This is before the Raptors. Sure. Yeah. And so they, they sent me down to,

to do play by play of this basketball game. So the producer. You called that Raptor game. I mean, I'm sorry. There's no Raptors until 95, but you called that NBA game. Cleveland-Boston. And so the producer, I show up, it was at Skydome, and the producer says to me, have you ever called an NBA game before? I said, I've never been to an NBA game before.

Like, I've not been to an NBA game before. And so they just, like, again, you just did everything. Like, I was doing sports desk. I was doing play-by again, you're, you just did everything. Like I was, I was doing sports desk. I was doing play by play. I was hosting the CFL. I was hosting junior hockey. I was doing some play by play of hockey. I was hosting NHL games once in a while. Like it was crazy. Now, a lot of people think it's, I know I'm not going to name drop. It's not cool, but I actually liked the name dropping. Like, can you remember any of the, who was at TSN in 1990?

Just give a little taste. So that would be Michael Landsberg, Vic Rauter. And by the way, as you go, I'll tell you if they're FOTMs right now. So FOTM means friend of trauma. You're now an FOTM. Even if you storm out of here right now,

this is long enough. I'm going to count it. Okay. So first name was Michael Landsberg. Yeah. F is long enough. I'm going to count it. Okay. So first name was Michael Landsberg. Yeah. FOTM. Okay. Second name.

Vic Rauter. Make the final. Yeah. FOTM. Okay. Jim Van Horn. FOTM. Who else?

This is fun. Chris Seedens. Paul Romanek. Paul Romanek, FOTM. Yeah. Who else? Trying to think who was. Jim Hewson.

Was it TSN then? Okay. You know what? Uh, it should be an, in fact, if Andrew Stokely, uh, let's shout him out because, uh, he's a good guy. Uh, if he's listening, hook me up with, uh, Jim Hewson. He should be an FOTM. Um, no guys are still there. Gino Retta was there.

Rod Smith. Okay. Well, they're both FOTMs. So, so I've been, I've been at TSM for 33 years now. Wow. And I'm like fourth in seniority because Gino's been there longer than me.

Vic's been there longer than me. And Rod's been there longer than me. Wow. So, um, who else? Uh, Teresa Cruz.

Okay. Who was Teresa Hergert then? Sure. Um, Diana McDonald was there then. Um. No, Lisa Bowes wasn't there in 1990.

Yes, she was. Yes, she was. Okay, she's an FOT in this one. I think, um,

at least she comes later. Did she, did she come late? I'm, she might not have been there when I started. She looks like she's 29 years old. I know. So how could she be there in 1990?

Forever. So, so Lisa, yeah. Yeah. So TSN was in that building on Leslie Street until like the late 90s. It's a BMW dealership now, but it was like a tiny, we probably had like 65 employees total.

And, you know, we did everything, right? Like we just, we literally did everything. Well, let's remind everybody that, I mean, if there's any youngsters listening that like Sports Desk in 1990 was everything. Sure. I co-host a show with, with, with Mark Hebbs here.

And we often talk about sports line in the, you know, the early mid nineties and what that meant then. But yeah, like sports desk, like there was no internet. Like this was where you went.

We had the ticker, you know, the background and, and, uh, yeah. So, I mean,

it was, it was a lot of fun. It was, um, I wasn't, it was hard at first because I just moved here. I didn't know anybody. And I bought a condo, kind of sight unseen. There was just nothing around it.

And I was traveling all the time. What neighborhood? It was up by, it's Winford Drive, up by Don Valley Parkway in Eglinton. Okay. There was nothing there then. Right. And so, but it was close to the office and quick to the airport.

And I was flying all the time. So I kind of, for the first couple of years, you know, I just felt like a fish out of water here. I felt like there were 10,000 things going on and I wasn't doing any of them. And so it was hard. And then I moved to the Annex and kind of started to get the feel for Toronto. It got sort of a neighborhood feel. And it's funny because one of the first places I went to was the Avenue Diner at, at Avenue Road in Davenport, yeah, Davenport. And I still go there. I still go there. My daughter

and I go there all the time. Nice. And, uh, so I, I, I started to get more roots, but I mean, the traveling was, you know, I was away so much. I was away, I remember one year, I think it was 1993, I spent like 220 days of that year on the road. Because I would do hockey all winter and then go right into the CFL in the summer. Right. But what does that do? I guess you're younger and you just sort of do it.

Like, you know, it sounds like a common theme with you is just do it. I was 28, and so you're just kind of, I was 27 and 28 that year, so you're just going out on the road and being a young guy, and you don't really think about it. I mean, my place literally looked like a hotel room. There were no plants.

There was never any food in the fridge. I remember there used to be a a floating poker game back in those days and uh and so i it was my turn to host at my place and we ordered pizza and then late at night it gets to be like four or five in the morning and a guy went to put the pizza in the oven to warm it and he he put it on the on the broiler pan they have. And all of a sudden, this black smoke started coming out because the warranty was still wrapped in plastic in the. Oh, you're definitely.

He's like, how long have you lived here? Like two years. So I never, like I, my fridge was empty. It was like this, it looked like a hotel room. But you were on the road. You were on the road all the time. All right, my friend. Now, what I'm very interested in is the timelines

of you and Paul Romanuk here, because Paul Romanuk was the voice of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. And then at some point, if I, and you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but his wife gets a job in Europe and he goes to live in Europe. Do I have any of that right? Partly. So Paul called it, so I started hosting it in 94 in the studio.

It was my first one. Then 95, I was the onsite host. And then in 2001, I want to say, Paul went to Chum Radio. 1050, right. They did like this, I think they called it the team or something. The team 1050. I did a whole micumentary on this and what a, you know, what a shit storm that was.

It lasted like months. 18 months maybe. Not that long. Not that long. Okay. So Paul left. Well, maybe, maybe, well, I don't think it was a year.

I don't think it lasted. So Paul left to go to that. Right. And then I moved into the play-by-play seat. So I started doing the play-by-play of the world junior in the NHL in 02. And, um, and then Paul's wife,

Carrie got a great job. I want to say L'Oreal or somebody in, in Europe. So Paul moved to England and he was there for like 10, 15 years. Yeah. He was there. He was there when I did the Olympics in London because we went for a beer in London.

And then he came back to work for Sportsnet when they got the NHL rights back. Right. Right. You know, I don't know how I blocked out the Team 1050. I think a lot of people would like to. You know, it was, they just, I don't know what they did because they kind of, you know because they hired Jim Van Horn,

they hired Paul, and they put all this promotion into it, and then they just kind of lost their nerve and pulled the plug on it. Like causing, you know, in Canadian sports media circles, it caused this whole trickle effect because you got like Scott Ferguson, for example, who was working Blue Jay games, left 590 for the gig at the team, and that's when Mike Willner kind of comes in and gets his job. Like a lot of stuff kind of changed.

Yeah, it did. And it was, you know, it was sort of a, it was a bit of an earthquake because people were like, oh, like it was the first time something had really, I mean, when TSN started in 84, I remember the Grey Cup was at Edmonton that year. And I went to CBC Sports, invited me to their seminar or whatever,

Grey Cup, their meeting. And the head of CBC Sports said, all these guys who left to go to TSN, it'll be out of business in a year. And they'll all be coming back begging for work and they won't get it. But I remember thinking, they've got all those Blue Jay games and they own the team. They got all the curling we don't show during the week.

They seem okay to me. And, uh, and so, but when, when that radio station, when they, you know, when the, when the sports thing, it folded, it was a bit of an earthquake for sure. Some angry people that day. I know the Mike Richards and a whole bunch of good people got caught up in that one, but, uh.

Was Mike Richards part of that? I think so. I have memory, but you know what? I could be conflating another, uh, radio scandal. Maybe he was. Mike's been in a number of radio scandals,

so God bless him. He's got a big announcement to make very, very soon. Does he? I keep getting texts from him. Okay. He's this close to having this large, this enormous announcement to make.

And he says he wants to come on Toronto Mike to make it. So, uh, it's coming soon. He's a very talented guy. I love, I mean. I have great respect for people that are talented at radio

because it's a skill. And I do some radio. Like Brian Hayes is really talented at radio. He's excellent at radio. Yes. And that's, it's a skill. Now he's good on TV, but the radio, like hosting Overdrive every day,

and I pinch hit for him sometimes in the summer or I'll co-host with him. Right. He's excellent. Like it's a really, it's a really interesting skill that he has. And he also has a great sense of the market. Hayes has a great sense of what the Toronto market

is interested in, what they care about, and the questions that Toronto sports fans would ask. He doesn't get caught up in sort of the banal. He gets to the meat of it. And he's a talented, talented guy. No, absolutely. His dad is a talented radio guy and an FOTM as well, Bill Hayes.

And Bill was a legend, right? So, I mean, it's kind of interesting that he's, I think it's hard to be, you know, to follow in your dad's footsteps in the same business and, and yet he's done it and he's made his own way. And he, he's, um, he's a lot of fun to work with. He's a, he's a lot of, he's a really interesting guy to talk to. He's, he's smart. He's quick. And, and radio is a fascinating medium because you're not under the same time pressure that we're on, on TV. Like TV is like, go, go, you know, it's 30 seconds, 30 seconds, 30 seconds. Right. And, and, and radio is more free form. Right. And some of the most fun we have on that show on overdrive is when there's nothing scheduled. Like, we got, you know, an open segment.

And are you too busy doing, you know, play-by-play of hockey games to actually get, to have a radio show? Like, would you have any interest in that? Yeah, I couldn't, I couldn't do it. You know, I, it just wouldn't work, right? I mean, I'm away too much, so. So let's talk in some detail here about the

World Junior Ice Hockey Championship. You have to get ice hockey in there? I know. It's a different world junior field hockey championship. Is that the proper name? Like I copied and pasted the official name from, I guess, no, I guess the proper name is

the IIHF World Junior Championships. That's the correct name. I am Canadian. Championship. What am I putting nice in there for? That's what I get for reading my own notes here. But I have a little clip here. So just a taste. And then I do later, weord. Championship. What am I putting nice in there for? That's what I get for reading my own notes here. But I have a little clip here.

It's just a taste. And then I do, later we'll focus a little more on what just transpired in Halifax. And Moncton. But here's a little taste of Gord Miller. Well, Boyd Chuck looking for it. Tavares pulls it out. Tavares backhand towards the goal. Loose puck and he scores!

Can you believe it? Johnny T. Yeah, to Jordan Eberle. There's a whole bunch of really interesting stuff around that goal that happened and uh it's it's the call that i get asked about i mean that was 14 years ago i still get asked about it honestly probably once a week like i like i'll go through the airport and someone go like can you believe it i've been asked to do ads like to use it for for ads. Uh, and I won't. Um, but I remember

it was funny. I was walking my dogs near my house and some kids were playing street hockey in the summer and a kid went forehand backhand shelf and they're all like, come on, say it. And I said, can you believe it? And they were just roaring laughing. But it's amazing how that's lived. I mean, it gets played so much. So Eberle scores that goal. And people have said to me, like, did you plan that? Yeah, I sat in my hotel room in the morning. I thought, what if they score with five seconds left to tie it? And what will I say?

It just came out. And I don't like to plan things in advance. I don't like to sort of script what I I don't like to, you know, to say, you know, to sort of script what I'm going to say, but it's amazing. So the puck was never recovered. It went right back into circulation. It was used, because the game went to overtime.

Yeah. It was used in overtime in the shootout and it just got dumped in a bucket and taken somewhere. Eberle used that stick in overtime, the shootout and the next game, the gold medal game against the Swedes, went back to Regina with it, broke it in his first game back, and tossed it in the garbage. And the trainer said, hang on a second,

is that the stick you scored that goal with? And he taped it back together, and it's now in the Eberle family basement, in his parents' basement. So it's an incredible sort of, and I did a thing a few years later um an article um for a book uh world junior book about different years and i and i sort of did a deep dive on that goal and talked to tavaris and and ryan ellis who kept the puck in at the line and and cody hodgson makes a

great play on that goal that never gets talked about. He lifted the Russian defenseman's stick. The puck go through the Tavares, then batted to the front of the net. And I think I call him Tavares there. It was a long discussion about was he Tavares or Tavares. Right. And yeah, it was incredible. I mean, you know, that crowd was amazing. And now the version you played is an edited version.

Okay. Because Pierre Maguire jumps in at the end when I say, can you believe it? And says, yes, I can because the Russians iced the pipe. And people said to me, did that ruin the call? And I said, it didn't ruin it. It was a rhetorical question. It didn't need to be answered.

But that version that you played, the edited version, is the one that people hear the most. Right. Well, that's the one on YouTube. And I think it's TSN sharing it. It's been viewed like I don't know how many millions of times on YouTube. But it's, yeah, it's kind of neat to have that sort of

it sort of lives forever. That'll outlive me, right? That'll be... Let's talk about 2023 for a moment here so again we're not totally skipping from 2002 to 2023 but let's listen to now this this is interesting i was watching you okay so i'm watching this is the quarter finals against slovakia and i'm watching it but meanwhile i'm on twitter as well because that's how i roll these days and i see uh there's been a tragic happening in cincinnati uh the bills right so i flip over there and learn

what's going on and and terrible news but thankfully he survives he uh was tweeting yesterday but uh damar i mean but he then damarlin, but then I come back to the game, of course, because we're in overtime and it's a must win. And then I'm there to watch this live. Frank Clark, tied up, drops it back.

Here comes Bernard. Bernard shoots. Guy in the save. And Bernard holds the line. Bernard back with it. Slides in again. Bernard clocks right in. And he gets it!

The time winner sends Canada to the semis. Who's the goal? Visstakino! They might bring the building down tonight. Such a recent memory, but I thought I'd let the crowd noise take us home. So joyous. But maybe I want to hear your thoughts on, you know, Bedard, who scored that brilliant overtime winner. And then the crowd, which just seemed amazing all tournament long, that crowd.

So it's an amazing crowd. It was the first time. It had been in Halifax in 2003. When it was there, when the Canadians came out in 03 for the gold medal game against Ovechkin and the Russians, I had a bottle of water.

It was literally shaking. Like the water was shaking. Well, when Bedard scored and when Gunther scored in the gold medal game. Which we'll get to, because I pulled that clip. The press box there kind of sways. Like it's sort of,

it's almost like an earthquake. It undulates. Cause I looked over our, our A2, our audio assistant, I looked over at her and she was like, is this like, like this isn't going to fall,

is it? And, and then there was dust coming off the rafters. It was like snowing because there was dust coming off the rafters. Like it was just incredible. And I didn't know about Hamlin until hours later. Like I was, I mean, I'm in the, I'm in that game. Which is good really because nobody should pull you out of the game when

you're, uh. I didn't have time to look. I'm, I'm, I'm so focused on that. Right. And, and you just, with an overtime goal, you don't want to blow it. Right. That's your worst fear is to blow an overtime goal, have to go to the studio and rerecord it or whatever. Right. And, and, and so, you know, and I've done some long overtime games in the NHL and you're just terrified of blowing the call on an overtime goal. You just want it to be clean, right? Right. It was the puck in, who touched it. I mean, in 08, the first golden goal I called for Canada was Matt Halischuk. And it was a mad scramble in front of the net. And the way, the cheat is, whoever reacts first is probably the guy that put it in. So Halischuk kind of raises his arms first,

and I say, Matt Halischuk, golden goal for Canada, whatever. And I looked at Pierre Maguire, I said, was it Halischuk? And he goes, I don't know. Because you couldn't tell. So you just want a clean goal, and you want to call it. That's scary. I have secondhand anxiety just thinking about that. Like, there's the moment you need to make the call

and you're not certain whose goal it is. Right. So like, for example, say it was a point shot. Was it tipped? Right. Who would it go off? And then it's sort of like the other night, Bobby McMahon for the Leafs, right?

The game I was doing in Detroit. Yes. You know, his first National Hockey League goal. Oh, video review. No, it's not. So I might get another chance against Winnipeg on Thursday. I'm going to keep calling it his first game

until he gets it. And so it's, yeah, I think that's what I really like about it, about what I do, is that it's, I have a bit of a perfectionist in me. So if I have to write something, I'll agonize over it and write it over and over and over again.

You can't do that in this job. It's three hours long. And whether it's good or not, when it's over, it's over. So it's not like building a house where you have to get it just so and stay as long as it takes. It's three hours long and then it's over. And if you did a good job, you're happy.

If you did a bad job, you try to learn from it, but you got to move on. You got to park it and kind of's over. And if you did a good job, you're happy. If you did a bad job, you try to learn from it, but you got to move on. You got to park it and kind of move on. I realize now I have collected questions from FOTMs when they heard you were coming on, and one of them ties to this topic here from Corey. Corey wants to know, is Halifax the loudest place you've ever called a hockey game?

It's among them, but I mean, I, you know, I did playoff games in Chicago at the old Chicago stadium. The 09 World Junior in, in Ottawa was astoundingly loud. Like I remember Danny Kerman, who is now the head of officiating for the IHF, was the referee in that game.

And we used to do our on-camera opening at ice level in the Zambonian and then take the elevator up. Right. So we're standing there waiting to do it and the canadian team comes on the ice and and danny's like no sorry they weren't on yet the crowd was going nuts and danny's standing there waiting to come on the officials are coming on and danny looked at me and said holy shit like this is this is crazy right and and um so yeah I mean, Halifax was right up there, but I mean, you know, I've done, you know, NHL playoff games in the old building in Chicago, the old building in Boston, you know,

that were pretty loud. The, I want to, before I play the, maybe I'll do it now since we're talking about it, but I'm going to play that Golden Goal because it's so recent and it was so exciting and uh I mean I think 10 million Canadians might have heard this I'm not sure let's hear the call and we'll talk about it He's got Wall with him. Joshua Wall. Walks in. They're going to win this game! Dylan Ketler! Golden goal in Halifax!

Canada's won back-to-back World Junior Gold Medals! How do you feel about that? That's a clean call right there. Yeah, and I wanted to get Halifax in. I wanted to speak to that. That call is going to live for a long time, and I want people to know that it was Halifax, that that crowd you were hearing was in Halifax. And, um, the other thing is the music, the heave away, the song by the fables is, is, I mean, just so electric, right. It's just such a, so you just kind of lay out and I don't think I said much

for like 45 seconds. And then, you know, it's the moment makes it right. I mean, you try to, I mean, the moment's great. So the call, you hope it doesn't obviously detract from it. You hope it enhances it a bit, but obviously the moment is what makes it. And so, you know, the people in the building are going home saying, boy, I wish I'd heard a play-by-play guy announcing that that would have been better because they were there. And it, and it's this unbelievable feeling. But at home, there's that barrier, right? There's that. And so you want to try to bring that home to the viewer.

And so I've been really lucky. I've called lots of, I mean, I'm kind of a magnet for long overtimes. I've had lots of long overtime games in the NHL, and it's amazing that moment because you're just, you're just so focused on it, right? You're just like in, you're in the moment. You're not thinking about anything else because it can come at any time. The goal can come at any moment, right? So you've got to be prepared for that to happen. Right. And so, and then when it happens, there's just this great sort of explosion and you want to make sure you get it just right. And so, and then when it happens, there's just this great sort of explosion and you

want to make sure you get it just right. And you don't always, I mean, some calls are better than others. I mean, but, um, it's, uh, it's a lot of fun. It's, uh, it's a pretty interesting job to have now because sports nets got the, uh, NHL hockey package hockey package, you won't be calling any playoff goals. Well, I did for ESPN last year. Oh, for ESPN, of course. I worked for ESPN last year. And I worked for NBC for 11 years. Right.

So I was able, I mean, I did, it's funny because two of the overtime calls I did for NBC wound up on Sportsnet. The Barkley- Goodrow goal that ended that game seven, San Jose, Vegas, that crazy comeback by San Jose and, and the, the Braden point five overtime winner in the bubble in Toronto was for NBC.

Always wondered, like, what do they think about that? And like Rogers HQ and. I mean, they used to try to avoid it. So if I was doing it, if do they think about that? And like Rogers HQ and, uh, I mean, they used to try to avoid it. So if I was doing it, if I did a game for NBC, they would try to take the local feed if they could, which is fine. I don't care.

Like, I don't, I don't dislike any of those guys. And I'll think, I mean, I'm friends, I have lots of friends there and I have no issue with it. I get why they wouldn't want my voice on their hockey broadcast. Um, but if you're not going to do it, then you got to take what you get. And so, but I wasn't thinking about that. I mean, when you're doing that game for NBC, I only thought about the NBC audience.

Like I, you know, I'm in contact with, you know, it's an NBC producer. It's an NBC contract. So I'm just, I'm focused on NBC. I'm not focused on who else is taking it or you can't, you can't think about other stuff. Like you're just, you're so focused on that moment, right? When you call a game, it's like three hours of really concentrating hard on what's going on on the ice. Because if you don't, you'll get caught. And I've been caught lots of times.

Just hopefully not in overtime. Before I get back to hockey, I have these great questions for you. Olympics. You called hockey for the 2010 Olympics. And 2018, yeah. 2018. But you haven't just called hockey at the Olympics. What else have you called at the Olympics?

The track and field in 2012, which was one of the highlights of my career. One of the absolute most amazing things. People ask me all the time, like, what's the best thing you've covered? And a couple of the ones that come up aren't hockey, the world cup soccer in 94 and 98. Uh, I was a field reporter at those and, and doing track and field in 2012, we did every run, every jump, every throw for 11 days, um, from like nine in the morning until 11 o'clock at night. And you've got 2,500 athletes roughly in track and field.

In sports you're not familiar with, it took two years of preparation to get ready for it. And again, you talk about compressed time. When you're calling Usain Bolt in the 100 meters, you've got less than 10 seconds. You've got between nine and 10 seconds. And are you aware of the, the viewer count? Like, I know, cause we talked about that, that

golden goal that just, just happened in Halifax. And then I saw like, I don't know, I make, I can't remember, you would probably know better than I am, but something like 9 million Canadians watch some of that game or something like that. Like, are you, are you aware of the fact that game or something like that. Like, are you aware of the fact that these, because the 100 meters, you might know, and I know,

I produce a show for Donovan Bailey. We talk about the 100 meter dash all the time. That is the signature event at the Olympic Games. No, because your approach is no different. I've done games that 10,000 people have watched, and I've done games that 10 million people have watched. So, your approach is no different. And I do believe

one of the things I learned watching Gretzky up close in the 80s was he doesn't believe in big game players. He thinks that if you prepare for every game like it's a big game, then when the moment comes,

it's no different for you. So I think your preparation is no different for you. So I think your, your preparation is no different if you're doing a, you know, a junior hockey game in the middle of, you know, December in Drummondville or wherever it was, or you're doing an NHL playoff game seven. It's the, the, the preparation's the same. So I'm not really, I don't really think about what the ratings are because it doesn't, it doesn't really impact what I do. First of all, there's always someone watching. So if you make a mistake, you're going to wind up on YouTube.

And so you burp on the air, it's going to get 10 million views on YouTube. So it's, I'm not really, I guess I get cognizant of it at this time of the year because when I come home, you know, lots of people sort of say, Hey, you know, I watched, I watched,

I watched the game. I saw the game or what was it like? And, and I'm cognizant of it that way. But as for the ratings themselves, I think it's, it's sort of a, I don't think that people watch because I'm doing it.

I think, I hope that I enhance their experience and not detract from it. And so, I think the world junior has become kind of a signature, well, not kind of,

it's become, I think when I die, it'll be Gordon Miller, the longtime voice of the world junior championship, you know, was hit by a bus today. Hopefully not.

Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Are you going to measure me here? Did you use your flashlight, Gordon? Yeah, exactly. If I'd used the flashlight, I wouldn't have been hit by the bus. And so, but yeah, I think that that's, you know, that is kind of the signature thing that I do. And it's, it's a, when people say to me, you're a big part of our family's, you're the soundtrack

of our holidays. That's a huge compliment. It's a huge compliment. I take it, but also for our crew, for the people that, you know, work on it, who, some of whom have been along for 25 years, you know, this was my 28th onsite. Wow. And so, you know, the production people, the camera people, the audio, all the people behind the scenes who put their, really put their heart and soul into that thing. And they're the best of the best. These are the guys who do the World Series, the Super Bowl. Like they are, these are top end camera people, audio people.

They're excellent at what they do. And so we get them, we get together every holiday season and we're just like in this, you're just so focused on it because it just, it takes over everything. Okay. Let me ask you this then. So we talked about the overtime goal by Bedard

against Slovakia. Okay. That's a quarter final. Win and go on, lose and go quarterfinal. Win and go on. Lose and go home. You're in overtime. You must be cognizant as this game is taking place that if Slovakia scores in overtime, you won't have

10 million eyeballs on you for the gold medal game. Well, but I think the thing is you've done enough of them that, I mean, they'll be in gold medal games as often as not but I think the thing is, you've done enough of them that, I mean, they'll be in gold medal games as often as not. But the interesting thing is, like in 2019, Canada lost in the quarters, and the gold medal game still had a

huge audience. Okay. Because for some reason, that tournament feels like it's one of those, if Canada is in that gold medal game, we're all going to watch, and if Canada's not there... Yeah, the audience won't be as high, but I think that you can't, you take the long view of it, right?

I mean, you take the long sort of, you know, people are going to watch it and, you know, if Canada won every year, it wouldn't be good. We're working on it. Four to six. Amazing work there, by the way. And what I like about your call on a personal level here is that it feels to me as a,

as a viewer that you're as excited and your call is about the same. I would say it's Slovakia scores in overtime. And if Canada scores in overtime, I really don't get a sense that, uh, that you're, you know, playing favorites with the home team in that tournament. Um, I don't think so. I think, you know, you're cognizant, obviously that you're, you know, playing favorites with the home team in that tournament?

Um, I don't think so. I think, you know, you're cognizant, obviously that you're broadcasting to a Canadian audience, but there's also another factor here that, that doesn't get much notice.

And that is that the, the international ice hockey federation takes our feed as the international guide track. So, so people that are watching that game, say in Slovakia online are getting my, are getting my call. So I think you got to be careful not to, you know.

Not to. But I think, you know, even, I mean, when I do Leaf games, I mean, I'm cognizant that I'm broadcasting to a Leaf audience, but I'm not going to be a guy like when the opposition scores and they score. Right. There are some guys, you know, there are some that there's, when the opposition scores and they score. Right. You know, there are some guys, you know, there are some that there's, when the opposition, and they score.

Right. You know, and, and I don't do that. Um, I'm cognizant that the audience is more interested in the Leafs and is cheering for the Leafs, for sure. And it's a fine line,

right? It's a, it's a fine balance. Um, it's the same with Ottawa. So then you go to do a national game. And, you know,

when I was doing national games for TSN, you're cognizant that, you know, that not everyone is a Leaf fan or whoever, you know, an O was doing national games for TSN, you're cognizant that, you know, not everyone is a Leaf fan or whoever, you know, an Oiler fan or whatever, right? So you're a little more neutral. When I worked for NBC, obviously we were down the middle. Right. And so, and you had to be. And so it was just a different way of doing it.

So I think you're cognizant of your audience to be sure. But I think, but I think that, you know, you can do that without being, you know, a frothing over the top, you know, Homer and some guys are, that's fine. Everyone's style is different. Love it. Now we're going to get to the questions. I told you we had FOTM questions in here. I quickly want to shout out Canna Cabana because they will not be undersold on cannabis or

cannabis accessories. And also, if anyone listening has any real estate questions whatsoever, the drummer for The Watchman. You a Watchman fan? Yeah. The drummer, Sammy Cohn, is also one of the top 1% real estate agents

in this market. You're kidding. No, I'm not kidding. Yeah. So Sammy Cohn will accept your email. He'll reply to every email, whether it be about drumming or about real estate. Sammy.Cohn, and Cohn, by the way, K-O-H-N.

Buckle me in on the highway of sin. That's just the way, all uncovered. All uncovered. One of my favorite songs of all time. It's all uncovered. In fact, we have these TMLX events, Toronto Mic Listener Experiences. We've had 11 so far.

At TMLXX, which was theer Experiences. We've had 11 so far. At TMLXX, which was the 10th to celebrate 10 years of this podcast at Great Lakes Brewery, Danny Graves, who sings that song, came out and performed some acoustic songs for us. Are they a Toronto band? No, Winnipeg.

I thought they were a Winnipeg band. They all live, well, I shouldn't say all of them, but Danny lives here now and Sammy lives hereg. Yeah, I thought they were a Winnipeg band. They all live, well, I shouldn't say all of them, but Danny lives here now and Sammy lives here now. Wow, that's amazing. Well, Danny's such a big Winnipeg guy at his bar in Parkdale, the motel bar. That's the place to go to see Jets games. In Parkdale?

Yeah, in Parkdale. So I'll have to give him a shout out. I'm doing the Jets and Leafs on Thursday. I'll have to give him a shout out. Danny Graves the Jets and Leafs on Thursday. I'll have to give him a shout out. Danny Graves. And he's a sweetheart too, as you can imagine. But yeah, Sammy Cohen is the man that I talked to with the real estate questions.

So what is your jam for music? Like before I get to these questions here. I'm kind of all over the place. I washed out of a semester in grade 11 to go see the Stones in Boulder, Colorado. Big Stones fan, Springste i like you know what i have great i have great respect for artists of all kinds and musicians so i don't love i mean i like some music better than others but anyone who's anyone who's got the the guts to put their head out there and put something out there i think is is admirable

and i'll listen to just about anything but but I, I really enjoy, uh, I got a lot of time for Springsteen. I was listening to Neil Young on the way over. Um, so, but a lot of, you know, I got an 18 year old daughter. So when, so when we're in the car together, like I have no control over the music and, and she came to the world junior. And so it was her music a lot, you know, blasting through her, her hotel room door across the hall. But I like a lot of, like, I think Taylor Swift's really talented.

I think she, you know, I think a lot of them have a lot of things to say. And, yeah, so I'm sort of all over the place. I saw a great thing, you know, speaking of Springsteen, he was on Seth Meyers, and he was talking about his kids and how they're not really that interested in his career as a musician. And he said,

no kid wants to see 50,000 people cheering for their parents. Now, 50,000 people booing their parents would be cool. So I think, you know, my daughter knows what I do, obviously, and she works a little knows what I do, obviously. You know, she works a little bit in our crew for us. She maps the Canadian parents, so she takes their pictures,

gets their names and their seat locations, so that when your kid scores, the camera guys know where to go. Oh, that's cool. That's how they get the parents so fast, right? And so she's marked them, and that's kind of her thing. And she marked the American parents, the Czechs, the Swedes. And so she's kind of part of it. But at the same time, I'm just her dad.

Right. I'm the jerk, you know, giving a heck about her homework and clean your room and whatever, right? And, you know, eat your vegetables and drink your milk. And so when she hears people fussing over me, it's kind of like, oh, God, here we go again. So she won't be listening to this episode of Toronto Mic'd here.

Although she should. She should. Well, I said, I told her I was doing it and she said, well, why do you have to hurry? I said, because I'm going to his house. Right. And she's like, is he going to kidnap you or something? I'm going to his basement.

I'm not getting, I'm not getting a. Did you do a check like to make sure? Yeah, there was no silence of the lambs cage down here or something. No, more like, let me see who else has been here. Rod Smith. Rod, there's no silence of the lambs cage down here or something. No, more like, let me see, who else has been here? Rod Smith,

Rod, is this guy okay? No, I didn't, no, I trust you. And how long, I think I've been trying to get Gord Miller

on show and I'm like, I feel like it's been years. Yeah, I think you first asked me like three years ago and I agreed to it then I had to go somewhere. Right.

So I'm the guy that. And the pandemic happened. Yeah, I'm the guy that always has to say, I'm away, sorry, I'm out of town, sorry, I'm away. And so like a buddy of mine really wanted to have dinner. And so he said, send me your January dates

when you can go for dinner. And I had like five. Yeah, it's a tough month. Oh my God, like how is that possible? How do you do things? And the real nice thing is when I don't have anything. And then you have to come to some guy's basement in New Toronto here.

You are getting the lasagna. I'm getting lasagna, although the box was empty, which concerned me. It's in the freezer, Gord. Which is a good idea because I don't want the thing to be melting. No, I know. It's got to be in the freezer.

You're getting it for sure. When we take our photo, you'll have it here. That's right. It's dark outside, but you will take a photo by the tree. Every guest gets a photo by the tree. Who else dodged my invitation? Oh, Richard Griffin.

He made a joke about it. So Richard Griffin was my last guest, I guess, on the program on Friday. And apparently I had asked him over the last 10 years a few different times, but he didn't want to ever do this show. Now, it's too late for you to escape. But he said he didn't want to do the show while he had a job. So it's too late for you to escape. But he said he didn't want to do the show while he had a job. So it's like, I don't know if he was

worried about being too truthful about things or whatever. I have no idea. But he had the star job and then the Blue Jays job. And now he came on Toronto Mike,

he had a great time. Okay, let's get to these questions here because I'm trying to keep it closer to 60 than 90. But we already shouted them out.

But Andrew Stokely wrote in, I've had some great road trips over the years of Mr. Miller. You'll thoroughly enjoy the conversation. So thank you, Andrew. And he calls you Mr. Miller. Does that make you uncomfortable? It's just gourd, right? Yeah. I think, I think Andrew has earned the right to call me whatever he wants, but yeah, I think he's, I think he's being colloquial.

Thank you, Mr. Stokely. Yes. Brian Smith, with all the travel involved in his career, which hotel brand does he prefer? And who has the best loyalty program? I'm a Marriott guy. So it's kind of, it's morphed over the years. So it used to be Weston, and then Marriott bought Weston. So, sorry, there was Weston, then Starwood bought Weston, and then Marriott bought Starwood.

And so it's all sort of, so it's mostly Marriott's and Weston, then Starwood bought Weston and then Marriott bought Starwood. And so it's all sort of, so it's, it's mostly Marriott's and Weston's. Um, they, they, to me have probably the best loyalty program there. I mean, I, now I say that because I'm like a lifetime, whatever member. So I'll be, I'll be getting, you know, hotel rooms forever. But, um, it's funny because I remember going to a wedding in the Bahamas, friends of mine got married in the Bahamas and, uh, and I had to, um, there was no like Starwood or Marriott hotel there.

So I had to pay for hotels. Oh my God, these are expensive. I hadn't paid for a hotel room in so long. I had no idea how much it was, but, um, yeah.

So, um, yeah, I would say they have the best, uh, the best loyalty program. I like this question from Scott M. Because it saves me the time of having to ask myself.

But he writes in, the move from working with Ray Ferraro to Mike Johnson has been really smooth. What's been key in that transition? So this is your chance to talk about Ray Ferraro and now Mike Johnson who we heard you with. So I think it's really a testament to me. No, I think that it's two guys who are really smart, really funny,

who celebrate skill, and who can laugh at themselves. And I think one of the great things about our group at TSN is that we can laugh at ourselves. You know, Jeff O'Neill, Bob McKenzie, Dregs, you know, all of our guys can kind of, you know, we can poke fun at each other and poke fun at ourselves. It's a good crew. We don't take ourselves too seriously. And so, you know, Ray brings a fire and a passion to it. Mike brings more of a cool analytical approach.

But both are excellent in their own way. And honestly, I mean, I've known Mike since he signed with the Leafs. So that's, you know, whatever, 25 years ago. He's a really smart guy. And so is Ray. And they're fun to travel with, different. Like I remember saying we were walking out of an airport and I said to Mike, like, oh, we didn't go right here and

go. He said, Kurt, I know where we're going. Whereas opposed to Ray, you had to explain in brutal detail exactly where to go and walk him there, or he might get lost on the way. So yeah, I mean, Mike walked into the summer, did the Summer World Junior. But this was the first time he got the real full experience of the holiday season and the ups and downs of it, right?

Like away from your family. But that's a hard part of it. And that's downs of it, right? Like away from your family. Um, but, um, and that's a hard part of it. And that's a, that's a real adjustment, right? I mean, I talked to Ray on Christmas day and I said, what's it like, like, what's it like to be home? And he said, it's so different. Like it's just so, and for him, he'd only done it. Well, not only, but Ray had done it for 10 years and, um, it just becomes sort of part of your existence that you just do that. And so, um, but Mike got sort of fully, I remember, I think boxing day, you know, when Canada came out and you sort of like, you're in this sort of, you know,

Mike played in the NHL and lots of loud buildings, but that's kind of next level, right? I mean, everyone's in a Canadian Jersey wearing a Canadian flag, screaming and yelling, and you kind of go, oh, this is pretty cool. Is that the game where Czechia beat us? Yeah. Yeah. When did it become Czechia, like versus Czech Republic?

They asked for it a couple years ago. So basically what it is, is technically Canada is the dominion of Canada. So, and Germany is the Federal Republic of Germany. So the Czech Republic is the formal name of their country. They prefer Czechia like the Slovaks prefer Slovakia. And so I think that, yeah, I mean, they just, for simplicity, they ask for Czechia.

That's how they've always referred to it. But in English, we've always called it the Czech, well, first of all, Czechoslovakia, and then the Czech Republic. Interesting though, because, uh, yeah. So the move happened on TSN. It was consistently, uh, Czechia. Meanwhile, that night, if you were listening to CBC radio, radio one, they talk about the, uh, you know, the game against the Czech Republic. Like they, so it's just interesting that, you know, there's some, I mean, it's sort of a curiosity thing. Yeah. But technically like formally technically, like formally, it is the Czech Republic.

I mean, again, it's, you know, I mean, it's Great Britain and Northern Ireland, right? I mean, there's all these sort of, you know, official names. But yeah, so they asked for Czechia. So I think that's when Mike sort of saw firsthand how passionate it is. And so I'm really lucky. Like I've had, I've had great partners and, um, not just great guys to work with, but to spend time with, right. You know, to go for dinner with and to travel with and to, you know, we, we remember Ray and I, one time we were over at the world championship at the world hockey championship in the spring.

It's always in great European cities. We'd spent a month away, and he called me. He was at home in the morning. The boys had gone to school, and he called me, and we're talking, and Cami, his wife, Cami Granato, walked into the room, and she goes, who's that? I'm talking to Gord. She said, you guys were just on the road for a week.

What do you have left to talk about? So I'm very blessed that way. And I also, they're great friends. I mean, Mike that way that I, you know, that I, and I also, they're great friends. Like, I mean, Mike and Ray are great friends of mine.

And so I, I think that's, yeah. And you know, Pierre Maguire was a great friend too. And so it's, I'm very fortunate that way. I work with really good people.

Bob McKenzie and I are best of friends. Nice. Nice. Nice. Also an FOTM by the way. Hops writes in, Gordon Miller is an unbelievable play-by-play commentator is this your burner account uh yeah it's amazing how i wrote that in without you

being able to see it uh i'm baffled at how he can be so smooth it does read like you wrote it but i am told there really is a hops here okay i'm baffled at how he could be so smooth with a vast array of player names from around the world. What is his secret for being able to not only pronounce these names, but to seamlessly keep up with the pace of play with them? Good question. That's a very good question. So I get asked that a lot. What I always say is, as a joke, is that you don't know those players. How do you know I the name's right? So, I mean, they're a bunch of strangers to you too.

So I spent a lot of time preparing for it. And the trick is get to know the best players first. So learn their top line players, learn their top pair of defense, learn their goalie first, and then work your way down the lineup. learn their top pair of defense, learn their goalie first, and then work your way down the lineup. As for the names, it's really evolved over the years. And so, for example, we've been saying Teemu Solani's name wrong for 30 years.

It's Solani. Wow. In Finland, you say the first syllable, in a last name, you say the first syllable always accented, and you pronounce every letter in someone's name. So we've been saying it wrong. In the case of, say, like Sergei Fedorov, it's Sergei Fedorov in Russian.

But here's the thing. We don't say Roma. We say Rome. We don't say Paris. We say Paris, right? We don't say Prague. We say Prague. So there are some things we anglicize.

But when it comes to someone's name, more and more in recent years, we've tried to get it close to their domestic pronunciation. But for example, Peter Forsberg is Fosberio. Wow. We really butchered that one. So we don't say that. We say Forsberg.

But maybe someday, 10 years from now, we'll start saying it. And I'm comfortable, like I say to players, I'll say your name any way you want. So Timothy Lilligren with the Leafs, it's Lilligren. He prefers that. I'm happy to say it. Yeah, you decide how your name should be said. But the problem is a lot of Europeans come over.

They don't want to make waves. Now, two things. They don't want to make a wave. And secondly, they get tired of correcting people. So they just kind of go along. Like, two things. They don't want to make a wave. And secondly, they get tired of correcting people. So they just kind of go along. Right. Like, just say it any way you want. Now, there are some, so there was a player for Czechia,

Jiri Kulich. So we don't say he in English. So I cheated it to kind of like Jiri Kulich. A bit like that. Right. I didn't make that he sound. You know, so Joshua Waugh for Canada or Patrick Waugh. In French, that's Roi.

We don't roll the R like that. Mario Lemieux in French is Lemieux. So I'm trying hard to say the names as closely to the domestic pronunciation as we can while remembering that we are doing the broadcast in English. Right. Well, you do a great job. Can you say the word brewery? Yes.

Brewery. Say it again. Brewery. Can you say pasta? Pasta. Not pasta? Pasta. It's pasta.

Okay. Jim Cuddy gave me heat for saying pasta. It's not pasta. It's pasta. Okay. He says it's pasta, but I think It's pasta. Okay. I get heat. Jim Cuddy gave me heat for saying pasta. It's not pasta. It's pasta. Okay. He says it's pasta, but I think it's pasta as well. Okay. Hang on.

Can I just pick up the name you dropped there? Yeah. What? But. I told you, I like name dropping. But I have a friend who says risotto. Is that a risotto? She said, I made risotto.

And Italian friends of mine just like, just, like, literally flinch when she says it. I was in the, where was I? I was at Scotiabank Arena, wherever Mike Ross does his announcements. And I sat there. I got a tour after a game because Mike Ross is an FOTM. There's another name.

But he had a sheet on the wall, and I was just checking it out. And it's, like, phoneticallyetically how you say every player's name, like phonetically. Do you have like a cheat sheet with phonetically? So, so the rosters that I do. Yeah. I'll,

if the, if the player's name is especially difficult, I will, um, if it's especially tricky, I will type it out phonetically. Just so one thing we've done that's been great the last few years is we have a team official,

either the PR guy or the team manager years is we have a team official, either the PR guy or the team manager, do a recording of the names. So then I can transcribe it. Now again, there's some things we have to change a little bit. But for example, in Finnish, the letter Y is actually pronounced U. So there's a guy, his last name is R-A-T-Y. That's actually Ratu.

Wow, yeah. And that's how we've been saying it. So Isaac Rosen, who's a Buffalo draft, it's Isak Rosean in Swedish. So we said Isak Rosean. I talked to him, and he said,

I don't care. I said, well, say your name. He said, well, it's Isak Rosean. That's what I'm going to say. Now, when he gets to the NHL, now in Rochester, he plays for Buffalo'sak Rosean. That's what I'm going to say. Now, when he gets to the NHL, now in Rochester, he plays for Buffalo's American League team. In Rochester on the broadcast,

they are saying Isak Rosean now. Okay, good. So I think that's, but again, I've got a buddy over in Europe who goes on and on about it. He gets really mad when guys anglicize their names. So Igor Shosturkin, it's Shosturkin. And he goes nuts about it.

He says, well, that's fine, but you called me Gert for the last 25 years. So when you get my name right, I'll worry about doing yours right. We're going to close with one of my favorite topics. I bike everywhere, Gore.

Yes. I bike everywhere. And Brian sends in a nice question. He says, ask him if he bikes when he travels to Europe to cover the World Juniors when they're over there and how it compares to Toronto. Well, I don't bike at the World Junior as much

because obviously it's in wintertime, but I do cycle a lot at the World Championship. And we were in, it was funny, we were in Copenhagen. Been there. For the World Championship. And we had a meeting, we had a dinner meeting. And so I went out on a bike, the hotel had bikes. So I went out on a beautiful bike ride through Copenhagen. And I, on the way back, I got stuck in a bike traffic jam. Like there were literally 500 people. I was in like

a Peloton. There were like 500 people in front of me on bikes. So I took a picture and said, I'm going to be late for dinner. I'm stuck in traffic. So I love it. I think it's one of the great ways to see cities in Europe. Yeah. I cycle a lot in Toronto. I love, I'm a huge cyclist in Toronto. Do you winter cycle in Toronto? I do until it gets like really icy. So I live in Midtown. Okay.

So my cycling route is I go down Bayview and then into the Don Trail. So either south or mostly, most often north and go up to sunny, through Sunnybrook Park and then up that hill where the, if you know it, by the stables in Sunnybrook Park, then you go up, there's a huge hill that goes up or a steep hill that goes up. And then I come back and I go up Bayview up to Moore

and come home that way. So in the winter, it can get pretty icy in the areas that don't get sunlight. So I'm a little careful about that. I try to avoid roads as much as possible. I've had some, you know, I got hit once and I think I'm cognizant of that. But I love cycling.

I think it's just, it's a great way to see the city. I'm looking forward to when the riverfront trail or the lakefront trail is finished because they've kind of ripped it up where the Don Valley Parkway meets the... Yeah, Portland's there. Yeah, Portland's all been ripped up. Because they used to take a bridge over there

and then go on the lakeshore east, right, and go out to the Argonaut Rowing Club and all that stuff. So I love cycling out there. Love it, Gord, honestly. I could do 90 minutes with you about cycling. What do we do here? No, but I think it's great. And I hope that, you know, what did you think of the ActiveTO stuff?

I was very disappointed. So you know where you are now. I loved the closure from Stadium Road to Windermere. And I made a point to do Lakeshore when it was closed. And then, you know, this is quite a controversial Toronto story because this letter that was written by Mark Shapiro to John Tory to stop it because he felt it was affecting Blue Jay attendance, which is a whole separate ridiculous thing, was ghost-ridden

by my former councillor, Mark Grimes. Oh. Yeah. This is actually quite a scandal. Quite the Toronto scandal. But Amber Morley defeated Mark Grimes in the recent election, and I'm pleased to say that Amber Morley is an

FOTM, So we did it. We did it, Gord. So, yeah. I loved it. I liked it because the Bayview closure for me was great because it was so packed on that narrow path. So when they opened it up south of Rosedale Valley Road, it was great.

And I loved the cycle. It's my, it's my it's good exercise and I also just find it a great way to kind of clear your mind 100% I always say it's as much for my mental health to get outside it's funny because my daughter

I used to be at a tennis club that had a gym and I would ride my bike down and I would then ride the exercise bike at the gym, and she'd be like, Dad, why don't you just ride your bike somewhere? Which is a good point. But that Bayview Hill, like that hill from Pottery Road up Bayview. Try it with a single speed behind you. I can't do it.

I have to walk up the Pottery Road. That's a single speed, and I can't do it. I can't do it. But one day I'm riding up there and this guy's got to be like 80 and he's got the Union Jack like cycling jersey. He's got the shorts.

He's got the clip-in pedals. He's got the whole nine yards and he went by me like I was towing a boat. Like he goes up, he goes, well done lad, you're doing well.

And I was like, if I could catch you, I'd choke you to death. Oh, I love it. Love it. I love it. In fact, that pottery road there where I had to do the walk of shame

because I have no gears. I just can't, couldn't do it. That would be hard with no gears. The only time, the only recent memory I have where I had to do the walk of shame on a single speed bike was, you know, Brimley Road coming out of the Scarborough Bluff. Yeah, yeah. That's a tough one. Couldn't do it.

Like I physically, and I physically couldn't do it and I had to get up and walk it up. But Gord, love it. And I love, is there anything else just before I play out? Because I know I try to keep it

closer to an hour than 90 minutes, but what is your, I would ask the obvious, which is of all the hockey games you've called in your life, like what is your, the favorite moment of a hockey game that you've called in your life, like what is your favorite moment of a hockey game

that you have called, Gordon Miller? I can't answer it. It's not a cop-out. There's just so many, and I can't put one above the other. I just think that people ask me all the time, what's your favorite hockey game? I always say the next one. You know, I'm very lucky.

Unless I ask, what's your favorite beer? And it's like, oh, it's the one in my hand. Right. So I, I enjoy what I do. Um, I have a great time doing it. I work with really good people. I work with excellent people that I really enjoy being around. And that's, that's very, I'm very blessed in that. And so, um, I don't, I honestly don't have one. There's been so many that I've loved doing and some would surprise you. They're just sort of off the beaten path, fun games that we did. And so, yeah, I think my favorite games

are the ones with the people that I really enjoy being with. And that's almost all of them. Nice, nice. Well, here's an easier one then. So Conor Bedard scores that big goal against Slovakia and he's 17 years old and undrafted, of course, because he's not old enough.

Like how, I asked this question of Jeff Merrick recently, actually, and I'll save what he told me after what he told me. But like, how good is he? I always have trouble with this. Like, is he as good as a Conor McDavid who seems like he just showed up like yesterday? I think I'd be very, very wary of comparing anyone to Connor McDavid.

Right. Who has maybe the greatest skill set we've ever seen. Right. The skating, all of it. Definitely, he can't be as fast as McDavid. So I think he's going to be an electrifying player and he's going to be a franchise player for whoever gets him. So, and you can't ask for more than that. But in terms of comparing guys,

you got to be careful with that. You want to know who Jeff Merrick said is a good compare to Conor Bedard? Yes. Because you said his name already and I'm going to say his name the way I've always said it because I can't remember the proper way anymore. Peter Forsberg.

Better goal scorer than Forsberg. Better shot than Forsberg. Wow. He's Peter Forsberg with Joe Sackick's shot. Okay. Sign me up. Sign me up. Unfortunately, my team isn't going to get him because they're too good.

But Gord Miller, better late than never. This has been an absolute delight. Thanks for making the trek. This has been awesome. My pleasure. Thank you, Mike. It's been an absolute delight. Thanks for making the trek.

This has been awesome. My pleasure. Thank you, Mike. And that brings us to the end of our 1,189th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Gord, remind me, is it Gord Miller TSN? What is that handle on Twitter?

At G Miller TSN, I think it is. G Miller TSN. At G Miller TSN is mine. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. I've got one in the freezer for Gord. Recycle My Electronics are at epra underscore Canada. Ridley Funeral Home are at

Ridley FH. Canna Cabana are at cannacabana underscore. And I was going to sing Buckle Me In on the highway to sin. I won't disgrace the Watchmen, but... That's just the way. Sammy Cohn Real Estate.

Is that Sammy Cohn? See you all tomorrow night when we have a new episode of Toast. We're kicking out sad, sad songs, sad jams. See you then. See you then. And I don't know what the future can hold or do For me and you But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because

Everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Wants me to date And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away

Cause everything is Rosy and great Well, I've been told That there's a sucker born Every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize

There's a thousand shades of gray Cause I know that's true Yes, I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? I'm picking up trash and then putting down ropes And they're broken in stocks, the class struggle explodes

And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am But who gives a damn Because everything is coming up Rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms me today

And your smile is fine And it's just like mine. And it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray. Well, I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain. And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true

Because everything is coming up rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow warms us today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy now Everything is rosy, yeah Everything is rosy and everything is rosy and gray.