Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Jack Armstrong: Toronto Mike'd #582

Episode Date: February 11, 2020

Mike chats with Toronto Raptors analyst Jack Armstrong about growing up in Brooklyn, his NCAA coaching career, joining The Fan 590, moving to TSN, his catchphrases, the 2019 champion Raptors and more.

What up, Miami? Toronto! VK on the beat, uh, check, uh I'm in Toronto where you wanna get the city love I'm from Toronto where you wanna get the city love I'm a Toronto Mike, wanna get the city love My city love me back for my city love Live from the Westin Harbour Castle in downtown Toronto.

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I'm Mike from torontomike.com, and joining me this week is Toronto Raptors analyst, Jack Armstrong. 15 in a row. Hello. How's it going, Jack? Mike, I'm doing great. Happy to be on with you. And you're right, 15 in a row as we sit here on, what is it, February 11th.

And I'm about to jump on a charter to Brooklyn for a game tomorrow night, the last game before the All-Star break, and the Raptors are rolling right now. You're going home. It's nice to go home, and it's particularly nice to go home when you have a team that you're calling games for that's playing at a really high level, which is a lot of fun. Now, look, we'll get into this, but we're coming off a championship. We've won 15 in a row.

People must be just grinning ear to ear. Like they must be so happy when they see you. My sense is that people, they love winners and they love this team. And 15 in a row, franchise record, amazing, amazing times. Well, you know, not only that, it's a Canadian sports record that was broken last night. I think the Calgary Stampedias had had 14 in a row. The Raptors tied them, and now they're 15. So it's kind of heady stuff.

It was funny showing up at the building last night, Raptors, Minnesota. There were a lot of media types there and TV people that you normally don't see until the playoffs that suddenly were showing up. there and TV people that you normally don't see until the playoffs that suddenly were showing up. So there's a lot of people jumping on this particular team's bandwagon when, you know, quite frankly, a lot of people jumped off a bit because of the departure of Kawhi Leonard. Yeah, no doubt. I think people lowered their expectations and I think we've jacked it. Pardon, no pun intended.

We've jacked it back up. I'd say so. So I mentioned, by the way, the song we're listening to in the background is called Jack Armstrong. Really? Yeah. I did not know that. I did a little homework. And yeah, so I thought I got to open this episode with a little Jack Armstrong.

I've never heard the song. So a little more. Where have you been all night? Wow. Oh, I see you got to call it. An oldie but a goldie. I didn't realize there was a song named after me. Let's go back to Brooklyn. You're literally going back to Brooklyn, but you grew up in Brooklyn. You're a Brooklyn guy. We both have mothers named Mary, so we have that in common. Wow, cool. That and the Irish eyes that are smiling.

Would you mind telling me a little bit about Mary Armstrong raising you four boys in Brooklyn? Well, you know, anytime I speak to young people, I always say, you know, people ask you all the time, who's your hero? And I always say the same thing. My hero is my mom. I lost my dad. My dad died of a heart attack when I was seven. My oldest brother, Bill, was 14. And we were, I guess, 14, 13, 11, and seven. And my mom was, you know, a stay-at-home mom. And she then ended up being, working as a school lunch lady at PS238 in Brooklyn. And she used to serve breakfast and lunch every day to Stefan Marbury, who went to her school.

And Stefan Marbury said to me one time, he goes, man, coach, your mom's like the coolest lunch lady I've ever had. She's always so nice to me. And I said, well, I'm not shocked by that whatsoever. That's my mom. But I always say to people, you know, my parents are immigrants from Ireland. Basically, I'm first generation. I've lived the American dream or, you know, there's tons of people here in Canada, the same thing, live in the Canadian dream where they've either immigrated to

Canada and they found a great life and their children in particular have benefited so much like I have. And so to lose your husband and to be in a foreign country and then raising four kids in a little apartment building in Brooklyn, when Brooklyn is like Disneyland now, it wasn't that way back then. It was a rough place. You know, she was an amazing person. She was and is a rock in our life. She turned 93 last week. Good for her. And, uh, you know, so when I, when I talk about people that inspire me and motivate me and, um, you know, give, give you your soul and your mojo, uh, I would say that's my mom.

So, uh, you know, I can't thank her enough. Everything I have in my life, my three older brothers is because of all the sacrifices she made for us. Shout out to good moms named Mary. How's that? I'm sure you feel the same way about your mom. No doubt, no doubt. My mom, we tried to watch all the movies nominated for Best Picture. This was the big family goal.

And, you know, you got to wait for, I always tell my wife, we got to wait for my mom to come before we watch, you know, Ford versus Ferrari. Because it's nominated. We got to do this. So, yeah, good mothers are vital. And I'm sorry you lost your dad so young. I can't imagine what that's like. Well, it's not easy.

But there's a lot of people that have gone through the same thing, whether that or other things in their life where they have a loss in their life. And I guess, you know, when you're seven, I'm not sure how much you can process it, but you do. On some level, you do. And I guess it impacts you more and more as you go along as a young boy and you're playing sports and the other kids' dads are there. My mom's from Ireland.

She doesn't know basketball, but she'd show up, but she had no idea what she was watching. But, you know, she's a big fan now. But to me, you know, you make the best of the cards you dealt. And I think she did the best she could with four kids, and we all graduated college and we all you know went to private grade school in high school paid our own way through and all had the same paper route you know the the paper route got New York Daily News got handed down from one brother to

the next right so I think it was in our family over 20 years probably 25 years uh between the four boys and you know you're just a blue collar work ethic and I come from nothing. And, but I've got everything. And your mom, 93 years old, she must be awfully proud of her Jack Armstrong. Well, I, not only I, you know, not only me, but my brothers, Bill, Jim, and Brendan, I think all of us, you know, and, you know, we do the best we can to be good sons, good husbands, good fathers, you know, uncles, whatever, colleagues, whatever, whatever it is. You know, she's a deeply religious woman, you know, very humble. And, you know, so I think that the qualities that she's tried to

instill in us is to be grateful, to be kind to people, to be accommodating, and do the best you can to help others. And, you know, so I don't know, you do the best you can. And I've always been a big believer with children. And, you know, Mike, you were saying you have four, I have three. You know, I'm a reflection of her and they're a reflection of us and the values that we try to instill in them. And more importantly, the lives we live and the examples that we try to set for them. You hope that in their lives, then they carry that out. Like, I think we try to carry it out representing what we've come from. Absolutely. You mentioned your mom, like, didn't know basketball,

but, you know, watched you play or whatever. What put basketball in your blood? Like, how did basketball enter your bloodstream? Basketball and baseball. I'm a huge baseball fan, too. I mean, those are the two sports I'm, like, really passionate about. Growing up in Brooklyn at that time, I mean, you know, basketball is the city game.

I mean, you know, it's just part of your being. I mean, when I grew up, there was a guy that, you know, basketball is the city game. I mean, you know, it's just part of your being. I mean, when I grew up, there was a guy that, you know, was my favorite player as a kid, Dr. J. Julius Irving, playing for the New York Nets. First game I ever went to see was the New York Nets against the Kentucky Colonels, an ABA game. We went with our grade school, you know, our CYO team on a yellow school bus out to Long Island to watch

the Nets play. And then the Knicks had a great team, NBA champion, two-time Walt Frazier, you know, Dick Barnett, Errol Monroe, Dave DeBuscher, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, you know, Jerry Lucas, Phil Jackson, you know, the list goes on and on, but they were a joy to watch. So I was surrounded by one of the most magical players, you know, that you could ever watch in Julius Irving with the big fro and the red, white, and blue ball and the amazing dunks and the magic of the ABA. And then the Knicks being a team that was just a joy to watch in every sense of the word because they were a team.

So to me, it was just an incredible time to grow up in New York, and college basketball was such a big deal. So you get swept into it. And then, obviously, baseball-wise, you know, I grew up a Yankee fan. Most of the people in my neighborhood in Brooklyn are Mets fans because the Brooklyn Dodgers left and the Mets are the National League team like the Dodgers were. And, you know, most of my neighborhood, so I rooted for the underdog. The Mets at the time had won the 69 World Series

and were very good in the early 70s. And I latched on to the Yankees because at that time they were horrible and they were lucky to draw 3,000, 4,000 people in the Bronx at the old Yankee Stadium. And I kind of latched on to them you know Mickey Mantle had retired and they weren't very good so now here I am you know they're the evil empire I guess you'd want to call to a lot of people the Yankees and but back when I started so I think I'm a legit baseball fan a legit Yankee fan because I followed them when a lot of people weren't. So to me, those are my sports.

And you grow up in Brooklyn, you play stickball, and you go to the schoolyard every day and you play basketball. That's your life. You trade baseball cards and you argue about who's better and you play horse and all those kind of things. So it's just you're going from one schoolyard to the next, finding pickup games and playing ball. So that was my life.

You beat out Jeff Van Gundy for the head assistant job at Niagara University. Yeah, well, it was interesting, funny story. Stan Van Gundy and I were assistants together at Fordham. I'm actually speaking at Fordham tomorrow. It's funny. During the day before I do the Raptors-Nets game on TV tomorrow night. But, yeah, Stan and I were assistants at Fordham. And then Jeff and I interviewed for the job.

And so here I am. I have his brother that I'm working with who's a close friend. And now, you know, I get the job and Jeff doesn't. Right. So Jeff ends up getting hired by Bob Wenzel at Rutgers as an assistant. And a year and a half later, I'm the head coach at Niagara. So now Jeff calls me up. He goes, you blank, blank, blank. That would have been me.

And then, you know, Jeff ends up going from Rutgers to be an assistant with Pat Riley with the Knicks and kind of works his way up with a number of different guys. And then finally he gets the job as the head coach of the Knicks. So I reached out to him and I'm like, you blank and blank. That would have been me as the head coach of the Knicks. So you just never know where life takes you. And, you know, having a connection with both Jeff and Stan, you know, at the time, I think the fact that I was a New York guy and I had the connections and having coached, I was a high school coach prior to that, prior to being at Fordham. I was a coach at Nazareth High School in Brooklyn.

And, you know, that's the New York Catholic High School League. And at that time, probably the most powerful league in high school basketball in the United States. So churning out Division I player after Division I player. So I think that helped me in terms of having a recruiting base to go to, probably that helped me get the job. So pretty remarkable. And literally I interviewed for the Niagara job on campus at Fordham. The head coach at the time, Andy Walker, a New York guy, was in New York recruiting.

And he said, well, I'll just interview you. So he interviewed me at Fordham, which really helped me because here I am on my home turf, and he's interviewing me there. And everywhere we turn, there's someone coming up to me saying, Hey, Jacko, hey, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack. So he's like, man, this guy, he's connected. So I thought it really helped me, and I'm still close with Jeff and Stan Van Gundy. And it's a long time ago.

I've done okay, and Jeff's done very well. But you were so young, right? You were the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I. 26? 26, yeah. That's unbelievable. I was one of the youngest ever, you know, when you think about Bobby Knight at West Point and Rick Pitino at Boston U

and P.J. Colissimo at Wagner, guys like that. Obviously, they all ended up doing a lot better than I did. But I was in that group of some of the youngest ever. I don't know where I am on that list now. But for my first four years as the head coach of Niagara, from age 26 to 30, for four years in a row, I was the youngest NCAA coach out there. So, yeah, it was an amazing opportunity at such a young age and

kind of fell into it where my boss got let go a few weeks before the season started and they gave me the job and uh i ran with it now your your record as a head coach was 100 wins 154 losses yeah i'm a lousy coach and uh it's public record so i don't hide from it i joke about it a lot on the air you know the night Nick Nurse was about to call a timeout and I always try to first guess Mike I try to say you know they need a timeout right now like not I'm not second guessing I'm first guessing like I'm saying if I were coaching and then Nick literally five seconds later called it and I said well the difference is he's a really good coach calling it.

And just check my record. I'm a pretty lousy one. But, yeah, you do the best you can. We had some good years. We had some rough years and everywhere in between. Twists and turns, ups and downs, all that. But I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity as a head coach, Division I head coach, to have coached in 254 games.

And that's a lot more than most people ever get a chance to do. That's for sure. So I feel like I have enough knowledge when I talk about the game or games or what's going on within a game that it comes from a viewpoint of experience and dues that have been paid, both as a high school coach and assistant, you know, a five-year assistant as a Division I assistant, and then a nine-year run as a head coach. I feel like I come from a place of experience and dues that have been paid. And then, you know, 22 years in the NBA, being around the best players

in the world and being around the best coaches and refs and you name it and executives, I feel very comfortable from the opinion I give. Not always right, not always correct, but I do the best I can being prepared to give it. Now, I want to get you to the Fan 590, which is where a lot of us Torontonians kind of first hear your voice and discover Jack Armstrong. But quick question, who would you say is the best player who ever played for you? Well, as a head coach at Niagara, I would say a guy named Brian Clifford, who ended up playing in Spain for quite a while.

And he actually, it was great when we had Jorge Garbojosa and Jose Calderon, they came up to me one day. They says, coach, you coach Brian Clifford. I said, yeah. Well, he, you know, Brian was older than them. He played for the senior team in Spain. I can't recall the team that they played for, but they were young players at the time and they both really looked up to Brian. And it was just funny. It was a great connection that we had. But Brian was a 6'8", redhead, Irish guy from New York, tough as nails, and kind of out-slowed people. You know, he just was incredibly skilled and didn't jump, didn't run fast, but just kicked your ass.

Just a great player. Then I had a guy, Chris Watson, who finished, I think, second or third all-time in school history at Niagara. And a guy named Alvin Young, who ended up being the leading scorer in college basketball, re-recruited him. He had no scholarship offers. And a Brooklyn kid who went to Bishop Laughlin, never played high school basketball. Wow. And then, I guess at Fordham, we had a guy, Joe Paterno, not the coach, but a great, great player, and a guy, Dan O'Sullivan, Fred Herzog.

Dan O'Sullivan played a little bit with the Toronto Raptors in their first year with Brendan Malone, and a guy named Fred Herzog. So those would be guys that were really good players, you know, that I had an opportunity to coach in my time at both Fordham and Niagara. Now, on the Fan 590, you took over for Chuck Swirsky, so he left, I guess we're looking at. No, no, actually, Chuck and I got hired together in 1998 by Nelson Millman. We were the broadcast team on the radio, so actually Nelson hired the two of us. So we did the games together. Now when Chuck left to go to Chicago, I took over his radio show. And I did that show with Doug McClain, the hockey, you know,

former president, GM, head coach in the NHL. Proud Prince Edward Islander. Exactly, PEI man. I'm actually going to see Doug next week. I'm going to be in Florida for All-Star break. And we live a mile from each other in Florida, in Delray Beach, Florida. So I'm going to actually see him and his lovely bride, Jill, next week. And then I did the show with Doug for a year.

And then after that, I did the show with Eric Smith for a year. And we had a great time doing it. It was fun. You know, with the technology, Mike, that exists today, I could probably still do that show. It was fun. You know, with the technology, Mike, that exists today, I could probably still do that show. Back then, they wanted me in studio every day, which was really difficult because I live in Lewiston, New York.

Right. And coming back and forth to Toronto, getting in for a 2 o'clock show was easy. Leaving at 4 o'clock every day was an absolute nightmare. You know, I never come in and out at rush hour. Like, I don't have that kind of commute. I mean, literally, it takes me from my home in Lewiston, hour and 15, hour and 20, because I'm always coming at the quietest times, both in and out. So I had a great time doing the show for two years, and I enjoyed it.

But from a family perspective and from a lifestyle perspective, it became too much. But now, again, you look at the technology, guys are doing the show, all these different shows from their house sitting in their pajamas. Yeah, no doubt. It's radio. No one sees it. That's right. In fact, no one can see where we're recording right now. We're just going to tell them we're in my basement in southwest Toronto.

How did you get the gig at the fan, though? Because you're your Lewiston guy. Like, how do you end up on our Toronto at the time, the only sports radio station in the city? Well, I mean, in terms of doing the show or doing it, tell me the origin story of how I think I think we overwhelmed Nelson Millman, the program director at the time, when the Raptors had an opening. I had a year left on my contract at Niagara. I was out as a coach, and I wanted to take a year off from coaching.

I was burnt out. So I ended up doing a demo tape. I had never called a game in my life. I had a number of my coaching colleagues and broadcast friends were nice enough to reach out to Nelson and say, I think this guy would be a great fit in Toronto. They wanted someone with a basketball background as an analyst. And I think I just got lucky. And Nelson reached the point, I think he said, I surrender. Okay, you have enough high-powered people calling on your behalf. All right, I'll meet with you. And then when I met with him, I thought we clicked right

away. And then, you know, he had a guy in mind who was at Michigan doing University of Michigan and doing a pre-half and post for the Tigers and the Red Wings and all that in Chuck Swirsky. And it ended up being a magical pairing. And I was very fortunate to work both radio and TV with Chuck for 10 years. And then I've been very fortunate the last 12 to work with Matt on television and then Jonesy, Paul Jones, on radio. I'm going to definitely get to your, I'll call them your basketball family. But I want to say, I know Nelson Millman's listening. He's a listener of Toronto Mike.

He's been on the show. So Nelson, good call. I'm glad you surrendered to Jack Armstrong's relentless. And I'm glad too because I've been here 22 years now. It's amazing. And you, I mean, here we are at the apex. I have people I'll talk to who sort of jumped on the bandwagon. They're still on it and they're so happy as Raptor fans.

And I'll have to be like, tell them stories. Like, let me tell you about Oliver Miller, and let me go down history and tell you. It hasn't always been this wonderful, but like we'd set off the top. This is the apex, I would say. I would agree with that. You know, it's interesting. I made this point the other day.

I think you'd agree because you grew up here. Yeah. I'm a big baseball fan. This is kind of like that run the jays had in the late 80s early 90s you know this is seven years of winning now for the raptors right and it's been a magical run that whole time and you know the jays won two championships the raptors have won who knows maybe they get another one uh but the reality is it's that same sweet spot right now that the jays had that the raptors are having.

And you look at the impact it had on the sport of baseball in Canada, and you look at the impact this runs having on the sport of basketball in Canada right now, it's the fastest growing sport in the country. And the cultural and the dynamics, the cultural dynamics and the whole cultural mosaic that is Canada, let alone Toronto, let alone the province of Ontario, is kind of feeding into all that. And I think the best is yet to come

on that front. You're a big part of it. You're a big part of that whole basketball mosaic. Well, thank you. You're a huge part of it. I feel like I'm a caraway seed in the grand bakery of life.

I'm just a little speck, but I'm doing my part. But that's an essential component, for sure. So you're doing it well. Now, I opened up, I asked for some questions. I'm just going to ask one from Daryl. And Daryl says he doesn't have a specific question in mind, but he hopes that we discuss what made you, Jack, decide to leave Fan 590 and Sportsnet

to join TSN full-time. I didn't. That wasn't my choice, actually. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know if people remember this, but Sportsnet dropped basketball for two years. They literally pulled the plug on the sport and dropped it. I was hired on the TV side there by Scott Moore and they literally pulled the plug. And I was still at the time working for the fan 590. And literally, I, so I had nowhere to go. I mean, I thought I was going to be out of work or I was going to leave this market and go work in another market. And then TSN came in along with MLSC and put together a package, which I'm still on right now in terms of that they want me exclusive. The one thing at the time was I already was on a show on the fan, their competitor, and

TSN didn't have a radio station at the time. So I was doing my own show on the fan, and I was exclusive television-wise to MLSC, which is NBA TV Canada, Raptors TV, and TSN. So I literally, TSN thankfully said, hey, you know, this guy's a free agent. We're going to go get him and lock him up. And then it's funny, then Scott Moore came back to Sportsnet who's since left again right and Scott said how the hell did we lose you and I said well you dropped basketball and Scott was already gone right so I don't know if I would have ever left that uh you know I mean we have an interesting broadcast arrangement in Toronto because of the fact that we are owned by two warring parties, basically, even though they sit at the table and own the team together.

It's like CBS and NBC owning a team together in the United States. You just wouldn't see that happening. So it's been an interesting experience, but nonetheless, I'm grateful to the people at the fan and the people at Rogers that gave me an opportunity, and I'm grateful to people at TSN and MLSC for the opportunities they've given me and continue to give me. Here's an ad from the city of Toronto that'll nicely introduce my next question here. So let's listen for 30 seconds. Come on! Get that garbage out of here!

No, no, no, no, no! Get that garbage out of here. No, no, no, no, no. Get that garbage out of here. Are you serious? Get that garbage out of here. Make the right call and recycle right. Learn what goes where at toronto.ca slash recycle right. You're the perfect spokesman for that campaign. You know, it's interesting. And Recycle Right. Learn what goes where at toronto.ca slash recycle right. You're the perfect spokesman for that campaign. You know, it's interesting.

Are those still running, by the way? I think they are. I'm not 100% sure. They were running for a while. They were running quite a bit in the fall. I don't know if they're still running or not. But I would say, you know, the folks from the city were very happy with it. I think it really, it was a funny message,

but it got the point across. And I get more people say to me, you know, when I think whatever the day in your house, in your neighborhood, the garbage day is, people mention that to me all the time. Like, hey man, I always think of that goofy commercial you've done, but you think about, hey, I've got to recycle right. And so if I played a little small part in making the city of Toronto and the environment a little bit better, I've done my job. Very funny, though.

And my kids love it. I drop the get that garbage out of here all the time. I do my jack all the time. In fact, we're at a point now where whenever there's a big block or something, Raptors make a big block, I just wait for it if it's a TSN game anyways. I'm waiting for Jack. Now, there's that and there's also, I open the show with the

hello, I can't do it justice. Hello! There you go. And I love it when we're in the morning, so I just call the game and I say, so it takes me a while for my voice to warm up. Usually it takes all day. And if Boucher puts one down or whatever. Right. So, Joey asked the question I wanted to ask.

Joey Bag of Donuts? Is that who it is? Maybe, maybe. Need to know, when did the catchphrases enter the vernacular? Well, you know, growing up in Brooklyn, they both come from Brooklyn. You block a shot in a schoolyard, you say, get that blank and blank out of here. Now, obviously, I was about to say that on television. It's a family show.

That would not go over well. So I lost my mind, and I just said, garbage. So I can't remember who said it to me. He said, that sounds great. You didn't even say garbage. You said garbage. It's that perfect Brooklyn vowel thing. It just took off.

You know, there were a lot of people that said, ah, that's funny, that's funny. So I said, okay, I'll use it again. And it just started. And then the hello, and again, I'm not being sexist or anything like that. I know it's 2020, and I apologize. I'm not here to offend anybody. You grew up in Brooklyn years ago. This was a long time ago.

A pretty woman would walk by, and you'd go, hello. Like, you're impressed. Right. I'm impressed. by and you'd go, hello, like you're impressed. Right. I'm impressed. So basically I've used that line when I see a play that I'm really impressed by, like a beautiful play, right? Kind of the same category. You go, hello. So that to me is kind of where it comes from. It just comes from hanging out on the streets of Brooklyn or in the schoolyards. And those sayings come from hanging out with a bunch of goofball friends

that are still my lifelong friends. And those phrases came from that. Now, Joey, that was his need to know. So you've satisfied Joey there. All right, Joe, bag of donuts. Good to know. He says, how early does Leo Roudens get into the hair and makeup chair on game night? Well, no, he's naturally beautiful.

You know, Matt Devlin's got the great hair. Matt's got the television hair. Like, his hair is perfect. And then Leo is just, I mean, like, he's Mickey Mantle, I'm Mickey Mouse. I mean, the guy, you know. I joke with Leo all the time. I said he's the George Hamilton of basketball analysts. You know George Hamilton? Always in the sun.

Always in the sun. Has the perfect tan. Has the perfect look. That's Leo. He has that regal look about him. That's the Lithuanian roots. Yes, it is. And he takes great care of himself.

And you'd never know that Leo's 74 years old. No, no, no, I'm only kidding. Leo's a spry 59. But, you know, we have a lot of fun with it. And, you know, we have a good camaraderie, all of us, in our broadcast crew. You know, Matt, Leo, Sherm, Jonesy, Eric, we've got a great crew of guys to work with. Yeah, I was going to ask you about...

Kate, Rod, the whole crew. I'd be remiss on the Sportsnet side. Michael Grange, Brad Fay, I mean, we're all buddies. Sam Mitchell, we all work together, have a good time. Kayla, we've got a good crew of people. Absolutely. I was going to ask you about your Raptors family. Because Matty D, that's the consistent voice across,

whether you're watching on TSN or Sportsnet, Matt Devlin's going to make the call. That's the consistency. So I don't know how the deals work or whatever. Maybe he works for MLSE. I don't know how that works. Yes. Okay.

And then you, though, I know that it's got to be a TSN television game. Or TSN radio, one or the other. Yeah, there's an exclusivity element in play there. Right, and the opposite is for Eric. Eric, it's got to be a Sportsnet game. Correct, or Fan 590, one or the other. Yeah, right, right, right. So Eric and I are in an exclusivity mode.

So you never get to talk to each other on the air. You know, and it's interesting. Yet we've all worked for each other, and it's interesting. I've worked with people at TSN that used to work at Rogers. I've worked with people at Rogers that used to work at TSN. So, you know, the television business, the radio business is a small fraternity. And the interesting thing, and I'm a big believer in this from my coaching days. Right.

You know, a lot of times the people that you end up working for end up working for you someday. And at the same time, then years later, you might end up working for those people again. So be nice to people. You know, I mean, I guess the, you know, we're all in this together. And I think sometimes people get territorial about who do you work for and all that. And again, I respect that. And I'm cool with that. At the same time, I'm also respectful as I'm in the people business, period. Right. And whether you work for CTV or CBC or whatever it is, global or, you know. The athletic whatever.

Whatever it is, we're all in the fraternity together. We're in the people business. We're all on this planet together. Let's be nice to each other. Let's respect each other. Let's have some fun. Let's give a shout-out real quick here, though, to Leo, who I understand is getting back surgery today.

Yes. Well, tomorrow, actually. He's going today, and he's prepped today, and then he has surgery tomorrow. And it could be 31 times he's gone under the knife? Yeah, no. That's unbelievable. It's been, you's, you know,

this is a guy that had a tremendous career as an athlete. And this is not easy for him to go through what he's gone through. And, you know, you, you know, and I always say this about Leo, you know, you look at the technology that exists now and the care that exists now, if that had existed back when he played, the guy would have been a guy that played in the NBA for 10, 12 years and made a ton of money and had an amazing career. Unfortunately, back then, people are cutting you with a knife,

and it's major surgery rather than arthroscopic. So he's gone through a lot, and he'll go through it again, and he's a trooper, and he'll be back at it in no time. He's a good FOTM, so Leo, when you're better, you're welcome back in the basement. I think he's my tallest guy in the basement. He's made an appearance on the show as well. I know that. He's not a beer drinker like me, though. He likes the vino. Let's made an appearance on the show as well. I know that. He's not a beer drinker like me though. He likes the vino.

Let's do that right now. I know because I met you at a Park City Boots event. They have great boots by the way. They're amazing people too. I love the family run businesses. I like it when I can

look the owner in the eye and have a heart to heart. But Great Lakes, that's a family run business and I know for a fact because I saw you drinking the eye and have a heart-to-heart. But Great Lakes, that's a family-run business. And I know for a fact, because I saw you drinking the Great Lakes. You love your Great Lakes beer. Yeah, and I love their IPA. The Octopus wants to fight IPA.

And I'm a big IPA guy, and I see that you brought a few cans for me. I love it. Do I get a six-pack, or I'm just getting three? Well, no, here's the deal. This is the deal. So that's for you right now. I'm not going to drink it right now. It's in the morning and I've got to hop on a charter to the airport.

Right. You're taking that with you. So that octopus wants to fight. But you name the time and day, and I will be in this lobby with two things. I'll have another six-pack of Great Lakes for you, and I have a frozen lasagna from Palma Pasta. You bring it home. Frozen lasagna? Wow. It is a frozen lasagna from Palma Pasta. This is the, you bring it home.

It's got to be a day. Frozen lasagna, wow. It is the best lasagna you can buy. It's from Palma Pasta, another family-run business. They're in Mississauga and Oakville. So I'm going to bring you a large, this is going to feed the whole family, Jack. Wow. I'm telling you, I'm going to bring you that.

I'm going to bring you a six-pack of beer. You just have to send me an email and say, you know, the lobby at 930. I'm there with your gifts. This is next time it's convenient for you to take that with you. There's a Toronto Mike sticker, too. That's from StickerU. Wow, beautiful. And StickerU.com to get your stickers.

I want to thank the Keitner Group. I want to let everybody know that if they have any questions about Toronto real estate, you text Toronto Mike, one word, to 59559. Wow, so you've got a lot on the go here, Mike. And do you like a bluegrass? You like a country music, a roots music. I got to give a shout out to banjo dunk from whiskey.

Jack banjo dunk is also a proud sponsor of the program. So thank you everybody for helping to fuel the real talk. By the way, Jack, we're in a, I rarely record in a public location, but I'm watching people walk by. They see you,

they smile. I mean, it must be wonderful to like'm watching people walk by. They see you. They smile. It must be wonderful to have that effect on people. Well, I think people get joy through sport, Mike, and I'm just part of that. I'm kind of the guy, the conduit. I'm just relaying the message, and I think it's a joyful experience. I mean, it's painful, too, when your team loses and your heart's broken and all like that. But it's still an escape from reality. And to me, like, you know, I try to, when I'm on the air, whether it be a TV or radio, whether it be a game, whether it be an interview, whatever it is, I try to bring passion and energy and enthusiasm because I love it.

I love it. And I tell kids all the time, Mike, you know, you got to find that thing in your life that you love, that you get up and you say, man, I love doing this. So, you know, when I reflect on my life, I've had a love affair with that orange ball since I was six. Here I am 51 years later. I can't thank that orange ball enough.

I have lifelong friends, amazing experiences, tremendous life lessons. I've had an opportunity to play. I was a lousy player. I've had the opportunity to coach. I've had an opportunity to broadcast career. I've had two careers in it. I've traveled an opportunity to broadcast career. I've had two careers in it. I've traveled the world. I met my wife because of it.

My wife was a Division I women's soccer coach and a women's basketball assistant as well at Niagara. And I don't meet her without basketball. Everything I have in my life, in a lot of ways, is because of that orange ball. And I can't thank that ball enough. So I tell kids to you that might be a piano might be a paintbrush it might be dance it might be law it might be medicine but find that thing that you absolutely have a love affair with and do it and so when I'm on the air I'm just talking about my love affair right you know like I'm bragging about the thing

that I fill on head over heels for we had a guy one time when I was a head coach in Niagara, came on his campus visit, a kid from Evansville, Indiana, got off the plane, Mike, and he had a basketball under his arm getting off the plane. I'm like, you know, what guy brings his own ball on his school visit? You know, and I'm like, I said to my assistant coaches, we got to get this blanking dude. Right. You know, because this guy loves ball. And he my assistant coaches, we got to get this blanking dude. Right.

You know, because this guy loves ball. And he's a baller. Like, he loves it. And to me, I think when you look, you know, at the passing of Kobe Bryant, which was so sad. And his daughter and the other folks. And, you know, God rest their souls. And he loved the sport. He loved it.

Like, loved talking about it. loved playing it, loved practicing it. You know, there's joy there. And to me, when you do this thing, I think you've got to be all in. You've got to be head over heels about it. And I feel like when I'm on the air or whenever I'm around it, I feel that same joy from the game, from the people in the game. And when you get two teams, and not just the Raptors,

when you get the other team into it that night and you get a great game, like, where do I sign up? Man, I'm going to play a clip from last June just to set up the next section here. Six is seven from the foul line. Two possession game. 114-110. Curry lets it fly. Canada, the NBA title is yours.

The Toronto Raptors are the 2019 NBA champions. It happened. It's real. It's real. The Raptors win their first NBA championship. How sweet it is. How sweet it is.

The Raptors come to Oracle Arena the final game ever played in this building against an outstanding ballclub and the Gold State Warriors and they win all four times this season. Ever played in this building against an outstanding ball club and the Gold State Warriors. And they win all four times this season here in this story building. Jack, I got goosebumps, man.

I do too. And, you know, I didn't have it at the time it happened because you're so busy and you're so in the moment. It's like a surreal out-of-body experience, Mike, and you don't really feel it and you have no time to reflect on it. And I tell you what, you're like spinning like a top. You're so – it's a whirlwind. And now when I hear that, you just – you go, wow, it did happen. Like, it really didn't hit me, Mike, until the banner went up opening night against New Orleans. Because when you see that, like, that's not going anywhere.

It's like Dave Keon's number retired and, you know, Wendell Clark and, you know, Leaf Stanley Cup champs. We're still waiting since 1967, obviously. But my point is those things are there, and they're not going anywhere. Right. And so when you see something like that, that's like an amazing thing to witness, and you say, it actually did happen. It happened, man. And here's a question.

Can it happen again this season? You know, yeah. Yeah. question can it happen again this season you know it's uh yeah yeah you know do they have to be 100 healthy i would say yes i think it would be really difficult uh it's one thing to do what they're doing in the regular season with uh just crazy injuries and all that i would say though uh to win a title you know you gotta win what got to win, what, 16 games? And those are, it's like dog years, you know? Right. Those are hard.

It's really, really hard to win a game. It's very easy to lose one. And in order to win 16 really hard games where you're playing the same team maybe seven times in a series, and you've got to win four of them, you've got to be healthy. So to me, if they are, I'll tell you what, I like their chances of advancing in the East. I like their chances of getting to East finals. I like their chances of getting back. But it's all going to come down to health.

And I think if they are healthy, they can play with anybody out there. Now, can they beat everybody? You know, some things got to go right. But I tell you what, based upon what we thought in the fall, and I thought the Raptors were a top four team coming in. And obviously, I feel that way now. And I think they have a chance to do some fun stuff here in the spring I was going to ask you when when Kawhi left us for the Clippers what was your realistic expectation I know like you mentioned this team was a top four team a 50 plus win team they were 17 and 5 last year without Kawhi Kawhwhi's a great player. But I'll tell you what. You know, I said this.

I was on a show yesterday with, you know, with O-Dog and those guys. Yeah, the Overdrive. Overdrive guys. And I said to them, I said, you know, when you look at Kawhi, when Kawhi puts his head on the pillow now at night and he says, you know, the key component for him was going home, which I respect. I get that. He's an independent contractor, collectively bargained agreement between the players and the owners. He had the right as an independent contractor to go

work and live where he wanted. I respect that. I have no problem with that. I would say though, when he puts his head on the pillow at night, if he could transfer the Raptor team and move it to L.A. and then that Clipper team would be transferred to Toronto, I think he would find it a joyous, fun experience to continue to play with the team he played with. And probably looking from afar going, you know, I might have had a better chance the next three years to win there. Right. And I do here. I don't know. You know, it'll be interesting to see how it all plays itself out. But I tell you what, the West is a, you know what? But the East is too. I mean, you look at the top six teams in the East and the top seven in the West, it's crazy. I mean, if you're not the one or two seed in the East, you're in trouble.

And if you're not the one seed in the West, you got your hands full. And even if you're the two seed in the East and you got to play theoretically like the team the Raptors are playing tomorrow in Brooklyn, let's say Kyrie is healthy, number one. Number two, let's say KD suddenly shows up and gets parachuted in and plays in a playoff game. You know, they're a different team altogether. So it's not easy. Brian says, So it's not easy. Brian says Hubie Brown is 86 years old and still covering games and still sharp as nails. Jack, will you be covering the Raptors at 86?

Well, you know, there's a connection there between Hubie and I. I don't know if you know this. Hubie played at Niagara. He graduated in 1955, played on a legendary team with Larry Costello, who's a phenomenal player. Won an NBA championship, Larry, as a head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks with Oscar Robinson and Lou Alcindor, who's now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And Yubi was his assistant with the Bucks. And Yubi, and one of my idols and one of my mentors in my coaching career in my life is a guy named Frank Layden.

Frank Layden, president, GM, head coach at a Utah Jazz draft at John Stockton, Carl Malone. Jerry Sloan was his assistant, and then Frank retired as a coach, turned it over to Jerry. Those are all guys in my life that have been very influential on my career as a coach and in my life and UB called on my behalf here at in Toronto for the for the job with the Raptors to Millman right yeah and UB um you know UB was UB's uh you know so UB is a guy that uh has been one of my mentors

coaching and broadcasting and uh so he's 86. He's doing a national schedule, so he's not doing as many games. I don't know. Boy, oh, boy, 86. That's a long time from now. I love what I'm doing. Right. And I hope to do it as long as I'm healthy and as long as the folks here would like me to stay.

I guess we'll figure that out as we go along. But UB's an inspiration at 86 years old. And he's on the number two broadcast team. You know, you got Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and my buddy Mike Green, a fellow Fordham guy. And the second team is Mark Jones and UB Brown. And UB is elite. I mean, he's a Hall of Famer as a broadcaster and one of those guys. And he has great advice, by the way. And I say this to young people all the time. He goes, you must seek out coaching. You must seek out mentorship. You must seek out direction in your career. He goes, because in the broadcasting business, nobody coaches. Here's what happens. They say, great job. Hey, great job. Hey, great job. You're fired.

You know, his point is we all are delusional because people say, hey, you know, I love you on this. I love you on that, blah, blah, blah. But you better have people in the industry that continue to critique you and continue to give you constructive advice and direction so that you're constantly growing and maturing, that you don't get stale, that you stay current with your craft. And I feel like I have people in my background that I can call on or I ask them, hey, what are you seeing? What are you hearing? What do you think? Is there anything I could do to do better? You know, and shoot straight with me.

Don't kiss my ass. Tell me the real deal. And, you know, UB is one of those guys that taught me that you can't, you have to stay on it. You gotta continue to grow with it. And, uh, he's an inspiration. Uh, you're a three-time winner of the Canadian screen award for best. Did you keep those trophies? You got them somewhere. I actually, I have those trophies on my mantelpiece in my house above my fireplace in my living room. So they're beautiful trophies, and I'm very fortunate and honored and privileged. And the reason I got them is because I work with amazing people, our folks in the TV truck, great broadcast partners.

our folks in the TV truck, great broadcast partners, and to work in a place that allows me to kind of have, I feel like I've been able to be myself 22 years. You know, when I started with the Raptors, my first year was the fourth year of the Raptor franchise. Now they're in year 25. I'm year 22. And I felt like I worked for a starter company.

Right. So when you work for a starter company, you can kind of, kind of create your own little way of doing things. And so I've grown with it and I've been fortunate enough to kind of be part of it. So like I've been able to kind of be me a little bit and I haven't been kind of reeled in. And, you know, I think if I were hired 22 years ago for the, by the Lakers or the Knicks, I don't know if I could have been who I am. Right. That's a good point. Because you're in a place that's so established and kind of stuffy. Right. And, you know, whereas we were new, the whole thing was new. I was new and I kind of roll with it. And now you're kind of part of the, I don't know, you're, whereas we were new, the whole thing was new, I was new, and I kind of roll with it.

And now you're kind of part of the, I don't know, you're part of it now. And so I feel very fortunate to have been able to have people have given me the latitude and the trust that I have a sense of what I'm talking about, what I'm watching, what I'm feeling, what I'm seeing, what I'm sensing. And they kind of let you roll with it a little bit. I'm going to give the last words here to Paul Hawkyard, who didn't have a question, but he wrote, I just wanted to say,

Jack Armstrong is the happiest man on television, always smiling and laughing, makes TV fun. So I just want to close and thank you for making, in good times and bad, because I've watched you. No, I mean, and that's very nice to say that. And I think it's very easy, Mike, to call games. It's very easy to call games when the team is winning. And the last seven years, quite frankly, have been easy.

There were a lot of years where the team was not good. And I felt like that's when I did my best work. You know, you get these awards and recognitions. But honestly, you know, I feel like I've done my best work when the team was not good because I'm trying to keep the thing energized. I'm trying to keep you from turning the dial or pressing your remote and going somewhere else. My job is to inform and entertain. So I want to continue to entertain you. I want you to have fun watching it.

I want it to be a celebration of the sport. And even those years where the Raptors weren't good, some of the teams they played against were. And let's celebrate that. Let's celebrate the greatness of a Kevin Garnett or a Kobe Bryant or a Shaquille O'Neal or a Michael Jordan or whoever that person may be on the other team. Let's celebrate the beauty of the sport. Let's celebrate the spirit, the competitive spirit that the Raptors are bringing, even though they might not be that talented in a particular season. So to me, I think that's my job, you know, is to not get drawn down by the

gloom and doom of losing and to kind of go through that and just to continue to bring high energy and enthusiasm and a passion for it. And to me, I got to have that. I got to be able to bring that. And a lot of nights now, it kind of carries us along because the team is very good. It kind of carries us along because the team is very good. But there's been a lot of nights where that hasn't happened.

And it's on us, whether I'm on television or on radio, to bring that. And also to bring candor and to be honest and to be fair, to be balanced. I feel like I'm very fair. There's times where I'll be critical, but I do it from a place of positivity rather than negativity. I'll call a spade a spade. When someone's not playing well or playing hard, I'll say it. But I don't say it in a way to be personal or to demean somebody. I say it in a way that you know you say hey you're better than this let's go and uh so it's been a it's been a great ride i have no idea where it goes from here i'm having a great time doing it it's been a joyous fun experience and i

hope to continue to do it for a while and as long as people want me to do it. Thanks for your time today. Let's go for 16. You know, it would be great. It would be really great. And, you know, it'll be fun. And, you know, the great thing too, as you know, Mike, 16 in a row, if you can get that tomorrow night, then you have the all-star break. And now you're kind of, it really makes for a cool all-star break uh and now you're kind of it's it really makes for a cool all-star break for everyone in the organization you know the the owners and the executives and the players and coaches and all that uh staff um and even as me as a broadcaster it just it i might get a few free

drinks out of it or something hey you work with the raptors you guys have won 16 in a row you're defending that champion hey Hey, here's a beer. I'm just joking, but there's no nation like Donation. The reality is whether they win tomorrow night in Brooklyn or not, this team and this organization is

one of the model franchises in pro sports. It's great to see where they were when I started and where they are now. And again, to close, the best is yet to come. And the reason I say that is for the sport of basketball. And as much as we're ambassadors for the Toronto Raptors, we're ambassadors for the sport of basketball. The best is yet to come here in Canada for the sport.

sport of basketball, the best is yet to come here in Canada for the sport. And that brings us to the end of our 582nd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Jack would like you to go to hellojack.ca. He's got custom apparel for you to buy. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.

Sticker U is at Sticker U. The Keitner Group are at The Keitner Group, K-E-I-T-N-E-R. And Banjo Dunk is at Banjo Dunk with a C. See you all next week. Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the snow, snow Wants 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, you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears And I don't know what the future can hold or do For me and you But I'm a much 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 won't stay the day. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't be today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is Rosy and gray 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 just realized There's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true Yes, I do I know it's true, yeah

I know it's true How about you? Oh, they're picking up trash and they're putting down roads. And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone. Roam Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started. And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away

Cause everything is rosy and green