Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Jim Lang: Toronto Mike'd #899

Episode Date: August 11, 2021

Mike chats with broadcaster Jim Lang about his years working with John Derringer at Q107, CHOM and The Fan 590, his years at 640, Sportsnet, hosting the 590 morning show with Greg Brady, why that ended, his move to The Region and more.

Welcome to episode 899 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. 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 and the GTA. Order online for free local home delivery and the GTA. McKay CEO Forums. The highest impact and least time intensive peer group for over 1,200 CEOs, executives, and business owners around the world. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business.

Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majewski. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week is broadcaster Jim Lang.

Welcome Jim. How are you Mike? Nice to be out. I've been in the business over 25 years. I don't have my own theme song. That was tight. Very impressive. Shout out to Ill Vibe, local rapper producer Ill Vibe, who literally like a month before I recorded the first episode, I went to Ill Vibe and said, can you create something like modern and like hip hop flavor,

but like the as it happens theme? This was what I asked him when I said, here's the as it happened, like Mo Kaufman. What's the name of that jam? Do you remember? It's got a kind of a cool, Curried Soul. It dates back to the 70s,

does it not, Mike? It definitely does, yeah. I think they've re-recorded it over the years, but the Mo Kaufman Curried Soul is from the 70s. And I said, give me the as it happens, modern, and make it about Toronto Mike. He nailed it, Mike. Thanks. Okay.

Illy will like hearing that, that's for sure. How's it going? How are you? I'm good, Mike. Thank you very much for asking. All things considered, knock on wood, the family's healthy. Our daughters, our oldest is about to go into third year University at Guelph, and our youngest is about to go into third year university at Guelph and

our youngest is about to go her first year at Carleton. So yeah, it's a busy time in our family's life. Okay. I kind of know that age well, because my boy is going into his second year at Laurier in Waterloo. And then my daughter is going into her final year of high school, but different times. It's crazy, right? Different.

I mean, Cassandra just finished grade 12, as you know with your children, virtually online. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was no cheerleading. There was no school trips. There was no anything. That's what James had. Yeah, it sucks. You know, and so, I mean, at my age, at my stage in my life, it isn't a huge deal.

But, you know, we're very proud of her. She did well with her academics. Oh, good. And she's eager to, like to get away from the high school experience of the last year and a half and move on to university. So she got her brains from her mother? Mike, 100%. I wouldn't even

both the kids are strong academically. Just real quick, growing up, my father was in the Air Force. I'm very proud of my dad, but we moved around a lot. So, grade 7 in Trenton, Force. I'm very proud of my dad, but we moved around a lot. So grade seven in Trenton, Ontario, grade eight, half of grade nine, Burbank, California, half of grade nine in Greenwood, Nova Scotia, grade 10 and 11 in the high school in Auburn,

Nova Scotia, grade 12 and 13 in Camp Borden, Ontario. Wow. And at that time, borderline ADHD, academics, you know, I did better and had more success academically in college when I was studying radio because I was actually, I was into it. And I found towards into high school, I'm like, I don't need this. I don't want to do this. And I couldn't get my brain to even just fake it. Right. Hey, so is that a real diagnosis or is that a semi-joke that you're borderline ADHD? Well, we had the Saturday Star one day, my wife and I, and she was reading an article about the adult version of deficit hyperactive disorder. And I think I was like seven out of the ten symptoms. So I'm like borderline. Well, I only ask because my wife, who is not a doctor has diagnosed me as borderline adhd because apparently

i'm i don't know there's lots going on but uh i just always when i heard you say that i'm like hey my wife has diagnosed me as that but i wonder if a doctor told that to to jim lang no not yet not yet okay and now you know this is the home of real talk so you're gonna have some hard-hitting questions but the first one's really tough really really tough. Michael Lang, just before I even read his question, I think you've seen it on Twitter, but let's, no spoiler alert, but I got to shout out Michael Lang. He's one of three individuals left who have been to all seven Toronto Mic listener experiences.

So great FOTM. And this is an opportunity for me to remind everybody and to invite you, Jim, to TMLX 8, which is happening August 27. That's a Friday. Okay. 6 to 9 p.m. Outside, for those concerned about the Delta variant, it's outside on the patio of Great

Lakes Brewery. And everyone's invited. And the great news is not only is Great Lakes going to host, they're going to buy you your first pour of Fresh Craft beer. And you're getting beer anyways just for being here. Really? That's all going home. I even have more for you actually in the fridge.

Wow. You know how to make friends. Very nice. So thank you for Great Lakes for hosting. Thank you. The free beer for everyone who comes out to TMLX 8 on August 27th, 6 to 9 p.m. And for sending beer for Jim to take home with him. So thank you, Great Lakes.

And also thank you, Palma Pasta, because they're going to feed everybody at TMLX 8. Like, literally, you could come to this thing, even if you hated Toronto Mike. And I don't know if you listen. Oh, how could you hate Toronto Mike? Come on. I think you show up for free pasta, or should I say complimentary pasta from Palma Pasta, and a free pour of Great Lakes, and just to maybe take home a case or two of fresh beer from Great Lakes.

But again, everyone's invited, including you, Mr. Lang. And the question is? The question is from Michael Lang, L-A-N-G-E, Michael Lang. He says, Jim, what's your problem with the letter E? What happened to that E? Did it fall off along the way? It's a very simple answer. The Scottish Lang is L-A-N-G-E or L-A-I-N-G. Now, my grandfather is from a small little village in the Schwarzwald, the south end of the Black Forest of Germany,

near the Swiss border, and it's the Catholic German Lang, Lange, is how it translates into English. And we actually had a chance to visit his little village where my grandfather came to Canada in 1928, a number of years ago, and it looks identical. I mean, there's modern cars, but the buildings and the old church is the same. But Lange in Germany is L-A-N-G,

and Lange in Scotland is L-A-N-G-E. Okay, so there you go, Michael. That's his problem with the letter E. He's coming from Germany here. Okay, and again, Michael, I hope you're at TMLX 8, so you can go 8 for 8 with Rush Mike and Al Grego, who's already confirmed to be there. So peace and love to all the FOTMs.

Eric Smith heard you were coming on, and he simply told me that he said he has stories. So Jim, no pressure, but we're expecting some good stories along the way here. My first question, and then we'll get to more chronological order here, but my first question is about the catchphrase,

loving it. That is from Maxwell Smart Gets Smart. When my father, when we were stationed in California in Burbank, and I was doing grade 8 and grade 9, I would get home from school, from junior high.

Now, I went to junior high school in Burbank, grade 7, 8, 9, had over 1,200 students. And then Southern California in the late 70s, once you entered the school grounds, even if your house was across the road,

you couldn't leave the school grounds for lunch. Interesting. For safety reasons, yeah. And they had across the road, you couldn't leave the school grounds for lunch. Interesting. For safety reasons, yeah. And they had like barbed wire on the top of the fence. And this is like a middle class neighborhood. But that's, this is what it was like in Southern California at the time. And so I would get home and it was like, what were the heat we're experiencing today?

This is an average day in the San Fernando Valley. And in September, they have a thing called the Santa Ana winds. And for three weeks of the year, the wind comes off the Mojave Desert. The other 48 weeks of the year, 49 weeks of the year, the wind comes off the Pacific Ocean. For three weeks of the year in the San Fernando Valley, it gets between 110 and 115 every day. So you get home, first thing you do, grab a drink, and I would watch Get Smart because it was on KTLA. Okay.

And the home of the Dodgers and home of... Yeah, that's a superstation. The superstation. Yeah, we got it here too if you have the right tier of cables. So I got home, watched KTLA, watched Get Smart, and he would say, you know, they're going to be coming up and loving it. And I'd always stuck in my head, and he would say, you know, they're going to be coming up and loving it. And I'd always stuck in my head, and along the way it just became a phrase I sort of adopted,

and I've been doing it since the late 90s. Look, I'm a big fan of, like, catchphrases like that, like the things you go back to. You know, I close every episode with the same phrasing. I open with the same phrasing. That's cool, man, that now I didn't even know about the Maxwell-Smith connection. Yeah, because they would start talking about,

Max, they're going to come in here. They're going to beat you. They're going to have KGB. And loving it. And so I thought, that's hilarious. And before I press record, you just remarked on this neighborhood. How close were you to living in Southern Etobicoke?

Was it close or did you just consider it for a moment? No, no, we were very close. So at the time, we were just having our first kid and my wife and I were living in Brampton and she had a girlfriend she worked with who lived more Browns Line, Evans Avenue. Sure. And there's some really cool post-World War II bungalows,

like really neat and nice lot size. And my wife and I are more about the lot size than the house because she's Dutch and she likes gardening and plants and flowers. Right. And neither one of us grew up in a big house, so we're not big house people. Right. But it was just a little too small. So the idea was you'd buy a two-bedroom bungalow, these nice Etobicoke brick bungalows. Right.

And we were kind of saying, it's a little small for our needs, and they were like, well, just do a drop-and-plop. I go, what do you mean? A lot of people around here basically would take the roof off and just add a second story for more room. No, you're absolutely right. I see it all the time. And it was just out of our, like,

we really were starting, we went to MLS, you know, the website, and we're looking, and looking in the neighborhood. We did like it, Mike. I think they call it Alderwood. Like, I feel like that's the name of the neighborhood. I believe you're right. I think it's called Alderwood. Really mature trees.

Not far from Il Pisano, which makes a great pizza pie. So we just, it was just out of our economic wheelhouse. And like, we just had to tap out and say no. But if it was a little lower, we would have bought. And then, you know, if you do decide, hey, I visited Toronto Mike. He's not far from the lake. I kind of dig the vibe down there. I'm just going to let you know that Mike Majeski is your man.

He's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. That's realestatelove.ca. If you do speak to Mike Majeski, he's a good guy. He kicked out the jams recently. Just let him know Toronto Mike sent you. All right. You're going to kind of dig this, Jim. I had this loaded up in my soundboard since March 2020. So what are we in now? This is August 2021. Do you know why I had this jam for you loaded up in my soundboard in March 2020? I was about to get in the car to drive to your house

to do the podcast when the lockdown hit. So let me think, if I remember correctly now, I'm pretty good at this memory, I think March 13, I know that's the last day of school for kids

because that was like Friday the 13th. And I remember David Ryder from the Toronto Star came over and did a basement episode with me on that day. And then I pick up the kids

and then everything seemed to change on a dime where I was advised and I agreed with this decision that I had to move Epps to Zoom basically. And you were like, I think you were booked for the Monday. Is that possible? 13, 14, 15. Were you booked possibly for, I think March 16,

which was like the Monday when everything changed? To come in. Yeah, to be in the basement. So in that moment where i didn't know like what i was going to do with this show and i had no idea what i was going to do with my clients and it was really scary for a lot of people but also for me uh i think you were the very first cancer covid cancellation you're correct yes which is interesting that uh you know someone had to be the first cancellation it was jim lang but But here you are now. And I will say it was raining really early this morning

because I could hear the thunder. It's beautiful now. Gorgeous. And I think you're better off having waited to do this in the backyard. It's just, I'm digging the vibe. Well, I definitely feel safer, Mike. I'm fully vaxxed, by the way.

Oh, good. Yeah. Well, my rule is you don't have to be fully vaxxed to be in the backyard for an episode. But if it started to storm and we did do this and finish it in the basement, you have to be fully vaxxed to get into the basement studio. I agree. That's where I'm at.

So because I found out last week, Ben Rayner came by. He used to write for the Toronto Star. Oh, Ben, yeah. I love that guy. He's a legend. So it was revealed as he sat in the seat you're in now that he's not fully vaxxed. And it's like i was startled like oh there's like smart reasonable people out there who are not fully

vaxxed and don't have like a good reason for it like it just surprised me i know your thoughts are now when you hear about somebody who's not fully vaxxed i i recoil a little bit yeah and then you wonder what else what else do they, I knew Ben believed in aliens and stuff, and I'm not saying there's no aliens, but his level of alien belief is a little extreme. So I'm not shocked that he would be a little hesitant with this vaccination because of other beliefs I know he has. But I got to say, I had a moment of like,

I feel like my respect for Ben dipped a bit. I hope he's not listening now. I still love the guy, and he's a great guest. But get vaccinated. Mike, you just nailed a great thing, and he's a great guest, but get vaccinated. Mike, you just nailed a great thing and there was a great article in the Globe today that quote unquote we're entering the soft fourth wave, they're calling it,

that a lot of people, it's going to get contentious. Yeah, it's already. Right. Especially like family barbecues. Oh yeah. Extended family, cousins, friends. Hey, I thought you were my friend. Why aren't you vaxxed? Why are you a sheep with this experiment? You're just a guinea pig. And you get all this unreasonable. My sister's an ICU nurse in Nova Scotia. Those nurses do 12-hour shifts with complete full PPE, can't take it off. Right.

Think about what they go through. Well, think about your kids are teens. They got vaccinated. I have two kids who are under 12 and cannot get vaccinated right now. And that's my fear. Absolutely. I can't bring this into my home because I know I will probably not be hospitalized if I get COVID because I'm double vaxxed. My teenagers are double vaxxed. My wife is double vaxxed. We're not, we're going to, it'll be like getting the flu.

You might be sick for a couple of days. I know what to expect if I get COVID-19. But what about your younger kids? What about Jarvis and Morgan? And that's the thing. There's a lot of us out there with unvaccinated people because we haven't allowed under 12 to get vaccinated yet in this country. Look, I get why Massey Hall or Budweiser Stage or Scotiabank Arena,

you name the place where there's concerts, there's festivals, there's trade shows, there's sporting events. Hey, they need to get people back in there spending money. So they're going to say, show us proof of your vaccine. Go in there, buy your ticket, get a seat, buy merchandise. I mean, it's affecting everybody, the trickle-down economy of this pandemic. You're playing to empty arenas. Like, look at the Olympics.

That Olympic stadium, can you imagine what that would have been like for DeGrasse to win the 200? And there's no one there. No one's there. Although I will shout out the Olympics as a thoroughly enjoyable made-for-TV event for myself anyways. I watched a lot of Olympics. Oh, yeah, same.

And, yeah, I miss the crowd being there, but still glad it happened. Okay, and no Canadian tested positive for COVID-19 throughout that entire Olympics. So what's this audio? I'm dying to hear this. Okay, so here we go. I'm going to play it, and then I'll bring it down and read the note that prompted it. Here we go. We'll let it brew for a moment. Whoo! This is Ann Romer's favorite song of all time. No, I'm just kidding.

Okay. So, imagine that. The note I received from Jason from Sudbury. Looking forward to the Jim Lang episode. Pretty sure he's a metalhead too. Because I remember a few times when Greg Brady would be off on vacation, Jim played some good shit going in and out of breaks. If this is the case, you got to have him back at some point to kick out the jams.

We need more hard rock and a metal and some more metal on kick out the jams. Hey, isn't it Jim who's buddies with Jason from Five Finger Death Punch? Pretty sure I heard him mentioning something about it way back. Five Finger is one of my all-time favorite bands. Ask Jim how long he's known Jason

and if they still keep in contact. So I just read it verbatim. Now my question is, does he have the right guy? Are you the five-finger death punch? But I knew him before five-finger death punch. Okay. I believe I met him back in my music radio days. Because don't forget, when I started out, there was no sports television or sports radio basically

in the country and I believe I did meet him but he was in a different band but hard rock and heavy metal has been part of my life and still is it's still my music of choice on my playlist. Okay good so this isn't mistaken identity. No. Okay good I have to admit it was March 2020 was March 2020 when I discovered Five Finger Death Punch. I was not familiar with Five Finger Death Punch. Did I miss out? Am I missing out? Well, I mean, if you're into that. I have an affinity for hard rock and heavy metal, especially for the music, but also the story behind it.

Because I've always identified, you know, Lemmy, no one gave him a shot. Right. And he made it. Black Sabbath were so, grew up in abject poverty in Birmingham. Ozzy Osbourne didn't own a proper pair of shoes until their first record came out and he got his first royalty check. Wow. They were that poor growing up in the Aston Villa area of Birmingham.

And then, again, no one gave them a chance and then they made it so i've always identified with those kind of people because i've always thought about it myself in my career and so that's why it's always inspired me people like that and music like that and musicians like that all right cool so shout out to jason from five finger death punch who i'm sure is listening right now and again again, thank you, Jason from Sudbury, for sending on the note. And then eventually we did get to this. It only took like 18 months or something like that. All right, so you just alluded to, you know,

when you started. So you also alluded to being all around because your dad was, sorry, your dad was in the military? He was in the Air Force, yes. Air Force, okay. But you're like, you're born in France. Yeah, so at the time, the Canadian military had a huge NATO presence.

For people who don't realize, in the mid-1960s, when I was born and through the 60s, the threat of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact was so real that the US, Canada, Britain, France, all the NATO countries had huge bases and huge presence of planes and tanks and troops France, all the NATO countries had huge bases and huge presence of planes and tanks and troops because they had a thing called the Fold-A-Gap in the Belgium-France border. And the belief was the Soviet Union was going to pour 50,000 tanks, 2 million men, and go right to the English Channel, run through Paris and take over Western Europe, and there was nothing to stop them. So my dad was part of the huge legions of military families that were over there on duty. And part of my dad's job, he was an aircraft engine technician. So he would

fly around with planes and service the engines and that, but they would have World War III exercises. And I know when we were stationed in Marville, France, and then in large Germany, we had World War III exercises, and my dad and a group of young military members, airmen, would have to drive around the base, wake up everyone, you had X amount of time to get to your post because this is it. Leave your family and get to your post. Wow. Wow.

So I guess as you're bouncing around, and we had you in California there, you've been in Canada, you're born in France, you're all around. So where do you have that moment where you're I want to be a broadcaster like when does that bug bite you I want probably when I was in California there was a station there called KLOS and it was unbelievable production in the late 70s early 80s the best in the west KLOS California's rock and they had a guy named Fraser Smith was the morning man, and they had just the music, the production.

They would do magazine programming, foreground programming, and it blew me away. And then when we moved to Nova Scotia, there was nothing like that. There was, I mean, Q104, which Jake Edwards formed, didn't come until long after I left Nova Scotia. Because I know that's where John Gallagher gets his. He was at 92. Okay, because he was playing baseball with Brother Jake.

Yes. And Brother Jake said there's an opening at Q107 or something. Yeah, Jake recruited him. Right. Right. Okay, John Gallagher just went back. Yes, he did. He's left the city, everybody. John Gallagher just went back. Yes, he did. He's left the city, everybody.

John Gallagher, real quick, probably the most- Yeah, tell me any John Gallagher story. The most encyclopedic boxing mind of any broadcaster I've ever met. Well, he's a good friend of George Chiavallo, that's for sure. No, legit, you could ask him, date, fight, what round, and he'll let you know. Wow. No, seriously. He really is an aficionado of the sweet science.

Yeah, so at the time in the early 80s in Nova Scotia, we had a local full-service AM station out of Kentville, and then we had CBC Radio, and that was it. Right. And then in September of 82, my dad got transferred to Camp Borden, CFP Borden. And all of a sudden, it's Chum FM and Rick Ringer. It's Q107 and Scruff Connors.

Wow. And it's like, wow. And then it was Tom and Jerry had just teamed up. They were the beginning of the Blue Jays. So as I moved there, there's Tom Cheek and Jerry Howarth calling the ascension of the Jays from 82 into that 85 first AFC East division win. AL East. AL East, excuse me. You went football. Yeah, sorry, I threw a football in there. But yeah, no, so it was, and then what happened was in grade 13

my marks were tanking a bit. And my parents said, you know, you probably won't get into university in these marks you need to look at a plan b and so i went to the guidance counselor and i was going through the community college guidebook yeah and i started reading about radio and broadcasting programs and i've always wanted to do that and so i applied you had to audition uh write exams and do voice auditions i applied to algongonquin, Centennial, and Humber, and Humber's the only one that let me in. Well, you got in, buddy.

I got in, yeah. And it worked out. So what's your first broadcasting job that paid actual dollars? As I graduated, I got the all-night shift at CKBB in Barrie. This would have been in late May, early June of 87. So Don Landry, who was the year ahead of me at Humber, he was doing the evenings. Wow. Reverend Randy Taylor did the afternoon drive show and I got hired to do the overnights. And Jeff Walther was a Humber alum and he really

believed in giving Humber people a chance. And he would pay you not a lot of money to do the all night show, but you're on the air and you were working at your craft well that's back yeah back in the day when there was an all-night show where you could you could you could yeah hone your craft it was it was it was invaluable mike no seriously and you know part of the job was in the winter in barry as you know the snow right we had a repeater station in collingwood called CKCB, and we had a meter on the board, and it would show us the signal. We had this, you know, the big old satellite dishes? Sure. And when the signal went, that meant there was so much snow in the dish.

So we had longer, it was called like sat songs. So long songs, prop the door open with a cigarette. Like Indigata De Vida? No, I think it was Hotel California or something. Okay. And then we had like one of those big stand-up ashtrays. And we'd prop the door open, get a plastic shovel, and shovel the snow from the satellite dish

to get the signal back to the Collingwood station. Is that Barry's station you're at, is that the one Dan Schulman starts at? Yes, it is. And Mike Richards started there and Dan Schulman. I don't know where to begin with these great FOTMs. You're name dropping, but love it, man. Loving it.

Loving it. Yeah, so it was invaluable experience and really understood the, beginning to understand the ins and outs of professional radio. You know, your theory in school is one thing, but when you're actually doing it shift after shift, week after week, you really start to see where you're going there. Well, that's the only way to improve on something, right? Is you got to put in your reps and I guess you listen back. No, seriously.

My wife showed me the book, The Outliers, the 10,000 hours. Right. And it's true. It is so true. You look at anyone in their field of endeavor, whatever it is, that 10,000 hours really makes it. There's something to that. So if you were talking to a Humber student today who wants to go into radio, do they have to have the podcast, I guess? Like where else do you put in hours? You can't get that time on a station to suck. suck. See, now the technology is, the podcast is true, but I think you could do your own, take your phone, take your iPad and do your own, do your own show.

So you, even if you don't post it, you can do your own show and then watch it back and see how's my eyeline? How am I breathing? Is my posture correct? All the little things that you need to learn along the way you can. So that didn't exist back in the late 80s. That just didn't happen. Either you were on the air or you were not.

There was no other way to practice it. No doubt. I mean, I sound like a broken record the number of times I talked about Bob McElwitt Sr., program director at The Fan. I work for him. We're going to come there because they show the game, right? Absolutely. Okay.

Jeff Merrick, George Drombalopouloulos of course macko jr uh here's some time during the night to do your thing and look what has happened with uh those broadcasters it's uh well let me tell you a strombo story i don't know if he's ever told this he had an old volkswagen golf it was beat up and he would i don't know how it'd get sometimes i just came back from montreal like in that car and at sometimes he had so little money but was so eager to make it he would sleep in that car and george strombolopoulos i don't know if you're listening george i you were one of the few people in this industry that honestly, when you talk about paying your dues, there's not many people I know who had worked for it, who had worked at their craft and honestly gave themselves like, I'll do anything. He legit not just knows it, loves it, lives the life. Like, that's one thing I've always appreciated about George when he talks about inclusion and diversity and music and helping others and presenting things and being a storyteller and a broadcaster.

I mean, George is my mind. He's right up there. No argument from me. Big George fan here. And you mentioned about five minutes ago, you mentioned Mike Richards. So I'm just going to read a note that came in from Dale. Shout out to Dale Cadeau in British Columbia. He points out that you, Jim Lang, you're an F-O-R-M,

and that means friend of raw Mike. I think that's a play on F-O-T-M here. No, I'm a big fan of Mike Richards. And do you have any Mike Richards stories or anything? I know he's listening. Okay, well, I'll tell you a couple. Mike Richards. And do you have any Mike Richards stories or anything? I know he's listening. Okay. Well, I'll tell you a couple. So when I was working at Showman FM Montreal,

I was producing John Derringer's morning show, and I was doing jock shifts. I was doing some weekends, some fill-in shifts. And then John and I both got offered to come and work at the fan morning show. I would produce the morning show and then do some reporting in that. And so then we found out that Craig Venn

would be our op engineer, and that became my lifelong compadre. I'd take a bullet for that man. And first met Mike Richards as well. And so about a month after we started the show, this was early 95, they did a promotion. It was the ultimate road trip.

And we were taking a couple winters and driving from, think about this, driving from Toronto the Fan in a rented Dodge Caravan to Chicago to see a Leafs-Blackhawks game. Wow. And so Mike said, can you drive? He said, I'll drive. And it's cold. Of course, it's March.

We're driving across Michigan. It gets cold there. And he is smoking cigars or ropes, as he calls them. And like my eyes are burning. And that weekend in Chicago, oh, my goodness. It's unbelievable. Well, I think he's a self-professed good time Charlie, I think is what he refers to himself. I love that man.

He's so talented and so brilliant, and we've had some good laughs together. And I remember one time, you know, Craig and I, you know, because at the beginning when we started the fan, management was like, you know, guys, don't worry. This is a little bit of a different way to do things. Right. You've got like three books. Just take your time, work into it. And then shortly thereafter, guys, if you don't get it together by the fall book, everyone's gone.

Typical radio, right? And so Craig and I are like, geez, he's got a young family. I've got no money. I get debt up to my eyeballs. And Mike's like, don't worry, guys. I'm going to line us up with jobs in Dallas. And Craig and I are still like, Dallas? That sounds pretty good. We're still waiting. We're still here. I never went to Dallas. That's one thing about Mike because I talk to him sometimes, unrecorded

calls with him and then he spills all this info and he says, don't say anything now, so it goes in the vault, but then he'll say, we're two weeks away from this announcement and then two months will go by and I'll follow up and he'll say, we're two weeks away from this announcement. And then two months will go by, and I'll follow up, and I'll go, oh, is that still happening?

He goes, oh, there's a little snag, but this is still happening. It's happening in two weeks. I'll come on your show and break the news, and I'll be kind of like, oh, yeah, it's kind of like Charlie Brown kicking the football. Like, he's holding it up. He's like, this time I'm going to hold it.

You're going to kick it. But it's been several months now. Yeah, he's about Mike. He's a classic. class oh i love that guy no he's a beauty but craig i mean the best thing about it was working with craig and he was the best man at my wedding and you know we're lifelong friends and and i don't joke when i say he's one of those guys i would take a bowl of four of i love the guy well let me tell the listeners who probably know the name because of course he's the morning show host on the rock but you might know him by the nickname better i feel which derringer gave him which is lobster lobster boy so that's the name he's been here and i he's been fantastic he was at the party for marty at the opera house

i think he had a couple too many pops uh which made for some good real talk but shout out to craig van for sure uh okay so let's we get now that we've got you with derringer at show them is what's what's between barry and Oh, well, let me tell you something. Fill in those gaps there. So I was doing the all-night show and the evening show, and I was opting to Blue Jay Games because we were part of the telemedia sports network, which was fantastic.

And I believe I was making approximately $11.5 a year. And my dad got transferred from Camp Borden to Downsview and I thought I had a really bad Plymouth TC3 and if anyone remembers it, it was not a well-made car. And I thought I won't make it from Downsview through the snow belt up to Barrie for shift and I told my boss, I said, look, if you can give me a raise to 13,

I worked it out, I can get a real sleazy basement apartment still work. He goes, oh, I can can give me a raise to 13, I worked it out. I can get a real sleazy basement apartment still work. He goes, oh, I can't give you 13 a year. Wow. So I said, look, I can't do it. So I bounced around for a few different jobs. And then one day, one of the jobs I was at, they had the radio in the warehouse. And Melanie Curtis, who I went to Humber with, was doing traffic at a Toronto area station.

I went, oh, that's it. That is it like I'm getting back so this is like 91 and it just so happened the job I was at they did some layoffs so I got an appointment nice so I had done my internship at Q and I called some people at Q and I said I will work for nothing because I got an appointment I just want to do stuff there so I worked eight months for nothing okay and I And I did, you name it. I was the bear. I was in the bear costume because they have a, they had a mascot that wore a bear.

So Q107 had a bear mascot? I don't remember the bear. So it was for Q107 and 640. So it was like a big bear. And is that, but wouldn't it be like a pig or something? Were they hogs? No, that was after. That's after.

That was after. Okay. Maxman Grunt. Gotcha. Yeah. Chog or whatever. Yeah, okay. So then in August, about two weeks before my unemployment was going to run out, I was

starting to get a little tense. They hired me to produce the afternoon drive show with Derringer and the six o'clock rock report. Wow. So then I was up to 15 a year. I could just put enough gas in the car, pay the bills. But that experience working on the afternoon show and working on the six o'clock rock report was, and I've said it to John, it was like getting a master's degree in rock radio. Like it really was.

Like it was, I mean, and stuff, the stuff they would empower you to do. Then end up getting an executive producer credit for the Tragically Hip when they released Fully Completely. Wow. Because they did a satellite show from the Young Norton Studios. And it was a fantastic experience. And I really learned a lot about the business and broadcasting and, you know, I'll forever be indebted to John and Steve Warden and all the people there and what they taught me. Look, that was a period of time when I listened to a lot of Q107.

And the Rock Report was fantastic. I know you had a rule back then for foreground programming or something. There was some CRTC rule. Because Scott Turner likes to explain it to me. And that's why they started this show on CFNY and that show. Because you had to comply with these CRTC rules. Which I guess are all gone now. No, no, that's not true.

Because I know on the station I work at now, 105.9 The Region, we do weekend magazine show. There's a show hosted by Ann Romer called The Feed. And it is, I mean, some stations do have that in their promise of performance. Okay, so some stations have it. Gotcha. A lot of the big boys were able to negotiate through the CRTC and get away from that. But smaller stations and newer stations do do some of that still.

Well, let's do our shout-out to Ann Romer right now. Unbelievable. One of the most beloved FOTMs in the history of this podcast. And yeah, I got nothing but time for the fabulous Miss Romer. She's got a real gift to talk to a wide variety of people and make them feel like they're her best friend. That's the one thing I've learned working with Ann is she's got an absolute knack for that. And,

uh, she's a woman who's not afraid to retire and then unretire. No fears of in doing that. Uh, so she's, she, she long may she run the sweet Ann Romer now. Uh,

okay. So you're, that's where you hook up with Derringer. The first time is at Q107 there. And then what you follow Derringer to Montreal. Okay. So now, okay so in december of 92 everything was going fine and then john had got a call from management at shulman fm montreal because terry demonte was leaving to the a competitive fm station in montreal okay yes 96 uh I can't remember the call sign. But anyways, they needed a morning person.

And they were contacting John. And John had said, look, if I get this job, would you be interested in joining me to produce the morning show? At the time, I was 26. Single. I'm like, sure, I'll go. I'm like, I'm up for anything, right? Right. And

I don't know all the ins and outs. I know negotiations are going back and forth. I hadn't heard anything for a while. They fell apart. I remember John called me, goes, pack your bags, we're going to Montreal. And that was just before Christmas of 92. And then in early February of 93,

we packed up my K car, because he was picking up his car in Montreal. A nice Reliant automobile. With his St. Bernard in the back seat. Wow. And we drove to Montreal in a snowstorm. Wow. And we started doing the morning show in Montreal.

It was a fantastic experience. We were there two years. I loved living in Montreal. I got to know some great people like Pete Mariette and Andrew Carter and some great Montreal iconic broadcasters there. And here's the weird thing, Mike. So we get there in February. In June of that year, doesn't the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup?

They set some sort of record for the most overtime goals in a playoff series. And the station, there was a corporate sales office on Sherbrooke. And because there was some rioting after the 93 Stanley Cup, they didn't do the usual Stanleyley cup parade along um uh selling out st catherine so they didn't go along along st catherine they went on sherbrooke and it was third floor balcony overlooking the parade square and so we're watching these flat beds and they have these big boards with montreal canadians and stanley cup on molson because it's big and we can see and no one else can, looking down, all the players are waving.

There is an absolute carpet of empty beer cans on each flatbed. So then I asked a couple of players ago, okay, where did you guys go to the bathroom? Look, dude, we were drinking hours before the start of the parade. We didn't know what to do. We look over, there's our GM, Serge Savard, a Wiley Hall veteran, multiple Stanley Cup winner, peeing on one hand, waving with the other. So he would be peeing at empty beer cans and waving at hands at the fans of the others because they were in there.

They had stacks and stacks of cans of beer from Olsen for all the players and management. I would say this is the real talk I was hoping for. I remember that, well, obviously I remember it for many reasons, one of which that was supposed to be Leafs and Habs in the Stanley Cup final and of course I do remember the overtime winners, I think John LeClair and Dejardin I just remember some of these Habs just LeClair for sure. Well, so here's

something you don't know, our program director Ian McLean had warned John and warned myself, guys you can't openly cheer for the Leafs on Montreal radio. And John was like, what? Because you know Oh yeah, he's a was like, what? Because, you know. Oh, yeah, he's a big diehard. Well, but, you know, in Toronto,

you would hear Gallard go on and on about the Montreal Canadiens. And even Strombo likes to do that. He's a big Habs guy. But in Montreal, it goes, oh, no, no, no. They're so sensitive here. So John had to be like, well, the Leafs won another game. That was good for them. But how, you know, like, so, and like,

you could just see him like, grrr. He has to suppress that. And because that was just the dynamic of the audience there. But, yeah, it was. Interesting, though, because you're right. them but how you know like so and like you could just see him like this is suppressed that and because that was just the dynamic of the audience there but yeah it was interesting though because you're right that's commonplace here absolutely they're called contrarians like they're all there's bruins fans there's red wing fans moberg openly roots for the chicago absolutely huge so yeah noah montreal you better make sure all the listeners know you're a much all canadians fan first you can sure like but you better make them believe that that's your favorite team.

So strange, even though they know you came from Toronto. Oh, no, no, no, no. They don't know that. Now, okay, so you mentioned Terry DeMonte, who just retired, of course. Legend. Share some words about this, because I speak from, you know, I've only lived in Toronto, and I don't know Terry's legacy, but I've read about it. But you would be aware of that and give us a different perspective.

Like, what should we in Toronto know about? Like, is he the Roger Ashby of Montreal? What is Terry DeMonte? No, I think he's more a Derringer of Montreal. Okay. Yeah. I mean, nothing against Roger Ashby. I'm just trying to think of a long time.

So he grew up in the West Island, which is the mainly Anglophone area of greater Montreal. And then I know at one time he worked at City FM in Winnipeg. Now, in the early 80s at City FM, you had Steve Worden, Andy Frost, Terry DeMonte. You had, I mean, it produced some of the top radio TV talent in the country for the next couple of decades, came out of City FM in the early 80s. It was this massive signal. I think it was 300,000 plus watts. And it would blast Winnipeg into the Dakotas, into like the Kenora area. And so I think after City FM, then he ended up moving back to montreal and spent the

rest of his career there wow you know city fm just just a kind of a fun small world story so you mentioned uh working with scruff connor oh yeah and we'll get back we're gonna get to mojo wasn't tj out there well this is what i'm saying the morning show in on city fm right now is tj connor oh and coincidentally because i do this thing thing where on this day for Toronto Mic'd episodes, it's on this day in 20, I hope it's 2019 or 2018. I can't remember which one right now, but TJ Connors made his Toronto Mic debut and came by. Hi, TJ.

We spent half that episode talking about, give me scruff stories, these legendary, because unfortunately I can't have scruff on toronto mike so well no and the one thing is too mike yeah fm radio television broadcasting was very very different than you know pre-internet pre-cell phones and the other thing too when i started you were on radio you were on tv or you were a writer there was right there was hardly any what they call crossover stephen broad and bob m McKenzie were two of the first that would write and then do some radio hits and then appear in television. And I'm like, that's a big deal.

Because all the way up, you just didn't see that. And then until companies started to buy multiple media platforms and you had a thing called convergence. So one of the things that I would tell any young broadcaster is you better get comfortable writing in front of a camera in front of a phone because you're going to have to do all three yeah you got to be like a video your own videographer you got to do it all you got to edit it yeah you got to be a it's just the way because there's a finite amount of money like unfortunately private broadcasting is not the cbc the cb gets $1.2 billion every year no matter what. Well, private broadcasting, you have to fight and scratch for every dollar that comes in. And you're fighting Facebook and Google.

Everything. Yeah. You know, my kids, they are getting their information through their Instagram feed, their Snapchat. Right. It's very, very different than when we were young, Mike. So you're fighting a whole bunch of different things. The pie is shrinking.

I totally, totally wonder how radio, we'll get to this maybe a bit later at the region and everything, but how radio can compete with digital, like Facebook or social media and Google, the behemoth,

and podcasting and that whole universe. It's just such a different time. Well, for me, I mean, I know at the region, we're hyper-local. Hyper-local on the weather, the traffic, the news, the community events, the charities, the business in the area. And that's the future.

My mind in radio is is you know that people, if they want to listen to a certain podcast, will do it. But if they want to know that there's a charity barbecue happening for breast cancer research, they won't hear that in the podcast, but they'll hear that in your local radio station. Right. And like Richmond Hill and Markham and these cities aren't going to be spoken of in the same way on Chum or Virgin.

It's the same thing in a lot of communities in this country, Mike, that there's a lot of communities across. I mean, look how much berry has grown. Oh, and I hear berries as expensive as Toronto now. When did that happen? There are communities across the province now that have grown exponentially in the last decade. Absolutely. But need to be serviced by media.

They're losing their local papers. Right. But their population's not shrinking. It's growing. So they need to know what's happening with local news, politicians, stuff like that. You're right. And that's a little teaser. Obviously, we're going to close with some region talk.

But I do have a... Okay. So I'm following the Derringer thread here. So you go to Montreal. Right. Work with Derringer. Does Derringer... Does he get a phone call from the PD at the Fan 590? And basically...

How do you end up at 590 after Shom? Well, Bob McEwitt Sr. took over as the program director. Right. And Bob McEwitt Sr. and John Derringer were the first host of the 6 o'clock rock report. Right, of course. So it's six degrees of separation. Right. So Bob McEwitt Sr. had this vision of a crossover between sports radio and music slash entertainment radio, trying to broaden the audience.

And he thought, I know the perfect host. I'll get John Derringer. And at one time he had created this syndicated series called Jock and Roll, where he had like Dave Steve talking about music. Right. And he had actors talking about this and stuff like that. So it was kind of cool. No, it sounds cool.

And so John was brought in and and then john said hey do you like i would you know because he knew i knew sports love sports and you want to come and work at the fan and i said sure and that was that was a real eye-opener and a real learning curve going there because you know music radio is a very different animal than sports radio and talk radio and both in the execution and the preparation. So I had to change a lot of ways about how I broadcasted and how I approached broadcasting. And it was great for me going to the van because I had, okay,

if you're doing this, this, and this, you have to do four or five things to be ready for it. Do you know what I mean? Like in music radio, sometimes you could show up 20, 30 minutes before your shift. You're ready. Right. But you can't do that in talk radio or sports talk radio. That's not enough time.

Totally. And it's interesting because when I look back at your career, and I do think of you as a sports media personality. I realize you're currently doing more than that at the region. But I do think of you as a sports media personality. And this is really your first foray into that universe is following derringer to 590 that's right yeah so so february of 95 because when i started in 87 mike there was no fan right tsn had just started there was no score no sport like sports broadcasting was in its infancy in Canada. Right. And so all of a sudden in the fall of 92, the fan starts.

So by 95, now there's a bigger established sports media. And then about a year into the fan tenure, the score, a year or two, the score started up and then they basically poached Elliott Friedman and all this talent. Well, it was Headline Sports. Headline Sports, right. And then it really exploded. score started up and then they basically poached elliot friedman and all this talent was a headline sports headline sports right and then it really exploded and then the year after the score sports net started and then there was three sports television outlets in the gta wow so can you shout out some of the so who's involved with this morning so it sounds like a big crew like because

you got it's a fan it's a fan yeah there was a, John Derringer was the host. Ken Daniels did the sports. You know, I gotta say, I just chatted with him literally via email yesterday. He's got a box at his home, which is outside of Detroit, like a suburb of Detroit,

uh, where he's putting Blue Jay memorabilia as he cleans up, he finds stuff and he puts it in the box. Cause when he's in Toronto, he wants to deliver this box to me. Oh, wow. That's the kind of guy Ken Daniels is.

He's fantastic. One of the nicest, and I know he's listening because he would never miss a Jim Lang episode of Toronto Mice. Another guy I learned a lot from, a ton from, a ton. And so Bob Durant did the morning news. Right. Craig Venn was the engineer. I was the producer. And Mike Richards was sort of, quote unquote, the sidekick, funny guy.

Okay, yeah. So Richards and Derringer, amazing. the producer and Mike Richards was sort of quote unquote the sidekick funny guy. Okay. Yeah. So Richards and Derringer. Amazing. That's kind of a, kind of a cool crew you got there. Like everybody went on to host their own morning show at some point. Yeah. Well, absolutely.

And then, you know, the one thing that was great is, you know, you'd realize you think, oh, Hey, quote unquote, I'm working hard. And then there's Ken Daniels. The second he was done Friday doing his morning sports run, he was racing to the airport to fly to Calgary to do the Flames Oilers game the next night because CBCU had to be there the night before. And you realize, well, wait a sec, I do need to work hard. No, I think I, but I am not. And when you're working around people like Dan Schulman and Ken Daniels and some of these other people who realized, oh, that's what working is. And it really forced me to expand what my, what my mindset was when it come to preparation and working. Wow. Uh, and so, so, so how long are you on, uh, the fan 590

with Derringer? Well, I, okay. So in the fall of 95, I went from just producing and then Scott Metcalf needed someone to go down to Leaf training camp and Howard Berger was doing a lot of traveling and there was oftentimes they were like said, Hey, we need to have a reporter at the fan training camp. And I was always staying late to produce the morning show, looking ahead to the next day, the next week. And I'd be like, Scott, I'll go. And so like, here's, you know, blah, blah, blah. Give me the equipment. I take the subway, go down to Leafs camp,

which was at Maple Leaf Gardens and Pat Burns was still the coach. Right. And that was, that was the ultimate learning experience. Cause you're standing in a scrum with, you know, Jim Proudfoot and all these legends of writing and broadcasting. And there was a real scrum etiquette, Mike, where you were new, you were young. You stood back. You let the veteran writers ask their questions. When they're done, you sort of give them a side glance and they would give you a slight nod.

Then you ask your question. Right. And about the third time I went there, I asked a question. Pat Burns goes, well, that's a good question. Well, I could have died in the spot. So it was a real, it taught me a lot about scrum etiquette. Hey, if the writers are writing to deadline, let them get their question in because they have a different timeline than you do as a broadcaster. And then, so I started to do more reporting, uh, along that. And then by 97, I was off just producing the morning show and I was

doing reporting and doing updates. Amazing. So, uh those scrums, I'm sure Paul Hunter would be there as well. Yeah. Oh yeah. Because him and Mary Ormsby came over here for their exit interview from the star last year. It was fantastic. Mary's a member of the Ohio State Hall of Fame from volleyball. Not only is she a Hall of Fame writer, but you talk about one of the most underappreciated athletes this country's ever produced. It's Mary Ormsby. Right. Yes. And she was in the first edition of the fan. She was in the first

initial fan offering. You talk about her resume. It was really, really cool. I know I covered the 96th Great Cup with Don Landry in the Blizzard in Hamilton. Another very nice guy, Don Landry. Oh,

it's so talented. What's with all these nice guys hanging around, uh, Canadian sports media. And I, you know, and I ended up learning a lot. And then in September,

October of 97, they were doing some changes and they said, Jim, we're not going to redo your contract at the fan. And then I got, uh, hired at six 40 slash Q. i was doing uh all night uh evening all night opting in news and then from there that would have been about four months and then from

there i started doing morning sports on 640 and then by may of 98 i was doing full-time morning sports at Talk 640, and then also doing sideline reporting and hosting Argo Games. Who was hosting that 640 morning show back then? Well, that was Tom Rivers. Tom Rivers, okay. That was Tom Rivers' last, I'm pretty sure that was his last radio gig, it was Tom Rivers. And Larry Silver

did the news, and Evelyn Macco was there. Now, Evelyn, if you're listening, if I had all the money in the world, it wouldn't be enough to thank you. You want to talk about someone who's the pro's pro. Evelyn Macko, if you want to see how. You mean Wacko Macko. Unbelievable.

Evelyn Macko. The great thing about Evelyn is she'd type, but if she was getting upset, she'd be like, and then a week later, she'd go, IT, this keyboard's not working. Oh, man. I mean, I've had her on the show, and a friend of mine is Chris Mavridis, but I don't think he's there yet.

I'm trying to think. No, he came later. Like, Marsha Lederman was doing the afternoon show. Hands down, one of the smartest, most talented people I've ever worked with. Wow. And she, Chris Mavfreedy's i think came in when ian grant was the program director okay and the they were calling it because i always i because i'm a big fan of like when mojo starts okay but pre-mojo this was just called toxic toxic 40 which sounds like toxic 40 which i always felt

was amusing okay and uh tom rivers what was it like working with him? Because I basically fell in love with radio when he was the CFTR morning show host. And I used to wake up to Tom Rivers in the Rivers Air Force. The Rivers Air Force. Was it Rivers Air Force? Yeah, Rivers Air Force. Because his father was the pilot in the Air Force, in the U.S. Air Force. Wow.

Wow. So what was he like, though? Oh, he was larger than life. Big voice, big personality, big heart. You know, he, I don't think he was the Tom Rivers in the CFDR days because he was near the end of his career.

But now when he wanted to turn it on, you're like, that guy is a legend. Wow. Wow. I almost forget because I know he went to Mix 99.9 at some point and worked with Larry Fedorek over there. Right because I know he went to Mix 99.9 at some point and worked with Larry Fedorek over there. Right. But then he went to Edmonton. Right. And then he came to 640.

Wow. I always forget about the 640 era. Another guy I would love to have on Toronto Mic'd but I can't get on. So scruff and Tom a couple of guests that escaped my grasp here. But okay. So you're at 640. So you're just there anyway when Mojo starts?

Yeah. Is that the deal? So what happens is, this is wild. Stuart Myers? Yeah, Stuart Myers. Stuart Myers had taken over. And then unbeknownst to me and everybody else, they had worked this big corporate deal with Sportsnet, with Chorus,

and it was an overarching huge deal. So I get called in the office. I'm told to sign this NDA. Jim, you have to sign this before I talk to you. A non-disclosure agreement, if you don't know what it is. And legally binding. He said, there's good news

and bad news. Good news, you still have a job. Bad news, it's not here. And I looked at him and go, what do you mean? He goes, we've done a deal with Sportsnet and Scott Moore, and we're creating something called Sportsnet Radio, and you'll be doing your morning sports from a little radio booth at the Sportsnet studios. And that was in the spring of 2001. Okay, that makes sense because I got a note from Bob

Willett. Bob Bingo, yeah! Yeah, Bingo Bob, good friend of the program. Legend! Yeah, for sure. I just had a memory come up on Facebook and it's like three years ago today you were at the Smashing Pumpkins at the Air Canada Centre. Love that guy, Bob. I was there with Bob Willett, of course. He's a good

man. Now, he says, ask him about the tiny booth he did sports from when we launched Mojo. Baby, come on. Go in yard. That guy's a stud. So these are other catchphrases you've adopted over the years. So what happened was, so Scott Moore had worked a deal

with Stuart Myers and Chorus. It was a Chorus Sportsnet deal. Now, this is before it was Rogers Sportsnet. It was still technically CTV Sportsnet at the time. Right, right. What they had in the sports net deal now this is before it was rogers sports net it was still technically ctv sports net at the time right right so um they took what they had is in the sports net studios in agent court in the old studios they had small audio booths but they only needed a desk and a mic because then it was going to the soundboard for tv and they jerry-rigged it this it will really look like a broom closet right so you didn't have room to move your chair back to the wall.

You were right up to the mic. And then they had an ISDN line. Yeah. And they had it marked 640. And then it was numbered. And there was a list of 640Q, CFNY, Cham and Hamilton, London. There was six or seven core stations in Ontario we were doing sports for. Wow.

And Bubba O'Neill was part of it. Love Bubba O'Neill. Yeah, he's at CHCH now. So Camp Stewart, so people like that. And so they were all part of it. And so we would provide the sports or do sports comments, whatever they need for these different stations. And then I would oversee and just do shifts and stuff like that.

Awesome. So now that it's at Mojo, I actually recently had the legendary Ripken on the program from Winnipeg. Speaking of Winnipeg, he's outside of Winnipeg, I think. But this is very recent. I'd say this happened, I'm going to guess it happened in July. But Ripken came on Toronto Mic because I had this itch. Funny thing is I wanted to do a deep dive into Mojo. So I invited a whole bunch of Mojo people and only, only one was into

this idea. So I canceled my original plan of having like this big Mojo panel and said, I'm just going to get the real talk from Ripken because I know he's going to just tell it like it is. And anyway, it was really, really interesting. I urge people to listen to Ripken's episode of Toronto Mic, but you were a big part of Ripken's show on Mojo. Yeah. Well, and then him and I and Brian Warren, we were the voice of the Argos for one year. And so I got to know him really well. And Mojo had, and it could have worked, but what happened was Ken Dryden, especially in the Maple Leafs, they had issue with some of the content that was on the radio.

Not surprised, by the way, because they're coming off this sexual abuse scandal at Maple Leaf Gardens, and the last thing they want is what Ripken didn't like. Now, I don't know if the scandal had, the story had broke yet. I'm trying to remember. In 02? I feel, okay, because I feel, okay, maybe, well, you might remember better than me. It may have, but anyways, after a while, Ken Dryden and the singer management, the Leafs, as I understand it, got together

singer management at Chorus and Mojo, and basically things started to get dialed down and toned down because Mojo, 640, were rights holders. And then the whole tone of the station and the vision of the station changed, and I think people started to leave

and things started to change. And then what happened was, so this was 01 to 03, and 03, in the spring of 03, the two-year agreement of Sportsnet Radio expired, and Chorus didn't renew it, and Sportsnet didn't renew it, and they just kind of went their separate ways because then 640 sort of

morphed into kind of what it is now. Right. Right. By the way, this story breaks in like 93 or something. Okay. Yeah. Martin Cruz. Oh, yeah.

Okay. I always forgot the exact year it happened, to be honest with you. So bottom line is, with that and the, you know, obviously Maple Leafs, you know, they want their product to be family friendly and all this important stuff for a brand like that. And then Ripken, who apparently, I've got to get this right. I don't want to screw this up. Mennonite? Yes, correct.

Mennonite. Was unaware. He claims he was unaware because he claims he was choosing between going to the Team 1050 and Mojo Radio. He had a choice to make. And he was unaware of the content that would be on the air. And he says, the first day on Mojo, double shot power. Who's double shot? Who's the, why am I blanking on his name?

Andy Frost? No, the boxing guy. Oh, Spider Jones. Spider Jones. Apparently the first day, Whip guy. Oh, Spider Jones. Spider Jones. Apparently the first day, Whipkin tells me Spider's talking, like asking the audience, like tell me about your first boner.

I have no memory of that. Here's the problem. My wife had just got pregnant with her first and she was really, really sick. So we almost lost her and her first kid because she had a thing called hyperemesis and she was vomiting 30, 40 times a day. So,

uh, you were distracted the second and third month of her first trimester. She was, I had eight bottles intravenous keeping her alive. Oh my God. So I would do the morning show, right? Race home,

feed the dog and cat, let them out, do their business and spend a whole afternoon and evening at the hospital, just sitting by her bedside. Wow. So there was a lot of stuff that happened. To be honest with you, I have no memory of it. That's a good excuse.

You've got other priorities. And you missed the boner episode on day one. Spider Jones. Because I really did that, because I would have been in around April, May of 01. At that point, every time I was driving to the hospital, I thought, well, this is the last day I'm going to see her. Because, I mean, she was that sick. Oh, that's terrible.

And then, fortunately, the doctor, who's a brilliant doctor, the GI specialist said, all I know is we don't know how it starts and why it happens to certain women. But after your first trimester, things will get better. Oh, my goodness. starts and why it happens to certain women. But after your first trimester, things will get better. Oh my goodness. So after the first trimester, my wife says to one of the nurses, I'm kind of hungry. Well, all the nurses, and I get emotional thinking about the nurses

at Brampton Memorial because they were absolute heroes. They started to bring their lunches into my wife. Oh my goodness. Because they're like, they had not seen her eat solid food in two months because she couldn't eat food. She had a friendly space. Feel free to cry. It's okay.

So what happened was she gets out of the hospital. Thank God we're driving. And my wife, she's not a big woman, not a big eater. And she goes, I got to eat. Okay, well, no, no, I have to eat like right now, honey. Right now. So the first thing we saw was a Subway, Subway sandwich. So I pull in and go to her craving with Adriana was six inch club sub white bread, lettuce, mayo, tomato.

But her stomach had shrunk because she hadn't eaten solid food in months. Right. So she would eat two or three bites, go, honey, I'm full. Well, I started eating all these subs. Right. Right. So after the second trimester, her doctor says, you need to get a scale. We just want to monitor your weight.

I gained more weight with the pregnancy than she did. I was 220. I was huge because I was eating all these subs every day. I was eating subs six, seven days a week because every time we would drive to appointments or errands, she goes, oh, I got to have a sub. Thank God.

Adrian was born healthy and, you know, knocking with Patricia made it through and we ended up having a second and it wasn't as bad, but yeah, that's, that was the problem. The first few months of mojo, it was a bit of a blur because everything going on at home and in life. And then it wasn't until, um, the end of the hockey playoffs into the summer when she was released from the hospital, I kind of started to be more aware of everything going on. That's quite the story.

I know not nearly as severe as your wife, but my firstborn, there was a reaction to almost like an allergy to being pregnant. I can't remember the terms anymore. Yeah, that stuff can happen. Yeah, and my first wife was in the hospital for an extended period of time. The worst feeling in the world. Yeah, and you're right. And because it's your, especially, not that it changes when it's your fourth or something,

but you're young, it's your first, and everything's kind of amplified. Well, Mike, we had done the prenatal class. We'd done all these classes. We'd read books, and there was nothing that prepared us for this. We didn't know what was happening. Right. The first time we thought something's really wrong, we went to the merge and the doctor did a blood test and he went pale as a, white as a ghost, pale.

And I thought. Never good. And he goes, your pH levels, if they get any lower, you're going to have a heart attack and die right here. Oh my God. So now I'm starting to freak out. And then, so they brought her right up and then, and then it's, it started a long stay in the hospital and they were, the doctors and nurses were fabulous. And sure enough, after the first trimester, it was like a switch went off in her body and she started to be able to eat solid food again.

And so this is where, you know, that was as difficult as it was, Mike. It really put the business and what we do into huge perspective. It's just radio. It's just TV. It's not life and death. There are way more important things. Without your health, the rest doesn't actually matter anyway. So it's like, that's like, you need that to be

solidified and stable before you can even enjoy other elements of life. 100%. Right. No, you're right. It gives you a great dose of perspective. So you're excused for being distracted during these mojo, but I'm still going to ask you about some of these mojo personalities that I remember. And let's start with Ripken, whose real name is Rick Lewin.

No, Rick Lewin. Rick Lewin. Rick Lewin, yeah. I'm notorious for butchering these pronunciations. But Rick Lewin, who went by Ripken, in fact, he tells a story. I guess there was a road trip to Ripken's last game, maybe, or one of Ripken's last games. Cal Ripken, I'm speaking of. Yeah.

But anyway, just to tie in with his name. But what was it like working with him? It sounds like he struggled with the content, and it sounds like he had a bit of buyer's remorse because he had no idea that Mojo would be so Maxim Magazine-esque. He didn't express that much remorse to me at the time we worked together. Right. He had evolved his show a little more to his liking. Right.

But still guy-oriented. So that's his talent as a broadcaster. Very interesting guy, very unique broadcaster, unique sound, unique approach to the craft, unique approach to the business. Uh, he could be funny and irreverent. So he was, what I liked is he was not a cookie cutter announcer or broadcaster. He was very unique in everything he did, his appearance, his department, his, how he presented the show, how he did everything about it. I kind of appreciated that.

And when he is let go, and he told the story of why he was let go, he was very honest about it all. Humble Howard makes an appearance in this story, which we'll get to Humble in a bit. But he's replaced by Andrew Crystal. Oh, yeah. What do you remember about working with Andrew Crystal? I didn't work directly with him very much at all. Because now at this point, you have to understand, I'm doing Sportsnet Radio. And at Sportsnet Radio, I'm not even in the same building.

Right. You're in that little booth. We're in the little booth in the Agent Court studio. So technically, we're there. But, you know, so that's one of the things that's interesting about mojo is i actually didn't spend a lot of time in the station during the mojo era because we were in the agent court studios now you know there's a tie in there and one of the other reasons is what happened was the morning show at sports end of the time mike was live

so they went live at 6 a.m the whole thing the host had to be there at four to be ready for six right and the the backup crew had to be there for like 3 3 30 to get ready for the show and everything was live and all the other darren millard and peter labardius and brad fay and toth and all the evening weekend hosts they had filled in once in a while and they said to scott moore and management I can't do this. Like physically, they couldn't do this. But they saw me there, and they knew I had done some football and hockey for CHCH, and I'm there every day at the same time.

So they had me do a screen test because Damien Goddard was going on a vacation for three weeks, and they could not ask the evening anchors to fill in for three weeks because they simply refused they couldn't physically handle the time and so i had bruce barker ended up filling in for me for the three weeks and then so my focus started to morph to tv right a tv radio hybrid at the time because I did three weeks. It did okay. Then I did some lacrosse work for them as a host and bench reporter. And I started to do more backfill because then when Hazel May came in,

I was her backfill when she was doing a lot of baseball and Blue Jay stuff. And then by 03, I was just, I was TV only. Right, you're a sports net guy. Yeah, I was an anchor and reporter. Okay, then I won't bother you with my Scruff Connors and, well, was tv only right you're a sports net guy yeah i was an anchor and reporter okay then then then i won't bother you with my uh scruff connors and uh well mike stafford uh was a guy i was gonna ask you about but it sounds like you probably had very little very very little interaction yeah very

little but humble and fred because i've heard you many times on humble and fred uh maybe spend a moment uh i'm lucky enough i work with them today so tell tell me about working with Humble and Fred on Mojo. Very, very talented. And here's the thing I appreciate the most about Humble and Fred, and I think they should be proudest. I can remember, this would have been, I'm trying to think the year,

in the early, like, 91, 92, listening to CFNY on the way in, 90, like 1990, listening to CFMY on the way in, 90, like 1990, listening to a Goo Head episode. You know, and that style of FM radio, 1990, CFMY, they were big. They had a big audience. Well, Fred was heavily influenced by Pete and Geats. Right.

The Goo Radio legends. Sports guy. Yeah, right. And that's a Pete and Geats, yeah, they were, and I've had Geats on. I'm sorry I miss Pete and Geats because it sounds like it would be my kind of show. So, what I appreciate about Humble and Fred is this is what they do. This is

our style of radio. Right. I mean, we're going to tweak some things, but this is Humble and Fred. And I've been on their podcast about a year ago, HumbleandFred.com, and it's basically, they're Humble and Fred. Like, you know, you may change, they're not going to change.

So if you like them, you're getting humble and Fred. You're right. No, you're absolutely right. If you want humble and Fred, they offer you daily doses of humble and Fred and if you don't like humble and Fred, that's not the show for you. Yeah, because you know some broadcasters, some performers

do change quite a bit and evolve to the point where, like, it doesn't sound like they did 15, 20, 25 years ago. Right. If you go to Humble, like, that's Humble and Fred. Right. Right? And, like, that's, you know, you've got to give them all the credit in the world for that, that they are still Humble and Fred.

Well, that's the joke. When they were recruited from Chorus, so they were recruited by Standard Broadcasting, who wanted them to be the Mix 99.9 morning show. I guess this is back in, they left Mojo for this gig and then Bill Oakley takes over in the mornings. But one of the jokes that Fred likes to talk about is that Standard bought Humble and Fred

and then didn't want Humble and Fred to be Humble and Fred at 99.9. And they have been Humble and Fred since their inception. So why would you think they would be different? And this is the one thing about management sometimes in our business, Mike. Yeah. If you're going to go to the trouble to recruit someone with the pedigree and resume of Humble and Fred, just support them, stay out of their way, and let them do their job.

That's why you brought them there. And that's why they're now going to shortly be celebrating 10 years of doing their own thing and being their own boss with the podcast. So it's like, yeah, now for the last decade, which is a long time, as you know, in the broadcasting world. They've been, yeah, rolling. You know, I'm at 10 years next August. Is that right?

I'm not that far behind the guys. Oh, congratulations. But definitely they inspired this show without a doubt. So shout out to Humble and Fred. You did touch on it, but yeah, you were the voice of the Toronto Argonauts. What was that like? That was 2002. That was what aired on Mojo Radio.

What was it like doing Argo games? It was really, really cool because when you go to other CFL cities in this country, you know, it's I wish I could grab by the lapels and take people who bash the CFL and take them to some of the other cities across the country and the passion

and the game experience and what it's like and they go, oh. Because if you still to this day look at TSN ratings for like friday night football it's big ratings it's it's not for our blue jays and sometimes it's it's at or better than raptors so i mean from a tv standpoint a broadcasting standpoint a revenue standpoint the cfl still makes tsn money for a reason because they're getting eyeballs to the games because there are pockets of the country where they live and die with their CFL team.

But not necessarily in the 4-1-6 anymore. Not necessarily, but I'm always going to have a soft spot on my heart for pinball, for the Argos. I do like how they've evolved to the old Boatman logo this year. Yeah, I agree. That is the ultimate logo as far as I know. It reminds me of Conrad Holloway. So, you know, you can't predict futures in sports and a lot of trends now, Mike,

because COVID did change a lot of things. You know, a lot of people say, you know what, I don't mind watching stuff at home. I don't mind. Think about this. How many people said, I would prefer to work at home now than go to the office five days a week?

Like a lot of things like that. I'm okay doing Zooms and virtuals instead of fighting crowds and parking and stuff. Some people still want it, but some people are like, hey, if I don't have to, I'll do it the other way. So I think everything in society, broadcasting, sports,

music, have to evolve and almost present two things. One thing that I think is the future for all things, broadcasting, sports, music, have to evolve and almost present two things. And one thing that I think is the future for all things, music, sports, business, entertainment is integrating digital social media with your live component. I think that has to be as important as your live component. I really do.

Well, I will say that for about a decade now, I've been sort of supplementing my viewing of live sports with a Twitter stream of people. There has been this interactive digital component. It's become huge. Yeah, and it's like when, I don't know, when Kawhi Leonard hits the bucket to win Game 7 against the 76ers, you kind of turn to Twitter. Yeah.

It's like you're all in it together. It makes it better. It makes it better for me. It's almost like group therapy. We're all in this together. The rappers do. Or the bad flip. Remember the moment of bad flip?

I just remember I drop to the floor and then I tweet something and then there's this whole communal, like, oh my God. That's when Twitter's good, Mike. That's when Twitter is a good thing because everyone's like supportive and productive and positive and like this is awesome right and it's a troll free so i like that well you can always you just block the trolls that's a no-brainer i used to be like oh no now it's like i have a hair trigger like uh i don't need that and you, okay, so, so much to cover here.

But here we have you at Sportsnet now. You're working alongside Ivanka Osmak. RJ Broadhead first. Okay, RJ Broadhead first. And then, so I was anchor reporter, and then doing a bunch of different things. And then Ivanka. Now, before Ivanka, they had done some changes, and they had some management changes. And Darren Drager went to TSN. They had let some people go and then the direction of Sportsnet was changing and things were kind of, I wasn't sure about my future and the network's future because some of the people in management who were responsible for it were, I think they were toned down a bit.

Then Ivanka came in. I worked with her. I was doing some reporting as well. And I think it was September of 2010, after nine and a half years, they said, hey, Jim, we're going in a different direction. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they didn't renew my contract. But how do you end up back on 590? Well, I was still doing a ton of stuff for Sportsnet.ca.

Now, this goes back to 03. Now, in 03, when Sportsnet.ca was in its infancy, they needed someone to write about the CFL. They needed some Canadian content, and they had no one there but me who really had any knowledge of the Canadian Football League. So could you write a weekly power rankings? Because followed the league and i was you know i voiced the voice of the argos the year before right so i started writing more and more and becoming doing a lot of stuff for sportsnet.ca so what happened was fast forward to 2010 i was doing

more and more writing when they had released me from the TV contract, the Sportsnet.ca said, hey, we still want Jim to do a bunch of writing for us. And then I ended up going to cover Super Bowl 45 when the Packers beat the Steelers in Dallas. Yes, Brett Favre, remember? No, no, no. That's Aaron Rodgers. He beat Troy Palomaro in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown. By that point, I was doing a ton of writing for Sportsnet.ca, and the Andrew Crystal experiment at the fan, because I wasn't listening every day because I was doing other stuff,

but it wasn't going well. And remind me, this is speaking of CFL writers,, Landry and Stellick, is that who got, did they get turfed for Crystal? No, they got turfed thinking they were going to hire someone else. It fell through. Jeff Lumby filled in. Well, yeah, he was like the summer replacement. Shout out to Jeff Lumby.

And then Andrew Crystal took over. Right. So it wasn't Crystal, wasn't, do you know who it was going to be? I don't know if a legal, I'm allowed to say. Can you just So it wasn't Crystal. Do you know who it was going to be? I don't know if illegally I'm allowed to say. Can you just, I don't know. I guess, can you slip me a piece of paper quickly? Yeah. Okay.

But how big a name was it if you can't tell? It was a big name. So it was going to be a big name in there. Like swing for the fences, upper deck, bat flip name. But a Canadian? Yeah. George Strombolopoulos. Yeah.

Yeah. And they didn't work out. So they were going to- I heard rumblings about this. And so they went to Lumbee, who was a summer fill-in. Then they went to Andrew Crystal. Yeah. And just in Lumbee's defense, because he's an FOTM, but he was hired to be a summer.

Like, he was never going to- He was great as a summer guy. But they said, you only have this gig for the summer. Like, he didn't come in thinking he's an interim guy who could get the full-time gig. They said, you only have it till the end. I mean, that's what his story says. He was only hired to do the summer, and then he was going to be gone in September for somebody else. And he knew it on day one.

Right. So then Andrew came in. That was a disaster. I'll tell you as a fan. I know you might be more careful than I am. I think that was a disaster. A terrible fit. And it was an awful show. Square peg, round hole. Not a good fit. I'll tell you as a fan. I know you might be more careful than I am. I think that was a disaster. Terrible fit, and it was an awful show. Square peg, round hole.

Not a good fit. I don't disagree. Well, he's batshit crazy. I don't know if you remember this, but Andrew is still. Well, yeah, a little bit. And the fan audience is a lot more conservative than Andrew was wont to be, so that's part of the issue as well, Mike. And management of the fan, a lot more conservative as well.

So I get back from Super Bowl in February of 2011, and they asked me to do some guest hosting for a couple hours of shift with Greg Brady, who they threw him in there after his midday shift, and then he had to stay all day and do Leafs lunch. So he was doing these ridiculous shifts, and he told the manager, can I get someone in here, just anyone, because I can't do it myself, then stay all day,

and then do Leafs lunch. He needs a co-host. He needs some other co-host. Then I started doing more and more, and then management came to us and said, hey, we kind of like you guys together. And then about a month after I started doing that, I got hired.

I think I heard, so Brady's been on the show a bunch of times, and I am going to play a clip from him in a minute where he talks about the end of Brady and Lang, but I think he told me once that Scott Moore's favorite morning show was Brady and Lang. Do you know anything about that?

I like to hear that, but I don't know. I can't corroborate that. I'm sorry. Okay, I think that's according to Greg. Scotty, but I don't know. I can't corroborate that. I'm sorry. Okay. I think that's according to Greg. But if it is, Scotty, loving it. Thank you.

He's an FOTM, Scott Moore. Genius. And now he's working with Drake. Yeah. No, he is always two or three steps ahead of the game, Scott Moore. Always. Wow. Okay.

Now, so obviously Brady and Lang, how many years does that combo? I remember the ads well, like on television. Two and a half years. Two and a half years. That's kind of neat, like when they advertise a radio show on the TV. That doesn't happen all the time. No, I was very appreciative. It really helps with awareness and everything.

And that's when you find out what radio people look like. I always remember the first time I saw a Tom Rivers commercial for 680 because I just heard this voice in my transistor, in my clock radio. And then you see an ad and you're like, oh, that's what Tom Rivers looks like. That was the first time. Yeah, but see, now with social media, you know what everyone wants. Now you know, yeah.

Because you can't do a radio show and not do some social media for your show every day. You have to do it. Everyone has to do it except Stephen Brunt. I think that's the rule in this city. He somehow avoided it. He's got burner accounts, but we don't know which ones they are. He just lurks.

But shout out to Stephen Brunt. He's probably in Newfoundland right now. So, okay. Brady and Lang takes over after the Andrew Crystal fiasco. And what were the ratings like? Like, I hear they were good. They were very good. Brady and Lang had good ratings.

We had very good ratings. So what was the chemistry like with you and Greg Brady? I thought it was fine, and everything was fine until they brought in a U.S. consultant named Rick Scott. Now, Rick Scott is the sports radio consultant in the States, but he consults for American Sports Radio. And he came in and wanted us to be like Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith. Right.

And I kind of said, you know, Toronto sports audience don't mind it once in a while, but I don't think they like arguing every single day. He's like, no, that's the future. That's what's got to be. He's like, no, that's the future. That's what it's got to be. So then Roger's radio management and fan management, because the consultant said it, got it in their head that we have to basically verbally spar every day,

like Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless. Right. And I was like, guys, you can't do this every day. And that was my feeling. And I mean, I truly believe that's one of the reasons they didn't renew me, is I just wasn't on board with that. Like, I didn't think that was, to be driving your car in GTA traffic, commuting with your kids, hearing two guys scream and yell at each other. Like crossfire or something.

Yeah, in the morning, that's, okay, on certain subjects, you pick your spots, but five days a week, no. I hear you. Now, straight up, I'm going to ask you, did you ever listen to the first Greg Brady appearance on Toronto Mike? Yes, I did. Okay, you did. Okay, good.

I'm going to read a question from a guy named Chris, and then we're going to listen to Greg Brady on that initial appearance he made on Toronto Mike. Okay. But first, very briefly here, on top of that red box, so Palma Pasta, on top of that box, there's a sticker. That's your Toronto Mike sticker, courtesy of StickerU.com. Nice.

Much love to StickerU.com. That's where you get your stickers, your decals, and everything. And I want to shout out McKay CEO Forums. They have a podcast called the CEO Edge Podcast. It's fireside chats with inspiring CEOs and thought leaders. Every Wednesday, that means later today, I post the latest episode of the CEO Edge Podcast on my website, torontomike.com.

I urge all FOTMs to subscribe and listen to the McKay CEO Forums podcast. And thank you to McKay CEO Forums who stepped up this summer to help fuel the real talk. And last but not least, I know Brad Jones from Ridley funeral home will be at TMLX eight again. That's August 27th at great lakes brewery,

six to 9 PM. Everyone's invited. You're going to be fed. You're going to get a free drink. You're going to hear the final episode of a pandemic Fridays with stew stone and cam Gordon. We only have three more to go. Uh, tomorrow is going to be the anti penultimate Jim Lang. the final episode of Pandemic Fridays with Stu Stone and Cam Gordon. We only have three more to go.

Tomorrow is going to be the anti-penultimate. Jim Lang, did you know the word anti-penultimate? I do now. Yep, that's third last. We talk a lot about penultimate and ultimate, but there's anti-penultimate. That's tomorrow. So shout out to Ridley Funeral Home.

You can pay tribute without paying a fortune and you can learn more at RidleyFuneralHome.com. Here is the question from Chris. I just copied and pasted, so I'm going to read it. How did he feel when Andrew Walker was brought in? As it seemed, they hired his replacement while he was still there and on top of the ratings. So I know you're going to have a reaction to that, but you're going to hold on to it because we're going to hear Greg speak about the end of Brady and Lang on my show,

and then I really need to hear the real talk from you, Jim Lang. You ready? Yeah. Okay, this is a minute and 50, so get comfy there. So Jim was coming in to fill in with me, and then they said, okay, it's Brady and Lang.

And and I don't think we you end up it wasn't a personal tension issue between us. I think they I don't know. It's it ended up we did the show, God, almost three, three years. And and I think it I don't know, it might have run its course. It's sort of like how, you know, Neil will say, I'm done with Crowded House. Now, I didn't say I'm done. But when they pitched a change to me and said, do you want to do something different and fresher and we've got a younger person that we really like? I said, if you want to do this and you think this is the way to go, I'm not i'm not going to fight it because they gave me a great opportunity um but i you know i i and i and i also didn't do it begrudgingly so

it's sort of like yeah neil finn says i don't want to do crowded house anymore i want to make an album with my brother and and i want to then i want to do a solo album then i'll get back together crowded house so i i think it was uh we weren't having any issues with ratings um it was just uh they wanted they wanted the show to sound a little differently. I do think it does. I think I'm less stressed because I think you can be – you've got to be so different. But when you're totally different and you're over the line, it will drive you crazy personally. Like I spent more – Jim is great, and that's the one thing. I'm like, why am I getting upset at this really good guy who's not – who we're not just – we're just not getting into things on air the way we should be, and he's frustrated with me, and I'm frustrated with him.

And it's hard. I don't – I think you either nail that chemistry, like say a Humble and Fred, or you don't, and I think we were kind of forcing it a little bit, and eventually we just didn't know where to go with the show. But I also think, like I said, management kind of knew that. Yep. Yeah, he didn't say anything wrong, because prior to Rick Scott coming in, we didn't have – it was a workable situation. But when he basically said, hey, we want to do this every day,

and we would have post-show meetings, and I'd try to bring up my objections, I was basically voted down. So when I was told, it was a Monday. I had gone and covered the Bills game on the Sunday for Sportsnet.ca. We did the show on a Monday. Don Collins put everyone in the boardroom, said, Jim, come in my office, gave me the news, handed me my envelope.

I shook his hand. He gave me a news handed me my envelope i shook his hand he gave me a bro hug and i was like thanks for everything like mike like i'm being very honest i was like okay thanks like is everything cool okay see you later guys i had no hard feelings if that's the way they want to go that's fine because i wasn't going to change who i am and how i broadcast just to get a contract renewal. I wanted, I didn't want to be someone I'm not to make Greg happy and to make management happy and to stay there. Like, that's just not who I am. Like I've been doing it too long at that point. So they were very fair to me. They were very generous with me. They, they paid out the rest of my contract. I was owed. I

have absolutely zero regrets. I had a good run. Thanks, guys. This is the business. See you later. In that Greg Brady clip, he mentions younger. Do you think they were looking for a younger voice? Probably. I think so. There's nothing you can do about that. No. I'm going to guess, and I don't know your age,

but I'm going to guess. I'm 55. Yeah, Brady's no younger than you. He's five years younger than me, I think. Is he? Yeah, he's five years younger than me. Oh, I'm sorry, Greg. I know Greg's listening right now. Yeah, Brady's no younger than you. He's five years younger than me, I think. Is he? Yeah, he's five years younger than me. Oh, I'm sorry, Greg. I know Greg's listening right now. Yeah, he's five years younger than me.

So I do think that was part of it. And Andrew is more baseball-centric than I am. And I do think that was part of it as well. The Jays, as much as I love them, weren't my number one. And they wanted someone who was more Jays number one. Sure, because they own that team. Because they own that team. Now, Andrew, of course, also has a Mike Richards history.

He worked with Mike Richards in Calgary. Oh, that's right. Yes. It's all so connected, these things. Well, Andrew's in Vancouver still, isn't he? Well, he's there. He's not on the air because they let him go. So, they brought over the competitor show when they shut down the Andrew's in Vancouver still, isn't he? Well, he's there. He's not on the air because they let him go. Oh, that's right. They did the changes. Right.

So they brought over the competitor show when they shut down the TSN version. I forgot about that. That's weird. I don't know Vancouver market very well, but I guess they had their TSN was there. So in our market, Toronto, Sportsnet's, sorry, yeah, so 590's there forever, and then 1050 shows up and tries to catch them. In Vancouver, it's the opposite, I guess. That's right. Yeah. TSN's there first, and then 1050 shows up and tries to catch them. In Vancouver, it's the opposite, I guess. That's right.

TSN's there first. So when they got rid of Sports Radio TSN in Vancouver, it left like these big personalities were available. So they just took the morning show. I think they just took the morning show from the TSN station or the drive, maybe all of the above. But anyway, Andrew Walker got his pink slip. He got his folder, and I don't know what he's up to.

Well, Andrew's very talented. I have no problems with him personally. He's a decent guy. He had nothing to do with my leaving the fan, zero. He had nothing to do with that. That decision was made before Andrew even got there. Okay, because Chris's question isn't quite accurate. No, it's not.

Before they'd even talked to Andrew, they had made the decision. They were just counting down the weeks of my contract because there was a certain clause, a renewal clause. There's also a money factor in this that a lot of people don't realize. When I got hired, they negotiated my

contract and I was told, hey, don't worry if this thing does as well as we think will be, the next contract will be good. So then I get an email saying, okay, your contract's coming up. We're going to renew it at 2% increase. So now I go into management. I say, wait a second now. Like if you want to do 2% increase, let's change my base because you had said when I got hired, if we do this, this, and this, I'll have a bigger base. So if you want to do a 2% annual increase, I'm fine. Well, look at our ratings.

We were getting 7, 7.5 share in the morning. Which would be a dream today. Like, that's wild. And I wasn't even asking for 2+, Mike. I was asking for a very reasonable base to go along for a yearly 2%. And I think that played a part in it. Let's get a younger guy. We can get him cheaper.

I really think that was part of it as well. In radio younger guy. We can get him cheaper. I really think that is part of it as well. In radio, that would not surprise me in the least to hear that. Okay, well, it sounds like, yeah, it sounds like you took your folder to go home and read. It was like, thanks for everything, guys. And I was ready to move on with my life.

Okay. No, I'm glad. It took a long time to get some. I wanted to hear your take on that. After a while in this business, it's business. It's not that, hey, I don't like you. We're changing. I mean, I can go down every radio station. Mike, Erin Davis is on the Mount Rushmore, a Canadian radio, and she got let go on vacation one time. Do you remember that story? Of course, of course. Yes, of course. So no one is above that in this business. It happens. You move on, you improvise,

adapt, overcome, and move on to the next chapter in your life. That's what this business is all about. You're right. And she was one of those rare examples. But although Brady's a bit like this, I will say this. And I'm curious, Jim, if you ever experienced, you mentioned your last name is of German descent. Yeah. Is there any scholden Freud, okay, at all when Brady and Walker are moved for Dean Blundell? Is there any scholden Freud at all?

No. I've been on the other side, Mike. Sure. I know what it's like to be called in the office and given an envelope. So no, I don't. I'm like, geez, I hope the guys land on their feet. Like honestly, seriously. Because I know how tenuous every on-air job in TV and radio is in this country.

You just don't know. So I don't want that kind of karma hanging over my head. Right. because the radio tv gods will strike you down so no no i didn't walker's a bit like uh has a not quite the same but it's a little bit similar not quite as dramatic as the aaron davis story where she ends up on i guess easy rock and then comes back and with mike cooper and the whole rest is and they crushed crushed the ratings right i mean their ratings at some point were the highest rated FM radio station in the country for years on end.

Yeah. Like Aaron Davis will go down as one of the great, most successful, highest rated radio hosts in Canadian FM radio history, bar none. Without a doubt, I'm a big Aaron, I'm a huge aaron davis fan literally exchanged an email with her this week got lots of time for aaron uh now so greg of course uh and walker when they're they're moved to like i don't know one to four p.m or something like that i can't remember anymore but yeah one to four and they bring in dean blundell this is sort of after the crystal thing then there's this blundell thing and Blundell doesn't work out and Brady ends up back on the morning show and then he was eventually that ran its

course and he's now I don't know I think he's vying for a 640 gig uh I'm not he's not he's like a he's filling in because Stafford is he's all connected because Stafford was let go after being a day one or at Mojo he got let go recently and now there's a morning show opening at 640 and it sounds like, although not confirmed, it sounds like Greg Brady might end up with that job. So it's nice to hear that there's no Schodenfreude here and it was business. No, you can't.

You just can't do it. It's not healthy. It's not healthy emotionally and mentally and it's not healthy physically. I'm very, very happy at 105.9 The Region. So how long after your dismissal by Sportsnet do you end up at the region? Well, it's a great story.

So this was mid-September. I got let go of the fan and I have a... I'm getting paid full-time for months because of my no compete because they stole me the money. And then I get contacted by Deborah McLaughlin, who's the co-owner of the station, that they're starting the station in Yorkork region would you be interested and we met and like this is great because my mother-in-law uh has alzheimer's so my wife was spending a lot of time

going to her um long-term care home once a week to spend time with her she basically would take every friday off and be with her parents and help her mother. And our kids were very busy with competitive gymnastics and swimming. And here's a chance to basically live in Newmarket, drive to just south of York region, do the show, come home, and be there every afternoon and evening for the family and for the kids. I thought, this is great. And it's eight years. In December, it'll be eight years since we went on the air in December of 2013.

And I'm so happy there. And I get to work with great people like Ann Romer and Sunil Joshi and Amber Pay. And it's a, it's hyperlocal central to York region and it's a great group of people. It's a great vision. And I, I, I'm happy every day I go in there.

Baden Broadcasting Zone, Sunil Joshi. When he visited, he had his PBS shirt on. Yeah, he's awesome. Just awesome. And Anne Romer. Well, we've said it before, but she's fantastic.

And Amber, if you're listening, you're invited on Toronto Mic. I just want to say that to Amber. So December 11th of 2013 was the first voice of the first morning show, the first day we went on the air. And a week later was the first voice of the first morning show the first day we went on the air yeah and a week later was the ice storm right and so all of a sudden all these municipalities in the region bond markham aurora richmond hill all were basically sending us say oh you got to tell people don't go here go there here's a rec center so they realize that we're a conduit to let people

know because that was part of the problem is once you get, forget south of Steeles, once you get south of the 401 or north of the 401, once you get north of the 401, they're basically, there's no radio talking to you. Right. And so that's, we're filling that void. So, okay. So the region is heavily marketed in York region. That's right. That's right. So when you're living like where i live now i'm a

an exception to this rule because i knew a lot of day one people at the region like so i was well aware what was going on at the region but uh if you don't live in the region uh i think a lot of people hearing us right now might be surprised to hear that this station exists like it's a it's if you're not there where you're on sides of buses and on billboards and stuff, it's got a bit of an awareness issue, possibly. This is my perception, but I could be wrong. You know, I mean, it's like anything. Radio stations don't spend a massive amount of monies to promote shows and stations anymore. I mean, the budget for that is, I mean, all across the board, Mike, is different.

Unless you're Roz and Mocha. Right. But seriously, there's few and far between, seriously. And that's why social media is your conduit to promote your show, your station. But I know online during the pandemic, our listenership is up like 50%. Amazing. Amazing. Okay. It's a 1059theregion.com. And a lot of people realize they're streaming it at home while they're working at home. And that's, well, so for those who don't know, you can measure accurately who's listening to a stream. But whereas with an actual terrestrial radio signal, unless you're one of those.

You don't know, because unless you're carrying around one of those PPM devices. Are you guys even measured by? No. No. But Mike, think about this. What's the GTA? What, 5 million people? Well, at least, yeah, in the GTA.

Do you know how many PPMs get tossed out to rate that many people? 500, I'm guessing. I don't know. Maybe 1,000, maybe 1,500. You think about that. Right. No, I know. So they extrapolate based on the demo.

And you can totally see some big swings depending on who picks one up and who doesn't. No doubt, my friend. I agree. But with streaming, you can actually see. That's an actual number. So in the pandemic, we had a lot of people who would commute from the region to downtown Toronto who are living and working in the region. Sure. Because they're working from home.

So our online listenership number has gone up 50% because all these people aren't commuting anymore. Well, that's awesome. And you're, are you the last remaining day one voice that's still there all these years later? Yes. Okay. Shout out to my dear friend, Rosie. Who used to co-host Toronto Mic'd actually.

I think the first 30 episodes have her voice on it. She is a special person. Well, she literally left. Can you imagine leaving Toronto Mic'd? I know I didn't actually pay her money, but she actually left Toronto Mic'd because she took a job at the region. And I've seen photos of her on the sides of buses. So she was there for many years.

Is she still ctv morning yeah yeah she uh produces uh ctv morning yeah absolutely but uh so i i was well aware what was going on in the region because rosie was there and i'm glad that you're you're still there very happy i if i work there another 10 15 years i'll be so happy mike i really i really like the vision for the station what we're doing as a station. I like doing the show. I like the people I work with. It's fantastic.

And now that you've added FOTMs like Sunil Joshi and Ann Romer, that can only mean good things for the region. You know, I know in this business, Mike, they like to skew management and accounting. Let's get someone young, fresh out of school, pay the maximum amount of dollars. It's good for the bottom line. The kind of experience and skill, and you talk 10,000 hours, Ann Romer's got 20,000. C.D.L. Joshi's got 20,000.

You can't replace that kind of experience and ability. And they can do certain things and make it look easy that a young broadcaster can't do yet. They're years away from getting to that level. And that's the great thing about working with an Amber Pay, Anne Romer, Sunil Joshi. Because of that great depth of experience, they have honed their craft for decades.

And they're so good at it and make it look so easy. I'm going to jog your memory here a little bit. Do you know this is not the first time we've met? Yes, we met at the book launch for Wendell Clark's Bleeding Blue. Okay, good. It was memorable for you. Good. Yeah, I was very excited.

As you can imagine, a guy my age who loves the leaves, you might imagine. I'm a big Wendell Clark fan. I'm, as you can imagine, a guy my age who loves the Leafs. You might imagine I'm a big Wendell Clark fan. And yeah, I heard he was doing this meet and greet at the new Maple Leaf Gardens, if you will, above the grocery store. They did a great job with it. Oh, yeah, they did do a great job. Oh, it's fantastic. And you wrote, so tell me about this new part of your career.

You help athletes write their books. Yeah, yeah. But not only athletes, like even the Bob McKenzie's of the world and other people. So do you want to shout out any, I mean the Wendell Clark book, Bleeding Blue, I know you wrote that with Wendell and I did meet you at that event and I got a photo

of Wendell Clark which was exciting for me. Any other books you want to shout out? I know, I do have a question from a guy named Sid Karen who wants to know what it was like doing the Brian Berard book. Okay, I'll get to Brian in a second, but in sequence, Ty Domi, Wendell Clark,

Max Domi, Brian Berard, Everyday Hockey Heroes 1, Everyday Hockey Heroes 2 with Bob McKenzie. Brian Berard was fantastic. He's from Woonsocket, Rhode Island and sounds like a cast member from Goodwill Hunting. They have a real South Boston accent. How you like them apples?

Very much so. Very much so. Brutally honest. He holds no grudges at all to the eye injury in Marion Hossa. Like none. He forgave him the next day when Hossa came to the hospital room. Like, I love Brian. He's a great dude.

He's funny as heck. He's, you know, he's been through a lot in his life. He was very open about when he stopped playing he went to talk to a therapist and get some help and he realized he had unresolved issues because he hadn't dealt with the impact of playing hockey with one eye. And you're seeing more of that. Brian Berard is, you know, you would not say he's anything but a big tough guy, but he was more than open and honest enough to say,

hey, I needed some help. And Simone Biles, you know, it's okay to say, hey, like I need to talk to someone. I need some help. Right. And that's the one thing I really appreciated about dealing with Brian is how open and honest he was about that. No, I'm glad to hear it.

I mean, again, as a Leaf fan i'm that moment it's like tattooed in my cranium absolutely just like almost haunts me almost like a clit malarchuk style or something where it's like i have this vision of and i remember it's seven eye surgeries seven but it's amazing he came back like uh he played in the nhl he played another six years yeah i know amazing right like imagine miss like Imagine your peripheral vision being so dramatically altered and then playing at the highest level. I was talking to a few of his teammates post-eye injury, his D partners, and some of them would give up a goal

and he'd get to the bench and Brian's really self-deprecating. He goes, sorry, dude, I didn't see him. And they all start laughing because, you know, there'd be part of the ice he literally couldn't see. Wow. Do you, can you, maybe you've got NDAs and stuff and you can't,

but can you tease any, a future book or anything in development that has not yet been, anything coming out for Christmas? Well, actually, right now, no. And because the pandemic had put a hold on everything, Mike,

because it... Even books? Is that because you can't tour to promote it or anything? No, because the Everyday Hockey Heroes 2 book came out in the October, November of last year, and we couldn't do any live appearances. So we did everything virtually, and it was very, very different because, you know, the first time I did the book with Bob,

we were going to places like Peterborough and Belleville and all these different communities in Barrie and getting these big crowds. And it was weird just to do it virtually. And it affects sales. It's tougher because when people... You get some of these book signings, depending on who they are,

people go, oh yeah, I want to get a photo with Toronto Mike and sign his book and blah, blah, blah. Well, yeah, like me going to the Wendell Clark thing. I wanted to meet Wendell. But to do it virtually is not the same. No. So I will say, I had Bob McKenzie on this show virtually to promote that book because

I knew they make the rounds, right? And then it's like, I'll have him back. But I just really quickly, Bob McKenzie's first visit, we do it in the basement in person. It used to be you had to do it in person or you couldn't do it at all pre COVID. But so I had a nanny for like six months. We had a nanny taking care of the two little ones.

Cause you had to be 18 months to go to daycare, but you mommy had to go back to work after 12. So there's this missing six months and we had a nanny and she was a very big hockey fan, a diehard Bruins fan actually. And I still, she had no idea what I did or what was going on, but she came home with the

kids and she was in the kitchen making them lunch or something and then coming through the door coming out of the basement uh is Bob McKenzie like she had this moment where she she knows I might work from she knows I work from home but Bob McKenzie comes out of the basement and she had this like it was kind of and I still remember that moment, like, because she had no heads up, no idea it was even possible or I had a podcast and people might visit. And it was just wild, this like out of nowhere Bob McKenzie just shows up

so randomly like that. Bob is an absolute amazing person to deal with and work with. And there's a reason Bob McKenzie became Bob McKenzie is, you know, along the way, Mike, I've been influenced by people and I try to learn from people I've worked with. And Bob, you know, he calls himself Bobby Margarita on social media and having fun. He earned that.

He worked so hard at his craft. He worked so hard to gain the trust of coaches and players and, you know, GMs and personnel people and scouts. He knew how to tell a story without betraying trust and revealing any secrets. And his work ethic and his commitment to being good at what he does and what he is, I mean, it's second to none. Shout out to Bob McKenzie, who also is one of the few Canadian sports media people to have a Howard Stern after show appearance.

Like Bob's done that a few times. I didn't know that. Yeah. He's a huge Howard Stern guy. With Baba Booey and the boys? Yep. Yeah. So shout out to that.

Now I know. That's why you listen to Toronto Mike, because you get those like little things like that. That's why we listen. All right. So in closing here, and I'm happy you're still happy at the region. Very happy. I wish you much success there.

Shout out Tina Cortez, our station manager, who was the lead producer at City TV News for a long time. Right, and that's probably where the Ann Romer connection comes in. Yeah, she is a brilliant broadcaster. Okay, shout out to Tina. Award winning too, I should say. Sorry.

A great FOTM who I lost touch with. I used to have frequent touch bases with this gentleman because I'm a big fan and he delivered the real talk, if you will. And then I lost touch with him. But I know you would know more about how he's doing and stuff. But you hosted a podcast with Mike Toth. Yeah. The Dad Show.

Mike. Like Mike literally, I don't know, on a dime, doesn't reply to my emails anymore. And I just check in and see how you're doing or whatever. No reply. So do you know how Mike's doing? I think he's doing okay. Yeah. He loves his sons.

His wife Kathy is still a producer, I believe. But Mike is underappreciated for his ability as the craft of the two-person sports casting. Mike is one of the very best this country ever had to do it. He really is. Do you mean like a Mark Hebbshire and Jim Taddy? Yes. No, I'm serious. He's up in that category.

Mike, he is up in that category. And what you have to understand at Sportsnet, they did one half-hour show, which is fine, and it's good. And they were, like, Hebbshire and Taddy, like, are all the famers at that. Right. But when we would do shows in the weekend at Sportsnet, you do the 10 o'clock show to 11, and then right away you're doing another show as soon as like in the three

minute break you're going from sports on ontario to sports net west and then you'd have an hour break and then you're doing sports net pacific and you're just cranking out the shows and they're handing you highlights 15 20 seconds before you do it these young bas broadcast associates would be running up with a script for the highlights, and you'd be doing the introduction, looking down at the monitor, reaching your hand out, and the first time you see it is the first time it's read on the air. Wow.

And Mike was very, very good at it. One of the best I've ever seen. I was a very big fan, and the guy who reminds me a bit of what Toth used to bring is Jay Onright. Yeah. Because you get kind of that sense of humor, and yeah, and the guy who reminds me a bit of what Toth used to bring is Jay Onright. Like he's a, so I, cause you get kind of that sense of humor and yeah,

so Mike, I don't know if Mike's listening or not, but. Love you Mike. One of the best. One of the best. But that podcast, the dad show is no more,

I guess it ran. Yeah, we did it for a while and then Mike is doing his, basically he's doing a podcast with his sons. Oh nice. He does a sports podcast with his sons and I think it's called Toth and Sons. Forgive, nice. He does a sports podcast with his sons, and

I think it's called Toth and Sons. Forgive me, Mike, if I'm getting it wrong. But yeah, so you can find it. So Mike and his sons do a sports podcast. They talk about all sorts of different things. So I think that's really kind of cool. And how was this appearance for you? Like, did you enjoy your Toronto Mike debut here? I, as my

kids would say, Dad, that was 10 out of 10. 10 out of 10. 10 out of 10. Mike, seriously, thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed this. And there's no kick-ass stories that you were thinking about on the drive here, which you never got a chance to tell that you wanted to. You didn't ask me. I have stories. Alright, because this music can be... I own this show. I can totally

bring down that music. Maybe tell me one or two of your best stories that didn't come up organically in this debut here. Well, you know, what happened was when you're traveling

for different things in the Super Bowl and different events, it's a whole different animal. Right. So the one thing that was really kind of cool is covering Super Bowls.

And one thing in sports that I enjoyed is I covered a couple Super Bowls for them. And that was really kind of cool is covering Super Bowls. And one thing in sports that I enjoyed is I covered a couple Super Bowls for them. And that was really cool. And I was lucky enough to be there for Super Bowl XLII when the Giants upset the Patriots, when the Patriots were undefeated. But Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, it was almost a perfect sports night. You had the anthem was Jennifer Hudson. She sings the last note, the F-16s

fly overhead on the last note on cue. It's incredible back and forth game with the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Basically the stadium is 75% Steelers fans. At the end of the half, James Harrison returns an interception 99 yards for a touchdown. Bruce Springsteen plays the halft the half, James Harrison returns an interception 99 yards for a touchdown. Bruce Springsteen plays the halftime show, slays, like unbelievable. And then Ben Roethlisberger hits Antonio Holmes, and he touches his toes inside the end zone at the last second of the game to win the game. That is amazing.

I remember this now. Yes. What a game. And then Adam Schefter was doing some, you know, analyzing color commentary for us. He came over and he just said, Barack Obama had just been elected president and just called Mike Tomlin to congratulate him on being the head coach of the winning Super Bowl team.

So, like, it was just one of those perfect broadcast nights, perfect sports nights. It was unbelievable. It really was. But I'll tell you a quick story about it. Yeah, please. Super Bowl, what people don't realize is the parties, the parties you don't get in unless you know people.

So the first Super Bowl I covered was Super Bowl 40 in Detroit, and Jesse Palmer was our analyst. Now, Jesse Palmer had, from Depean, Ontario, went in a scholarship to University of Florida Gators, was playing for the Giants, but he'd just done The Bachelor. Right. And we would go out to eat. We would have to hide him in the corner.

He would not be able to finish a meal. Mike, it was unbelievable the impact to him on that show. So we end up, he says, guys, this is more like, dude, FHM party, you guys in? And we're like, FHM magazine? Like, yeah. He goes, dude, yeah, you in? Like, sure. So we park, and their lineup is around the block.

There must be 200 people on a drizzly January, late January night in Detroit. And out of nowhere, this guy who's speaking the King's English, who went to Oxford or Cambridge, basically, and I won't do a lame English accent, said, Mr. Palmer, are these gentlemen with you? And he goes, dude, yeah. He goes, I am so sorry for this.

Ignore this crowd. Follow me to the VIP entrance. Wow. So he starts taking us to the back of the building, Mike. And I lean into Jesse. I go, Jesse, who's that? He goes, dude, I've never met him before. That's like the good fellas.

It's like, it was. Through the kitchen. So we come in the back and he goes dude hang on and they and all of a sudden he's in the backdrop with two fhm magazine girls doing the um you know the hero shots that's in the back of the magazine right they have the montage of the stars right we get in there and you can't move and so i said look he goes i really want a vodka tonic i go okay he look so mario one of the cameramen Rick, one of the other cameramen and I, we said, look, we'll walk in front of you because he couldn't move in there. So we moved a path to people so he could get a drink. And I'm trying to word this carefully.

Women were openly shouting what they would do with him sexually as he walked by. At the top of the lungs, he just kind of leaned over and looked over and, I just want a drink. And it got so out of hand at one point, the chief of the Detroit Fire Department, this massive individual, walked in and said, flick the lights on. That's it.

You're over the fire code. This party's over. And so we all walk out. And then he gets a text from his agent. Dude, you guys want to go to the Gatorade party? We're like, okay. So you have to be with someone like that to get into Super Bowl parties.

Otherwise, you can forget it. That's how my friends feel when they're hanging with me. I'm glad I brought down lowest to the low for that story. Is there another one that you'll regret? I don't want you to be driving home and saying, oh, damn, I should have told story X or whatever. I won't tell any stories of Montreal because I've signed a blood oath with people I work with

that I won't talk about those two years. But I know one time at Q107 in the 6 o'clock rock report, Steve Worden would book different acts. And there was a band called Jackal out of Georgia. And they had a guy named Jesse James Dupree and he he would play a chainsaw i don't know if you remember but the guy the guitar player would play guitar and he would play this chainsaw so he comes in steve's not there i'm producing john's on the air and this guy jesse james dupree has got this like sebastian bach flowing hair and he's got a chrome plated

chainsaw wow and he goes and he goes well i'm gonna play the chainsaw john what do you think and john's like okay he cranks it up well chainsaw creates a real uh like a heavy smoke and it's got a real gassy smell yeah of course so he's revving it it at high speed and playing to the tune of the song. Unbeknownst to us, the vent is going down the hallway to Kenny Coghlan in the AM station. Okay. He calls the fire department. Q107, it's on fire! He puts the fire reel-to-reel on, leaves the building.

Wow. We leave the building. John's going to a Jays game. I'm going home. North York Fire going in with axes. And we're like, what's going on? He goes, do you want to sit with some fire? I'm like, no, no, no, no, no.

They were going to knock the building down with axes to get in there. Wow. Wow, that's a fantastic story. But now, before I do play the Rosie and Gray, which by the way is named, Rosie and Gray was picked because it was Rosie who worked at the region and me who was going gray.

That's the origin story of Rosie and Gray. Having four kids will do that, Mike. It seems to have paused, but it was really going very well. I think it's more salt and pepper. It looks very distinguished on you. I feel like it's working for me. Natural highlights, as I say. But we kind of breezed over this.

But John Derringer is such a big figure in this city, especially in the radio history of this city. You mentioned Q, and then 590, then back to Q, and Howard Stern was booted off of the syndication on Q. Derringer

got the morning show, where he's still there today. He's literally still there. It's all kind of amazing. I'm just wondering what kind of guy... Because Derringer, I've invited him on the show, obviously, several times, and he has not yet taken me up on the offer. And I'm curious what kind of a guy he is

and what it was like working with Derringer. Probably the most, you know, here's the one thing John taught me more than anything. When you prep for radio, you prep 24 hours a day. Like every day is a prep day. It's not just when you get to the station. Right. And John is arguably the most well-read radio announcer I've ever worked with.

As far as how much and a wide variety of books. We're not talking just like GQ and Rolling Stone articles. Right. I mean, encyclopedic knowledge of G. Gordon Liddy and Winston Churchill. Like you name it. Right. Like I have a pretty good of world war ii history and i can hang my own with anyone but you know john goes into other areas and i like tip my cap to him because like he knows and he's always well read always prepared a great voice great communicator uh competitive driven um and gets it and you know he's got a beautiful family, three girls.

And there's a reason, as far as I know, unless something's changed, he has won the FM DJ of the Year Award from Canada Music Week more times than any FM DJ in Canadian music history. That would not surprise me in the least, especially the longevity and the rock radio pedigree wouldn't surprise me in the least. Especially the longevity and the rock radio pedigree wouldn't surprise me in the least. You just do the numbers.

Eventually, it's not just the talent in the awards. It's the longevity to go with it. You just got to go, thumbs up. He's one of the best. And there's a reason. Well, Jim, you're one of the best. This was a fantastic debut. I think we went, I, you're one of the best. This was a fantastic debut. I think we went,

I'm going to just check the timestamp, but you went two hours, buddy. How did it feel? Can I use your washroom? Yeah, yeah. So the minute I press stop on this, I'm opening that door for you to use the washroom. Thank you, Mike.

I really appreciate it. Thank you very much. So let me wrap this up for poor Jim here. And that brings us to the end of our 899th show. You missed the milestone by one, my friend. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Jim is at Jim Lang Sports.

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