Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Leo Rautins and Rod Black: Toronto Mike'd #1080

Episode Date: July 11, 2022

In this 1080th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike reunites Leo Rautins and Rod Black in his basement and hilarity ensues. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Duer Pants and Shorts.

Welcome to episode 1080 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. 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.

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Over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com Reuniting here in person on Toronto Mic'd are Leo Roudens and Rod Black.

Really? Reunited and it feels so good. Reunited and he farts so good. Wow. Where the hell are we? Where? And he farts so good. Wow. Wow.

Where the hell are we? Where? Excuse me. Toronto Mike. Interesting that you're sponsored by a beer company and a funeral parlor because this is actually, this podcast is actually done from a crypt. I'm looking, like, look at this. Like, here we go. Like, look at this. I don a crypt. I'm looking. Look at this. Here we go.

Look at this. I don't know. Friday the 13th. There it is. Friday the 13th. Thank you so much for coming today. Where? This place is even found on a GPS.

I looked over there in the corner. Jimmy Hoffa's there. It's crazy. Do you hear a chainsaw in the background? It's crazy. There you go. There's your mask. Good to see my boy, Leo.

Good to see you, Mike. And good to have some beer. And it's a little early, but again, where the hell are we? This is like, I'm sure we're in like this witness protection program. I know I've been there for a year. Mike, you weren't planning on asking any questions, are you? Because you know you're not going to get a word in. Mike, seriously, where the

hell do you... What is this? Did you just get out of jail? Come on. I can't... They had to put hoods over our heads to bring us down to the basement. And you had this pasta place that is... What's it called? Palma's Kitchen?

Where the hell's the pasta? There's no pasta here. It's in the freezer. Oh, there it is. I'm only kidding. Good to see you guys. I like your place. Okay, Leo Roudin,

this is your third visit to the basement, right? Yeah. And I haven't hit my head yet. I already hit my head. So is there like a, do you call this, like you call it the basement or do you call it something else?

I call it the TMDS studio. But Leo, tell Rod. It's nice if you're vertically challenged. Why don't you invite Muggsy Bogues or Spud Webb? They would love this place. But again, Leo's third visit. He's yet to hit his head. I'm good.

I'm good. He's used to that. You know what pisses me off? When you get off a plane or anything like that, they go, watch your head. What do you. I'm good. He's used to that. You know what pisses me off? When you get off a plane or anything like that, they go, watch your head. What do you think I've been doing my whole life? Why don't you tell that guy to watch his head? You don't have to tell me to watch my head. But the worst fear

I have right now is not my head. It's my nostrils because this is a very enclosed space. Here we go again. Very enclosed space. Can I tell you something? A very enclosed space. Just shut up for a second. I'm going to tell you a story. I'm going to tell you a story. Very enclosed space. Can I tell you something? Can I tell you something? A very enclosed space. Just shut up for a second. Okay, I'm going to tell you a story. Okay, I'm going to tell you a story.

So, hey. Close your legs. Close your legs, man. So one occasion, okay, in a studio, right? And, you know, sometimes you get a bad stomach. I mean, you're even bad. You've had a bad stomach for two decades. I'm talking now.

I'm talking now. You're not the host. I'm talking. Okay. Okay. So, you know, I had a little bad stomach one time in my life. Right? So now what does this guy try to do?

He tries to pin everything on me. So this one night in studio, we come out of a commercial. We come into a commercial and this, all of a sudden. You blasted. Wait, wait, wait. Sam Mitchell, you and I. And you know what Sam Mitchell said? The guy that called it is probably the guy that dropped it.

No, the guy who dealt it did not smell it. No, all of a sudden I'm looking, and Rod's looking at me. Mine don't smell. He's looking at me. Yours are like napalm. Hey, he's looking at me from the other end of the desk, and he's got this crazy smile, and then he tries to blame me. So everybody at home is thinking it's me.

This guy's unbelievable. Unbelievable. Shut up. Shut up. You are unbelievable. He did it to me once before's unbelievable unbelievable shut up shut up you are unbelievable he did it he did it to me once before in a pre-game show as well we're talking about day i can't remember something about damon stoudemire and he comes and it's i it was in my hair it was in my eyebrows it was like i was coughing and gagging fortunately it was a pre-game show yeah

and i was if you believe any of this anyway ask sam ask sam mitchell who uh the first night leo was mr really nice guy oh here's guys guys guys listen it's good to be here leo's guy and then leo lets one rip about four in and uh sam just goes leo what is wrong with you and we suddenly we should have been sponsored by Febreze. And all that is just a tall tale by the guy who drops it. His kid, Sammy, is worse than you are. Sammy is worse than you are. Sammy is bad. What is wrong with you guys? Sammy and I drove back from Florida 24 hours straight.

The windows were open the whole time. It was unbelievable. Between the two of you, dueling fartists. Between Sammy's right and left leg. That's what it was. Anyway, we didn't come to talk about farts. We didn't? Actually, it's on the agenda.

Well, because, seriously. The guy that calls it is the guy that drops it. No, dealt it, didn't smell it. Trust me. Mike knows. He's heard. You're legendary. No.

You're legendary. Your flatulence is legendary. Liars. World's full of liars. Leo Rotten. That's what makes me sick today. Have you ever met Your flatulence is legendary. Liars. World of soul liars. Leo Rotten. That's what makes me sick today. Have you ever met? People just make up crap.

Leo Rotten. How does this make you? Do you feel better lowering me down, demeaning me like you have for years? Do you feel better right now? I never demean you. I love you. I love you. Do you shine brighter?

I love you. I just don't like your asshole. Do you shine brighter when you dim my light? I don't like your asshole you shine brighter i don't like your ass my light when you get my seriously like man put a cork in it do something just shut this do something with that but a hole of yours oh my god all right right off the top thank you guys for making the trek to be here thanks for being here see you goodbye have a good night see you good night everybody leo thanks again this is your third time buddy you're uh you're an awesome

fotm but rod even though you've made several appearances on the program in 2021, this is the very first time you and I have met each other. This is it. We've never met each other. We've never met first. I feel like we have. Yeah, I've been on it.

Only on Zoom. I've been on Zoom. I've Zoomed with you a few times. I've Zoomed like everybody else does. That's why I'm tired of Zoom. And plus, I was finally able to get bail and actually get out in public. And I took social distance too far.

And now, again, I don't know where I am, but it took me forever to get here. I needed a job. This is where the real talk happens, Rod. This is where the magic happens. Clearly, Leo and I are guests. But who has been the most famous person you've had in your dungeon?

I mean, a basement. Great question. That's living. Is Gino Vanelli? Let me think. Gino Vanelli? Wow. That's a blast.

I like Gino Vanelli. You know, I've had, you know, all the greats that you know and love, you know, from Bob McKenzie to Ron McLean. Robbie Margarita. Ron McLean. Jack Armstrong made me come to his hotel lobby. That's big time Jack though.

That's big time. We're not in his category. And I was telling Leo, he liked his Great Lakes beer so much that I gave him his beer. Jack likes beer? Yeah. Who would have known that?

He said, would you mind biking over? Because he knows I'll bike there anytime. He said, would you mind biking to the lobby and dropping off more Great Lakes for me? Because he loves the IPAs. He was going nuts. By the way, Rod, since this is your first visit here,

you're not leaving without some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewing. Thank you. All right, I might start drinking it now. I might pull a Jack Armstrong. If you do want one, I have cold ones in the fridge.

I'll run up. How long is this show? About six hours? Yeah, it's about six hours. Perfect. I have never, Leo, probably, there's only one time that we ever were on the air

and we were snapped and corked. And it was that post-game show in Golden State at the NBA championship. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And also, I think we'd also drank beer on the air with Kyle Lowry. That was okay, though. There's nothing wrong with that.

We were snapped. We were beast. Yeah, there's a post-game internet show. Yes. And so we were all, everybody was there. All the announcers. Because the Raptors just won the championship. Everybody was there.

And we had already been how many beers in? Yeah, we were. We were just. But then we're drinking wine while this podcast, I don't even know what this show is. I'm not sure. There was Jonesy and Smith. And, of course, Jack, who was absolutely

paced. And he's like throwing F-bombs back and forth. But we had just won the championship. So screw it. I don't even know how. We were on the floor doing post-game interviews, and we got like a case of beer. I don't even know how that got there. Kyle brought it. Kyle did? Kyle brought it out of the locker room.

Oh, man. Oh, it was classic. I got a great picture. We had that picture with us standing there holding a Canadian flag, center court with beers. Yeah. And then we went to a party afterwards. Oh, boy. Which that went late.

And I had a 6 o'clock flight. I had a CFL game later that night in Edmonton, thanks to our great bosses who thought, okay, yeah, he could do both. That's a good idea. Yeah, that's a good thing. So I was pieced while I was on the air, and then I was hungover while I did a CFL game, which is great. Actually, I had a hard time making my noon flight.

I was struggling. I was struggling. But here, this rivals one other time, the Charles Barkley game in Vancouver. But no, no, no. Mike wants to ask questions. No, no, I want to hear about this. I'm sure we talked about this. This story is legendary. This story is legendary.

This story is legendary. Let's hear it. And it mostly centers around Leo, I think. So Charles is in town. No, remember what happened. So the night he's supposed to come into Vancouver, right? And we're at the usual Yale Town pub or whatever. Century Grill.

And I tell him he's supposed to come in, but he's late. He's late. And I left a, you know, he's supposed to come in, but he's late. He's late. And I left a message at the hotel where we were. So all of a sudden, some guy at the bar comes up. Are you Leo? I go, yeah. You got a call. I go over to the phone, and I pick it up.

He goes, bitch, you still there? What are you doing, man? What are you doing, man? He goes, okay, I'm coming down. Leo. So this is it now. Noon game in Vancouver. Houston Rockets, Vancouver Grizzlies. So he's coming down at midnight, right? Yeah. He this is it now. Noon game in Vancouver, Houston Rockets, Vancouver Grizzlies.

So he's coming down at midnight, right? Yeah. He's just getting there. So I'll let you go from there. We were a few ales in. Well, just a couple. Actually, I should point out that Leo and I had visited the library earlier. We always go to the library.

And then we had a mass, a mass with the church. Holy Rosary. Yeah, and then we went out with Charles. And anyway, this thing ended it was a noon game noon game uh we i think we went to bed with not with charles but charles we all went to bed they didn't sleep with charles it was spring forward so when i put my head on a pillow i believe it was actually 7 a.m 7 a.m and what time was our production 9 a.m. 7 a.m. And what time was our production meeting? 9 a.m. So we got there anyway. This was one of the few times.

I was surprisingly fresh. And the Grizzlies were such a bad basketball team, but it was a great atmosphere. Vancouver people are incredible. They should have a team there again. Anyway, Charles comes out, and he's in warm-up, and he looks brutal. And Charles was doing the rise, I think, the night before.

He was at the rise. Sweat's coming. He gets, I think, the first time out, and he is sweating like he just ran a freaking marathon. And I'll never forget, what's the guy's name? David Duchovny and Tia Leone. Well, they always sat beside us in the front row, so I thought he was pointing over at him.

But he goes, hey, hey. And this is the first time out in the game. Hey, folks. And all the people are like, it's loud when you read it, but they can hear, hey, you see those two guys right there? You see them? They kept me up all night. And so the company's like looking over,

they're looking, everybody's laughing. Then Charles. And so he dropped, okay, Houston would lose this game. He had a triple-double, I think. He had like 30 and 15 or something. And then, I forget, Sandra Neal, our sideline, was ready to do an interview with him after the game. He pushes her out of the way.

He jumps over the table. He sits down between us, puts his arms around us, and goes, haven't seen you boys in a while. Haven't seen you guys. Haven't seen you boys in a while. Yeah, that was, oh, my God. That was, okay, so there were two times. You know what?

I don't work for them anymore. I'll tell them. You know what? I actually drank every single night when I was on the air. I was a much better announcer. That's maybe why I'm not doing it anymore. And this is where I learned the business from. Yeah, yeah.

My mentor. Those were the two times that we, but if you're going to go out all night, and you're going to stay up all night. I call my liver rod. Yeah. Something's wrong. Well, the liver I used to have.

Yeah, careful. Yeah, don't use that term. I got something wrong with my rod. Anyway, that was, those were two times. You had to go out late and you had to not be at your 100% best. We had a CB excuse, a Charles excuse. He's a beauty, man. I was wondering how long it would take to get some, you know,

some impressions, Charles Berkeley impressions. By the way, and again, I don't want this episode to have much of my voice on it because I really was hoping, and it's turning out, my hopes are coming true here, that it's just you two just shooting the breeze, chatting it up. I'll set the table here. I'll just

share with you that I got a couple of notes. I'm glad you started with farts because James wrote in and said, thankfully we can't smell the studio. We'll be on the day. It's smell-o-vision. It's smell-o-vision. At the end of this, you can say it's real or not.

That's all I'm saying. Because this is all vicious rumors and lies and slanderous comments. Brought to you by Palmas. Brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. Oh, Palma Pasta. Brought to you by Ripley Funeral Home. And brought to you by Febreze. By the way, I mentioned the beer, but you're also leaving with a frozen lasagna.

It's in the freezer. I got frozen lasagnas for each of you to bring home. I'm not leaving, man. I'm going to stay here now because I don't know how to get the hell out. If you really cared, we'd be eating one of these right now. Yeah.

Where are they? With all the bodies? The breakfast lasagna. So everything's in there. It's all frozen with all the bodies you keep down here? I'm only kidding, Mike. It's a nice place. No, I was hoping you'd be busting shots.

It's nice. It's nice. You know, Rod, you do know I'm here because there's no room in this house because I have four freaking kids, and every room is taken up by a kid or two. You have four? Four. So there's a commonality. Between the three of us, we have 12 kids.

We each have four. Hey, look at this. Hey, the four-skin broadcast. Now, what I did, and I know Leo has not done this, Rod, the four-skin broadcast. I meant four kids. This is going down the sugar quick, isn't it? I meant four kids.

After four kids, Rod, did you get a vasectomy? Yeah. Actually, you know what? I had a vasectomy after three, and the last one, I'm suspicious he looks a lot like Leo. By the way, by the way, you know what, I had a vasectomy after three, and the last one's suspicious. He looks a lot like Leo. By the way, you know, my son Sammy has two dads because we still don't know who it is. It's either Rod or me.

No, Sammy was consummated. Immaculate conception at my wedding reception. Which was incredible because I wasn't having sex with my ex-wife at the time. So I still don't know how it happened. Other than Rod smiling. And my son Sam looks very much like Rod. Very ugly. So Sam, he's a beauty too.

And he calls me dad. I love it. So what is your breakdown? Mike, you for kids. All right. So I got a boy, girl, boy, girl. So I got a 20-year-old boy and then a 17 and almost 18. In fact, later this month, she'll be 18.

Shout out to Michelle. And then I got an eight-year-old son and then a six-year-old boy. I mean, sorry, six-year-old girl. She can't even keep track when you have four kids. My youngest is Morgan. We're in the 2020s now. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

It's all good. Gender doesn't matter. Genderless time. Right. And then I got the snip. I said, four kids and out. Peace out. I'm done.

And I hear you did the same thing. I got to get the snip. I haven't been snipped yet. You haven't? No. I was just talking about it the other day. Are you kidding? No.

I guess it's time, huh? Yeah. You're only 85. You're a good 85, though. He's a young looking 85. So yeah, Leo's are all about the same range as mine, too. Like mine were every, you know, you only have sex four times. And mine was every 18 months.

And we're not shooting blanks. Yeah. What you two did, which differentiates you, is you guys have four kids with the same woman. I divided it two and two amongst you. There's nothing wrong with that. You go from... I got rid of the middle.

I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't change a thing. And I wouldn't either. And you played man-to-man for a couple of years. Then you go to a zone. I got a zone now. But when we took the kids to Syracuse, we kicked their ass.

Oh, yeah. That was good. Took my boys a few years ago. We went down for a weekend to Syracuse to see Leo. Sammy was down there. And we had a great time. That was good. Took my boys a few years ago. We went down for a weekend to Syracuse to see Leo. Sammy was down there, and we had a great time. That was awesome. We played them hoops on a court. At Mellow Center.

Schooled them. At Mellow Center. Then Rod wanted to get in a fight in the stands in the game. It was unbelievable. Unbelievable. Yeah, some guy called Leo a pussy. Is that right? Well, it was actually a different terminology I can't use here.

And so I go, what did you say? And he goes, what did you say? I turn around. I'm sitting there. And I look at Rod's glare. And I just do it. I go, dude, you can't fight here. I know people.

You can't do this. So the guy keeps saying, the guy keeps calling. I keep hearing him dissing Leo. Because all we wanted, they took up our seats. And they put their coats on one of our extra seats. And so he keeps calling Leo these names. And I'm going, this is my guy. And then all of a sudden, this is classic, though.

I'm just shooting them glares, and I'm going, you know, F off, whatever. And we did have a few beers. And so about the first quarter, they go, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's game. Syracuse, Orangeman legend, Leo Routens. And so Leo has to stand up, and these two clowns behind us go, oh shit, oh shit, that's Leo Routens. And then my security guys go, is there a problem there?

It was funny. You guys mentioned you each have four kids. You do have something in common in that you have athletic children. Like I got a note, know and i was gonna do this myself but since it came from mass i'll give him credit he said ask rod about his uh his son in the brewers organization congratulations rod black that your son is drafted yeah that's amazing you know what's so funny is that we and i think um i think it's not a coincidence i think that these kids were around sports i mean it's like you know they they clearly get their athletic athletic

endeavors from their from their mothers but i gotta tell you this this is what people don't know and this is really cool that so this guy is like mr canada broadcaster right this you know i don't even know how he keeps track of his life because when he was doing everything it was like insane and i'm going so we're in studio and like ron's like just shows up because he dropped tyler off over here he's taking brody over here. Or my wife. He's going, dude, can you get an Uber for one of my kids? So I'm getting an Uber for one of his kids because he's got to go pick up another.

Yeah, it was crazy. The fact that like knowing his schedule, right, which is very few people in this country had a schedule like that. And he was the world's greatest dad. It was incredible. Like seriously incredible. No, you know what? And I got to tell you, I learned a lot of my father's skills from this dude here. Slapping him? No, no. and he was the world's greatest dad was incredible like seriously no you know what i and i i gotta

tell you i learned a lot of my father's skills from this dude here slapping him as much as no no and we we we kill each other with freaking trash talk but uh i i this guy was an incredible father i saw that a lot my kids were young and then you know coincidentally you know leo's son andy is you know was an nba player a professional basketball player i i think you know exposure exposure people being around it my kids they these kids were always on the floor i said the other day to somebody about the days when leo and i were doing games um at air canada center at the time uh even before that at skydome and andy would be out there with steph curry and seth curry these little guys shooting and by the way they were good but they weren't you couldn't see at that time they were going to be pros by any stretch right andy was

andy was by far the best player of the bunch there and the security guards and they would dribble all the time the team wasn't that great and so you could do whatever your kids always came and there they were and the security guard would come over go hey get your kids off the floor and we go hey you get them off the floor you're security and they all became pros yeah but you know what it's like it's like because you realize you're around these athletes they're just like you yeah so you you have uh you and and i always say when you can be around it you can feel it taste to touch it you can believe that you can be it too so i think they all were that that was when i was doing the story when i was doing jay's games that was for sure for my two oldest they were at

the games all the time tyler was at every single game with gus and they'd sit in the perch i do the games with tabby pat tabler and they'd sit there and i always kind of people well how can you bring your i was notorious for bringing my kids to the games. First of all, because I'm really cheap and we didn't want to buy tickets. But secondly, it's because I thought it was a great environment for them. And I said, we almost had an unwritten rule, bring your kids. And so I brought them everywhere, but especially baseball. And I think being around that environment taught Tyler and Brody,

who's on that path too, that, you know, it was showing people, showing the kids that they are human but also showing the work ethic of those athletes and how hard it is to get to that point and you know what's cool it's like my son sam he's kind of social butterfly right so i'd say i get to the arena and i go okay you sit here courtside i the guys are shooting around doing their thing i gotta go in the media room we gotta do a meeting whatever grab bite. I come back out and I go, and Sammy go, you know, so-and-so's not playing. I go, what are you talking about? Oh, yeah, yeah. And like

Brian Colangelo will be sitting there going, I go, Sammy, they said, Brian, do you meet my son? He goes, what do you mean meet him? We've been talking hoops for half an hour. Like Maurizio Ghirardini. Sammy's talking to Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant tells him he's not playing tonight. Oh, same thing. They're not playing. What are you talking about?

It's so, you know, it's hard to... Breaking news before tonight's game. Sammy Routens is reporting. But I will tell you, having the kids around it... It was cool. It was cool. It's amazing. I'm his official family photographer, by the way.

He takes a lot of pictures. I take all his family pictures. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that's amazing. I mean, I just... Was it just the other day? Matt Devlin's son was drafted. Same thing.

Exposure, exposure. You know, congratulations to Luke. What are the odds? Like, you would each have a son drafted into a major league sport, different sports, but then you got Matty Devlin, another different sport. That's three different sports. And now I'm thinking of even like a public address announcer

at the Air Canada Center. I'm thinking of Andy Frost. Okay, his son. Andy Frost. Is a Philadelphia Flyer. Right. Goes back to what I was saying. Maple Leaf goal scored by number 93 Doug Gilmore. I used to work with Andy way back when.

You know what? It's exposure. Yeah. 92 City FM. Wicked. So I just, not to talk about me, but I just dropped episode 1071, which was like a massive like chronology of the history of Q107.

So there's a Andy's on that episode. And we talked about a lot about Psychedelic Sunday, but yeah, he, like you, came from Winterpeg. Yeah. Yeah. Like that was the rock and roll station. I think that's how we met, you know, brother Jake. Yeah. Yeah, we did. I want to ask you when you remember your first meeting yeah uh first of all truth be known i think leo knows this too is that i aspire my my i wanted to be a basketball

or i want i was a hockey player but i wanted to be a baller my favorite player growing up leo leo rowans actually was martin riley who many people don't know marty marty was my one of my idols playing for canada so i wanted to be this kind of marty right but i was really into hoops and uh in 1980 and i i really wanted to be the next leo routins but i couldn't shoot dribble or dunk so that but i did go to a couple national camps and i remember seeing jay triano in a corner once and i went oh man i can't shoot like i was a good ball handler. Then I saw Leo, and I just, I guess I gravitated to broadcasting. So fast forward to 1983, the year Leo was drafted. The Philadelphia 76ers are going to play an exhibition game in Winnipeg,

the Winnipeg Arena, against the Denver Nuggets. And the people in sports in Winnipeg at the time weren't into basketball, but they knew I was, and so I was going to go down. I went to the airport to see Dr. J, and Dr. J was my hero growing up. We were six all the time. And who do I meet?

I meet Leo. Coming down, he was the first guy down. I do an interview with him. That's because I had to get down and get the bags. The kid from Keel Street. Kid from Keel Street. It was going to be his first professional game yeah in winnipeg and so dr jay also another side story is that i had got a phone call from um a person that i worked with that they had a a nephew who was in hospital was not doing well his name was jay as a matter of fact and he was uh his hero was dr jay yeah and i thought he said you know is there any chance maybe you can get an

autograph or or whatever uh you know because dr jay is going to be at this game so anyway i was that was in the back of my head but i meet leo and then nobody else is coming down and we're kind of hitting it off he does this interview and i told him this story about dr jay as well and so dr jay he brings doc over doc does the interview, and I told him this story about Dr. J as well. And so Dr. J, he brings Doc over. Doc does the interview. I'm almost, it was one of the few times I probably was really nervous doing an interview, besides interviewing Leo.

Yeah, right. I mean, I'm almost shaken, but Doc does it, and he's just that cool Dr. J, and, you know, he talks like that. Good to see you, Ron. Good to see you. You know, Leo, my guy Leo. He's a Canadian here.

So anyway, at the end of the interview, I just, I don't know what I had the balls to say. I said, Doc, there's this kid who's not doing well in a hospital in Winnipeg. He's looking at me. You know, Doc looked. He had the big fro and he's looking down at my eyes. I don't know what he's thinking. I think he's going to strangle me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I said, this is his name's Jay Howard. I believe his name was. And I gave him the phone number. I gave him the phone number, and I thought maybe call him. Anyway, fast forward, Leo goes off. That's the day we became friends. Leo had a big night against Denver. I think Denver won, though.

It was like one of those typical exhibition games, 155, 153. Yeah, shitty game. Kicking the hand away. Dr. Jay doesn't play play and he gets his shoes his inserts didn't arrive they were yeah so he gets pilloried in the press they bring dr julia serving he doesn't play it was nice to see leo but we anyway i get a phone call two days later and this it's almost muffled tone this This kid goes, Rod Black. I said, yeah, it's Jay, Jay, Howard calling.

I said, yeah, I just want to thank you for getting Dr. Jay to come down and visit me. Wow. He got in a cab. Wow. Went down to the hospital. And I think a lot to do with that had to do with Leo and Doc. But he went down to the hospital, brought him a basketball,

brought him a jersey. And I think maybe a month later this this young man died he wasn't a kid he was people didn't realize how cool he was and it was and i and i was really upset with the press after especially after i was upset i didn't get to see doc but so that's that day was the day that i was glad i didn't play i played yeah and that was the day I met Leo. And we've been, honestly, inseparable since. Well, I was going to say, you were destined. Unfortunate for him. Destined to be buds because you're there at the first game of Leo's professional career in Winnipeg of all.

It was like kismet. Like, what are the odds that Leo's going to make his, he's going to make his, you know, NBA debut in Winnipeg. What are the odds of that ever happening? I remember when CTV at the time was looking to see, so they decided I was going to be the color guy, right? Right. And I was going to host.

Well, yeah. And then they were looking for a play-by-play. And so I actually did these fake auditions, fake games with a bunch of different guys. And all of a sudden I got a call when they go, how do you feel about Rod Black? I go, are you shitting me? Are you kidding me?

I go, yeah. I go, yeah, let's do this. And like we had, so honestly we had more fun than any two guys should have. Yeah. We had a great job, you know? Yeah. And I was in, I was expecting to host the games. Cause I remember it was a big splash by CTV and Leo and I had done a couple

of games previously because he was going to go to the Olympics in 92. Yeah. Maybe with LaVenia even. But we did some pre-Olympic games and the team never made it. That's when Eli Pasquale, I think, broke his leg. Something like that. It was terrible.

And anyway, we had done. I'm on a trip with Plan Canada overseas in a place called Ouagadougou. What? Burkina Faso. And I get a call. And it's my in a place called Ouagadougou. What? Burkina Faso. And I get a call. And it's my boss, Doug B. Forth. Yeah. He goes, Rod.

I said, I'm going like, whoa. Am I getting axed here? What's going on? He goes, listen, we need you to come back and go to Secaucus, New Jersey with Leo to do a rehearsal. So they brought us into Secaucus, the NBA headquarters. Yeah. Which was really bizarre at that time. Yeah.

And we only did it, I think, about a half, which was really bizarre at that time. We only did it, I think, about a half an hour. They liked us right away. We did a Houston Rockets. I did the same game with them. I could have closed my eyes and do cover. They said, Rod, we really like you. Leo, you're even better than that first time of the eight. But you know what's so funny about those days?

And then, again, I hosted the expansion draft with Bob Costas in the NBC studios. And during those times, which was really, really, when you look back at it, David Stern was a great advocate for Canadian basketball. Yeah, he really was. He was there. But a guy who was in the background,

who was helping us out, like getting scripts and doing things and just like making sure, getting coffee even and making sure everything was good, was Adam Silver. Yeah. Wow. He was the deputy commissioner. Not even a deputy commissioner. He was an assistant to David Stern at the time.

A lot of guys. Remember Tom Carelli, Todd Harris, all those guys. Rest in peace. Yeah, rest in peace. But boy, those were those early days. And then getting a chance to work with Leo. I wish we did more, because we only did really maybe 30, max 16 on each team.

But it was great, because we were doing Grizzlies and Raptors, right? So we'd go, we'd do a Raptor game. We'd get on a plane. We'd go to Vancouver. Once a week, we're in Vancouver. And it's hilarious. You get to, we always say the Pan Pacific, right? We have a routine.

Say I'd come in with a taxi, pull right up, and the guy would go, Mr. Routens, can we grab your bag? Rod Black will meet you here. So I wouldn't even get out of the cab. I'd take my bag, they'd check me in, and I'd go meet Rod wherever he was. And we always had a tradition. We should have been sponsored by McDonald's. Oh, yeah, yeah.

We're lucky to be alive still after eating so much fast food. We always had a pregame, and sometimes— We needed sponges in the morning. Yeah. We had to go to McDonald's. We had McDonald's breakfast before a game. Remember Calgary? Calgary.

It was minus 40 out. And the arena in relation to where we were staying in the McDonald's was like a 40-minute drive to the McDonald's. We had to have paid a cab to sit there and wait while we ate because we'd never get another cab. Oh, because we always had to do it. Yeah, we couldn't miss it. And then, again, the Vancouver ones were just so much fun

because the NBA at the time made us always come in the day before to do all these interviews, which were tremendous because we got a chance to sit. And drive go-karts. Drive go-karts, golf, whatever. And it was always social, but it was hard, except for the Charles games. But what was fascinating is that because the teams weren't good at the time,

Mike, like they were still fledgling. And honestly, a lot of people didn't think the NBA would survive in Canada, even in Toronto. I honestly thought Vancouver might have had a better chance early on, the way it was. Yeah, they blew it. They blew it. But so everybody, we're thinking, man, this is, if it is a novelty,

what a novelty. Anyway, because of all the times that we had been in Vancouver, every single game, we always thought that, you know, like, let's stretch it a little bit. And plus the different time zone, right? Let's stretch it a little bit. But the beauty was we always got a chance, because the teams were good, to sit and talk with the stars.

And they would bring in Shaquille O'Neal. They would bring in. That's when our friendship with Kobe Bryant began. And Leo, a lot of people don't know that Leo knew Kobe when he was a little boy. But Kobe used to call me Mr. Black because of the Reservoir Dogs came around at the time. And he hardly played.

But we got to always interview the stars. Yeah, because we'd be set up at the hotel. And they stayed at pan pacific right so he'd come in we'd have this room set up and here come shack here come colby here come michael scotty actually michael's the only one that didn't come in interviews well we had to we got to get michael remember where they had the van outside yeah yeah but we'd have all the stars of the stars would come in because the nba wanted to sell those stars to the Canadian audience. Well, you can't sell Jean Tabac. You've got to sell something.

We did. We did. We tried to. Hey, starting center, opening night. We almost got him a suit deal. One of the nicest guys, by the way, Jean Tabac. He was a great guy. He was a decent player.

Yeah. The big O. Remember that? Oh, the big O. Ollie Miller. Oh, yeah. Sure. Oliver Miller might have been one of the most gifted,

naturally gifted basketball players. He had Magic Johnson hands. Remember that one night he kicked Alonzo Mourning's ass. But here's the problem. Pre-game, he's ordering like six Big Macs into the locker room. In the locker room. Could you imagine that today? I don't want to speak.

Hell, I'll just say it. Anyway, Leo and I are on the charter. I rarely went on the charter. Leo was on it a lot because he was doing the Raptors. But when I got on, it was convenient. So I'll never forget. And you get on the charter with the Raptors, even today. It's like unbelievable playing.

You get and you look. And it's like this gluttonous feast set for Roman kings. You come in and there's this massive cart full of fruit and and and uh pizza and stuff and you go and you just we were looking for the wine cart jack yeah well we did that once too so then we go you go back you go down you go this is incredible i go down i said and calil's going take it easy take it easy i'm going like take it easy this is great because halfway through the like, well, take it easy. This is great. Because halfway through, the meal comes, right? So there's like two, you get all this food to get on, then a meal. So one night, we're coming on the plane.

This is one of the first few times I see all this food. It's healthy, pro basketball food. Oliver Miller walks on with two Wendy's bags and two Frosties. And not little bags, but Wendy's shopping bags, right? But I got to tell you, I love the guy. He was such a good player.

Such a good player. And he might have been one of those guys who might not have been able to play skinny. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Had he lost a lot of weight, he might not have. But the funny thing is, I saw him on TV in the background of a game.

He was actually skinny. I go, dude, dude, imagine if he just did that a few years earlier what was the joke around i said he went on a water diet and lake atario dropped three feet like charles said i was in the houston rockets dressing room one time charles says to stanley roberts who was rather girthish too he goes hey stanley i got two words for you should use a lot more. The guy goes, what? I'm full. I love hearing about those early Raptor teams.

And like, of course, we were playing in the dome. Like, I just love hearing stories about, you know, NBA at the Sky Dome. That's, that's cool. You know what was cool about it? What? So you had a million seats in that place, right? Yeah.

So a lot of people didn't realize that when you go through the, at the SkyDome Hotel at the time, you walk by the lobby, there was an elevator in the back. You go back that elevator down to the, I forget what level, and then you switch to another elevator. It takes you to the field at the far end. So I tell all my buddies, meet me at the SkyDome Hotel. One day, I literally got 20 guys.

We go down, we get on the field at the far end, and I said, okay, you're on your own now. You're on your own. Find a seat. And that's the way it worked. But it was opening night, actually, opening night. We did both opening nights, remember? Yeah, we did it back to back.

And that was the Nets, right? New Jersey Nets. New Jersey Nets. And then we flew right to Vancouver to do their opener at home. But that day, that morning, I'll never forget, because Canadaada am basketball again it was novel but all the networks especially ctv had a major commitment so they had us do canada am yeah live at 6 30 but guess who was the guest star was dr dr jay wow comes he came on the

broadcast came on the broadcast and i'll never forget this i don't know why i said like what like i always think of dr j that great movie makes from one don't know why I said, like, I always think of Dr. J, that great movie he makes from one end, you know, palming the ball like a marble, coming across and coming on the other side. Well, if he doesn't mimic that, you know, and he's going through his head what he was thinking about, and he was such a cool dude. That was a, I can hardly remember the night, but I will never forget that night.

You know, it was like, it was an insane night. And both of these crappy teams, The Raptors won, right? And then we went to Vancouver. Chris King got the winning ticket. Grizzlies won. It was funny. After the game, we went to this party in Vancouver. And everybody's there.

And then Linda Carter, Wonder Woman. All of a sudden, Stu Jackson, the GM of Vancouver, standing there. And Linda Carter goes up. She whispers something in his ear, right? So I walk up to him right after. I go, hey, that's after one wind. You've got Wonder Woman whispering in your ear. Did you guys see that HBO miniseries about the LA Lakers and Jerry Buss?

I haven't seen it yet. What's it called, Showtime? Yeah, I think it's called Showtime. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot of controversy. I know Jerry West has debunked a lot of that, but I mean, basically, I think a lot of that happened. There's always going to be some...

You've got to dramatize it a little bit. Yeah, exactly. It's funny, my Google Home is going off and trying to tell me where I can watch that show. Hey, Google, where does Mike hide the bodies? I bring that up the... What's that noise? But no, I will tell you,

another thing about the Sky Dome, which I... Sure, yeah. It was the stars. And it was crazy. Here's a couple just announcer boys. We're doing games. We do scores.

We have fun. And right around us, like because of all the movies that were shot at the time, like consistently, we'd have Samuel L uh and right around us like because of all the movies that were shot at the time like consistently we'd have samuel l jackson right beside us because we we were different the national games they put us right with the fans and so gene hackman i'll never forget him and it it was the bulls game as a matter of fact the one they beat the bulls and i had some licorice here and i said to gene hackman i said do you want some? He goes, no, no, no, no, no, no.

And halfway through the game, I look over. There he is. He's chewing my licorice. But like Prince, you know, because he was. Oh, he lived on the bridal path. Well, yeah, that's right. He was married to. I was saying Vancouver. I remember Vanessa Williams.

All these people. All the stars that were there. And it was like, it was awesome. And it was not made for basketball. Yeah. But it was special you know what i remember so raptors were playing the bulls right so we i was staying at the skydome hotel so i got my boys with me right so two of my boys michael and andy so we go down and i go all right the

bulls are about to do the shoot around right and i go guys you can't go in a court let me ask let me ask if it's okay so i walk over to the pr guy and i say hey listen any chance my boys could kind of hang out here he goes we can't do that we can't do that all of a sudden i look on the court there's like phil jackson michael jordan and dennis rodman and guess who's standing in between all three of them andy like my son andy and i just bought him this brand new pair of michael jordan's right and uh and since somebody michael jordan's signing his sneaker and then all of a sudden you go whoa he's screaming i'm going i'm gonna get thrown out of here this is crazy right so so i i apologize to the pr guy so like i didn't know i didn't know he'd go there so he comes running back and then i then my other son, Mike, I don't know where he is. He just takes.

So all of a sudden, Michael Jordan. I don't know if you know he actually played for the Bulls. He did. He did. You don't see that extra number? Yeah, exactly. So Michael Jordan starts walking towards where I am. And I go, hey, Mike, I appreciate that.

He goes, oh, those are your guys? I go, yeah. That's your son? I go, yeah. I go, by the way, there's another one. His name's Michael, too. And he'll be when you guys go to the bus because the bus came into the arena.

So the funniest thing is Michael, after the shoot around, my son's waiting. And Michael Jordan walks up, and my son goes up to him, and he goes, oh, hey, Mike. You should have seen his face, right, and signed his hat or whatever. That's awesome. The stuff was just so cool back then with the kids.

Well, especially for you two, I think. It had to, because you were not far from being a contemporary. You were just out of the NBA. And my dream was to play. And you played

against Michael Jordan. Yeah. You defended Michael, the greatest player who ever played. But my dream was, there were so many rumors for years when I was playing

that Toronto would have a team. Remember Ted Stepien with the Cleveland Cavaliers? They said the Raptors are going to have a team. And so I'm thinking, maybe this is going to said the Raptors are going to have a team. So I'm thinking, maybe this is going to happen. Maybe this is going to happen.

All of a sudden, I can't play anymore, and it happened. So this was kind of the extension of that dream, the fact that we could do this and be a part of it. It was really cool. And we had, Mike, we had the World Basketball Championships as well as a precursor. Yeah, right before. In 94, which was insane because it was at maple leaf gardens and i'll never forget and we were also cheering for you know our lone canadian kind of a star in the nba at the time

was rick fox he was two years old when he left the country kind of canadian but there was this little guy on that team who had this crazy little crew cut, you know, like almost army haircut and both Leo and I going, and we had heard about him. We saw, I had seen him when I was still playing. He was like, but he wasn't like you never,

he didn't have the vibe yet. Didn't have the vibe. And then we saw him and his name was Steve Nash. And that was his coming out party at that 94 worlds. And then the next thing, Hey, he's in the basketballball Hall of Fame. And a lot of people, a lot of Canadian kids should look at that.

I think a lot of Canadian kids should have looked at Leo when they came in, you know, the guys after, that midsection of the golden era. Now this is a golden era, but they should really thank Steve Nash because he made kids believe. And I said the same thing about when the rappers drafted Damon Stoudemire. Had they drafted a seven-footer, who can relate to that? Who can relate to some dude swinging off the rim at seven feet tall?

But you drafted a Joe Blow, a guy, if you walked down the street, you wouldn't know who he was, right? That was Damon Stoudemire. And I thought that was great for a new audience to see, hey, look at this guy. And Steve Nash, same thing. If you walk down the street, he'd be some kid bouncing a ball. And this is a guy who becomes a two-time MVP.

So every kid playing a game of basketball, forget all these other guys. When you see a guy like that, you go, maybe I can be that. Maybe I can be that. That's why I was always shocked that in the earlier years we didn't have a lot of great point guards because you had this idol this guy Steve Nash look up to him I said multi-MVP and to do that become MVP in your early 30s that's just nuts nuts and and because he was a late bloomer and I remember we were in Phoenix I will never forget that meeting and you actually gave Steve a real good pep talk

because he was down. We went out with us a couple. And Steve was a good late night guy. He went with us a few times. And he's so Canadian. Good resume. He's so Canadian. And he's such a nice dude.

And he's a smart guy. Not so smart hanging out with us. But he was a little down because he was in Phoenix. He was behind Kevin Johnson and Jason Kidd. KJ and JK. Right. And he's playing third string, and he's not getting any minutes. And Leo said, hang on, bide your time.

And I think KJ went left, Steve up more time, and then they made the deal to Dallas, which then changed the trajectory of his career. So all young players, life in the NBA can change overnight. Yeah. Leo helped. I think that was a real good conversation you had with him. Amazing.

Now, when I tweeted you two were coming over here, I got a reply right away from Scott Moore who said, you guys are two beauties, he says. Well, actually we're half beauty each. So we're one beauty. We make up one, yeah. Scott Moore was right there in the

early years for both of us. One of the great producers in Canada. So many great producers that we've had. We've been very fortunate. Scott was one of those guys, ground floor at Sportsnet, ground floor at CTV. I've worked with him a lot.

And he should talk about beauties. Man, he is a beauty. Yeah, he definitely is. He is a beauty. Well, he's had a couple of visits down here. Oh, has he? Yeah. Was he wearing a Speedo?

No. Because there's, I don't give a shit. I'll tell you. Anyways, I got got i think there was a time we were on a water slide together uh with scott moore i recall that uh i believe in saskatoon uh where he was going to meet his uh his future wife and he was uh he was he was he was wooing her becky at the time yeah and then i i saw him come down the water slide wearing his little banana hammock.

And I'm wondering, dude. Not a good impression. Dude, dude. Yeah, maybe not. Maybe not. But he's a great dude. Running back to Saskatoon. And he's very successful at what he's done.

But you and I have been lucky, Leo. We've had so many people around us. Every one of them. We have no douchebags or dickheads working around us. No one. Except for us. People have to deal with us. Other than that, it's all good.

So we're going to get the lay of the land in terms of everything going on with TSN, Sportsnet, Leo, Rod. We're going to get the lay of the land. But Dave Starkey sent in a nice note, so I want to shout him out. He says, you are two of the best in sports casting. He wants to know, Leo, are you going to bring back twine and wine soon? Twine and wine hasn't disappeared, but yeah, it's going to be definitely some more twine and wine.

But you got to remember, I've done like, I don't know, 500 of those. It's hard to come up with a new shot, right? That's true. And the crazy thing is when you painted a monster. I got one for you. Okay? Yeah. Okay, so you wear a tux, okay?

And you go on stage. Right. Right? And then you insult Will Smith's wife. You throw a basketball. You come over. Will Smith smacks the shit out of you. And then you drink wine.

That has never been done before. I'm speechless on that one. I'm speechless on that one. But yeah, anyway, twine and wine was a lot of fun. So I definitely... Well, Dave wants you speechless on that one i'm speechless on that one but uh yeah anyway twine and wine was a lot of fun so i definitely uh well dave i want to see i want to see that back all right so let me see if i get this straight you guys correct me if i'm wrong but okay so leo routins you used to be on used to be on sportsnet and tsn yes okay and when at the time when you were on tsn you'd get to be sharing the airwaves of Rod Black because, Rod, you've been a TSN guy.

You know what that's like? No, seriously, no. No, no. No, wait, wait, wait. You might appreciate this. But it was like coming home. You know what I'm saying? Like, it doesn't matter what you're doing.

I go in the studio with Roddy, and it's like coming home. It's like, ah. It's like you're on a big couch couch and now I'm with my boy here. It was great. Okay, so I agree. Except that couch started to be a little smelly. Here he starts again. Here he starts again.

See, I say something nice and once again, you dim my light. Well, don't dim your light. Okay, so Leo. I'm trying to make you shine. Don't dim any of your light. Your light's too large, man. Leo, your second visit, of course,

I'll never forget that first visit because it was after the double overtime win in game three against the Bucs. Okay, so that's like forever tattooed on my cranium. Okay, he came over that next morning because if we don't win that game three in double overtime, which we almost blew, we don't win that game three. Truth is, he never went to bed. Yeah, I know. He never came in with a coat and a coffee.

He was here. But the second visit. He slept on your lawn. That's fine. With the dead bodies. Leo can sleep on my lawn anytime. Are you kidding me? But the second visit,

that's when we talked about the fact that you were no longer going to be on Sportsnet, but you were still on TSN. We saw you on TSN all year. But then we find out not too long after, I don't know what the timeline is anymore, but we find out Rod's not going to be there anymore. So Leo, what was your reaction like when you found out

Rod Black was no longer going to be on TSN? What's it like when you find out your brother's not there anymore? So it was a hard day. It really was. When he called me and I go, like, come on, stop dicking around here. Like, seriously. All of the night before. Yeah. I had known for a while I wasn like, I come on, stop dicking around here. Like seriously. Yeah.

I had known for a while I wasn't going to be returning. So I said, no, I, you know, I just want to make sure I, and I kept it, kept it pretty hush hush. Cause yeah,

you did. Yeah. For a long time. Well, look, it didn't leak. It didn't leak to me. I saw your tweet about it,

Rod. And that's when I phoned you. And I got, yeah. And again, I, I harbor no, no TSN and ctv in

particular i had a great time there i honestly i think leo would would probably agree uh i overstayed my welcome there because i really wanted to leave probably a year to two years earlier i i liked it i i loved working with leo i love working with my partners duane ford and football and the stuff i was doing. I mean, I was working in the toy department. I just wasn't completely fulfilled there. I don't think I want,

and I really wanted to get into something else and I still am, you know, pursuing a couple of those other opportunities. So he just left me, just left me. No, I, you know,

it's not, I just realized that that happened before, but then a lot of other dominoes started to fall in place. And as, as, as sad, as sad as and shocked as i was at the kind of the way that kind of stuff fell out i was honestly really happy and i was nice to have the opportunity to say do it my own way to go out my own way and that's what i wanted and i kept it

and i was i was shocked it didn't get leaked either um for months i knew for months but i wanted to go out and i wanted to travel around and see some of the places that i had done and do some cfl and then of course you know i didn't get to do another nba season but i honestly had had 25 and i i also said to leo i said that's not you know the last time we're going to be working together i'm convinced we'll be doing games again somewhere somewhere, somehow, doing something. Maybe it's a podcast. Maybe it's visiting me in my basement. So, exactly, and I'm calling games now for the Scarborough Shooting Stars.

I'd love Leo to come in and start doing some of those, too. I mean, I love doing those games because I love one thing, both of us, is that we love being at games. And I was kind of missing that. I was in studio a lot. I love being game day. When we call games, we had being at games. And I was kind of missing that. I was in studio a lot. I love being at game day. When we call games, we had so much fun.

We're just going to start a podcast so you can get the press pass. Yeah. So, again, we're real cheap bastards, too. But, no, there's nothing like game day. And we like doing studio on the road games, but there's nothing like game day. Being down, seeing the players, you know, those moments two hours before the game

with forging great relationships with people like Nick Nurse and Jonas Valanciunas, who I still think is one of the greatest, greatest, classiest athletes we've ever been around. Alex McKechnie, being around the coaches, being around each other. That's how you, that's what I miss. I miss that.

I don't, I don't miss the other shit right yeah no we had a but we said all of it was so so leo when you're doing your raptor games on tsn last season and rod's not there like you said there it's just like your your brother's missing yeah i mean and it's it's uh now again i i i want this kept in right perspective because like i said that is my brother so not having rod was it was it was crazy you know we're still move on yeah no i make you know kia kia nurse and kate berneseming they're they're tremendously talented they're and they're wonderful people they're a lot of fun but i'll tell you what's really cool i don't know if you i don't know if you even saw this so we were doing the first game without you right yeah and and k, I don't think I was watching. Okay. So, and Kate, Kate,

who's taken Rod's place, right? She says, I want to say, we, we need to acknowledge Rod. And I'm going like, cause I wanted to,

but I'm not the host. And Kate, Kate, without any, she said, I go that that's really cool. It's a tremendous podcast. She is.

And, but that was to me that spoke a lot about her. And it was, it really was. And, and like, was, to me, that spoke a lot about her. It's a classy move. It really was. And I'm going like, wow, I love that. And that's one of the first things we did. We acknowledged that Rod's not there. Because we'd worked a lot with Kate together.

Wish I would have seen that. No, no. No, you should. No, you had told me. And I thought that was really, really special. I appreciate that. Because, like I said, it's the first time in what 26 years that you and i weren't sitting next to each other and we've done some crazy shit on there no there was

one time that uh you you weren't with me he puts a picture on me he didn't show he got a flight from denver i don't know how you can't get to denver for the next day there was some snowstorm i got some points we're two hours two hours away from game time. No Leo. 45 minutes. An hour. He's still stuck on some tarmac somewhere. And then our producer at the time, Michael Hammer, and hey, great dude.

The Hammer goes, what are we going to do? I said, well, here. Get a picture of Leo. So we got a little stick and we put it up. And I can tell you, Leo, that was one of the nights I thought you should have been nominated for a Gemini Award. You were the best.

I had a lot of compliments that night. You were the best you were ever. Yeah, people said that was really good that night. But yeah, trust me when I say I miss the people and I miss the game. And I really miss this guy. But again, life goes on. I always tell people, and people say, do you miss playing? I don't miss playing. It playing? I don't miss playing.

It hurts. I don't miss playing. But you miss the hanging out, the camaraderie, the people you're hanging out with. And that really is the case. How many times, I cannot tell you how many times,

and we'd always go out after the game, usually with our kids, usually taking our kids. And when they started to get to the drinking age, that's when it became a little too much. We always went out before the game and after the game. And I can honestly say I've never, and we did over a thousand games, easily over a thousand games.

And I never, ever went home, even after a loss, and when a team, because you get invested in a team. I never went home in a bad mood i always said this is and i can't wait for tomorrow i can't wait for the next game and i can't i can honestly say that doesn't happen in a lot of the other broadcasts i did you know sometimes you carry it with you and i go you know hey that's what happens when you with you're with your brother or you're just seeing this dude when so raptors we're doing studio for game six the championship game in golden state right so all of a sudden it looks like raptor's

gonna win it we just look at each other we are his eyes are just watering you know what i had allergies but you know what it is because terrible allergies but an onion but see people gotta understand it okay we were basketball guys before basketball was anything in this country. I grew up wishing all this, dreaming of all this. So all of a sudden, it's not that you're a Raptor guy. It's not that you're a homer. It's just that this is what you dreamed of well beyond just the Raptors. And all of a sudden, it's happening. And we're just looking at each other going like, holy shit.

I think I was probably even more emotional for him because I knew that. And I also had that kind of dream, but I clearly didn't live it as a player. But to know where it came from, to know that it was probably on a tightrope for a while, especially when the possible sales existed and you never knew what was going to happen. We thank the Bitto family, the Tannenbaum family, all those people who had dreams because we wouldn't sit here without a championship and this unbelievable, I still think, and I have a lot of hats in sports. There is no more popular sport in Canada, sorry,

hockey heads than basketball. There is no more popular sport. People go, well, what about the ratings? No, no, no. There's no, no sport is played more in this country than basketball because everybody's played it. And no sport is followed more,

especially by youth because they don't, you can't measure mobile devices. You can't measure that. That's how kids are watching. It is the most popular. And the NBA understands that

and they take advantage of that and that's why it is the most popular. Yeah, we had a good hug that night and then of course we went down afterwards and we get,

both get stopped by this freaking security guard. Is the same guy who gave the same dude same dude and by the way he did so what happened and i told the story he was an absolute angel but so he did so rod went down we got separate oh that's right so he went on the so the stanchion at the basket right there rod went on the right side that's where messiah got dealt with the same guy i went on the left side now here here's this is something i told that guy did come to us sorry that guy did come to us first and he denied us because my producer didn't have it hanging around his neck oh and we didn't have we didn't have those armband legs and we were rights holders so i'm kind of arguing he was just being a dickhead i said dude seriously we got we i got a suit on clearly we're going there and i i don't know i probably said something to him but he wouldn't

let us go yeah so i go now one of the things i love doing is i go to i go to arenas and i hide i don't show credentials and i just try to hey what's up i just keep walking i don't want to see how far i can get i if i tell you some of the stories you know then they go yeah hey look at hey look at it's really tall hey so he looks like he belongs. Look it, it's Drago. He can come in. Let's go. You know what?

Yes, I see it. It's Drago. Or it's, hang on, that's Steve Kerr's older brother. Okay, two things. I've had NBA. Okay, what's the guy that does the, let's get ready to rumble. Michael Buffer. He comes up to me at the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles,

walks up, talks to me for 10 minutes. He goes, hey, Steve, great talking to you. I've had guys sit on a plane with me, we get off the plane and go, I didn't want to bother you, Steve. Have a good season. I get that all. But Rocky comes out, I'm playing in Italy, and I'm walking down the street,

people are screaming, thinking I'm Dolph Lundgren. And I couldn't convince them I wasn't, so there's a People are screaming, thinking I'm Dolph Lundgren. Yeah. And I couldn't convince them. I wasn't. So there's a lot of people that went home with Dolph Lundgren's autograph. I will break you. I just signed it. I go,

what am I gonna do? I can't convince you otherwise, right? Yeah. I'm Dolph. Here we go. Sign. But,

uh, it's crazy, but I was going to say something. So you're talking about coming on the court security. Yeah. Oh, okay. So,

so again, my game is doing that. It is a game. And I try to get on the floor. And if I tell you the stories of how I got in an arena sometimes, it's mind-boggling without showing anything. Right. So I walk on the left side of the stanchion,

and the guy looks at me, hey, what are you doing? And I walk right by him. Not a word. And I don't have no credential, just a suit on. And then I hear later about the whole thing that happened on the other side, right, between you and what you saw happen. I did see it. I saw it.

But again. Okay, but here comes down to this. It was completely a racist move. A white guy in a suit. You don't ask me a question. A black guy in a suit. All right. All of a sudden, this is an altercation.

Give me a break. I mean, it all comes down to the color of your skin. Yeah. The guy was an absolute dick. He was an asshole. But there clearly was a racial not undertone overtone to that that was like yeah completely yeah and uh you know even leo and i said we didn't know anything about it but i there was messiah seems so subdued for a guy who you would

think based on his journey and everything he went through, and to get there, to know him as a scout, this skinny little scout. What a shit moment to experience. To do, to build, to get this great trade. And then we both said, that was, and we thought, maybe he's just, he's overwhelmed, I thought. Then we kind of found out and went, oh my gosh. And I really felt that for myself. And I remember that Kyle. Kyle came to get him in that hug.

Like you could just, something was, something was, we didn't know. They stole that moment from him because that is, you've reached the top of the mountain. Bullshit moment. And that's your moment, and then you have to deal with that bullshit. Yeah, that was pretty bad. Take the shine off. And it goes to show you too, probably how classy Masai is,

who, by the way, is one of the most fierce competitors we have ever, ever encountered. He should have knocked his ass out. Should have knocked. I think this was, that we have ever, ever encountered. He should have knocked his ass out. Should have knocked. I think that was in an alley or underneath. He might have. Yeah. But to kind of keep it off the cuff for a while

and then it just got out of control. Wow. I also did not like the fact that the way that carried on with these court cases, people were also sitting there going, well, no, it's not the security guard's fault. No, it was. Yeah, it was. He had an agenda and that was it.

And Masai probably wanted that just to go away, but it spoiled his moment. And hey, maybe like, you know, touch wood that that moment could happen again, especially when they make the trade for Kevin Durant this week. Do you know anything, Rod? Do you got any sources?

I will tell you one thing. I've said this for a long time. Leo never agreed with me. I always thought KD would come here. He loved Vince Carter, right? He loved the Raptors and Vince Carter. Do I think it's... I still...

I was kind of joking about it years ago. This is the first time after he was leaving Golden State when he left Golden State just because he didn't get along with teammates, one teammate in particular. And had he stayed there, he would have won more. But I thought then that this might be a possibility, but it was too fresh after that Achilles and everything else.

Do I think it's a possibility? Yeah, I think it's a possibility. Let's say you, Leo, because this is the buzz. I don't think it's i don't think i think there's other teams here's the thing and i've said this i've said this prior to kawai coming here and all the other rumors subsequent to that that messiah jerry and bobby webster have never done anything for this franchise that compromises the long-term well-being. They have a plan. They don't share the plan. We don't know the plan.

They keep everything tight, but they have a plan, and they know what they want to do. And what they ultimately end up doing, whether he comes or not, if it doesn't fit into the long-term plan, and that means who you're giving up, what you're getting back, the whole thing. If it doesn't fit, they won't do it. I think Scotty Barnes is the divining this if this is a deal out there i saw the um sean marks our buddy and you see the video with sean marks and masai chatting and woj was there that people make

too much of that general managers always chat but now you can look at that i do think if i'm sean marks i want scotty barns and if i was masai, I'm not sure I'd give up Scotty Barnes. And that's where it comes down to, again, what's the long-term goal that you have with your team? And Masai, not knowing what that is, I could say this. They won't compromise that. The other thing, though, he is a special K, just like that Kawhi Leonard. People can say what they want.

We don't win an NBA championship without Kawhi Leonard. The only difference, though, he's eight years older than the Kawhi Leonard. People can say what they want. We don't win an NBA championship without Kawhi Leonard. The only difference, though, he's eight years older than the Kawhi that the Raptors got, and he's also coming off some serious injuries. And an inability to play, not from his point of view, with teammates because he had teammates that would not share the rock. And the other thing I will say about him, he may be the most unstoppable player i think nick nurse would be an amazing coach for him he's the most to me he's the most unstoppable

player offensively in the game i really do still believe that why because he's seven feet tall because he's got a handle like a point guard is that why is that why but you know like wouldn't it be something he's a unique talent. Again, if we talked about this four months ago, I said not a chance, but I do think there's a possibility. You never know. You never know. Okay, stay tuned. Okay, do either of you guys smoke weed?

No. No smoking weed? I'm not a fan. No edibles? No. No cannabis? Okay. So why?

Is that a sponsor? Yeah. I got people that need some if you have it. Invitables, no cannabis. Okay. So why is that a sponsor? Yeah. I could say. I got people that need some if you have yet. I have. All right. So here. Okay.

Here's what we're going to do. I do like the occasion. I have a lot of cocaine and oxy, but no, no, no. Rod Black, this is a toque for you, courtesy of Canna Cabana. They got a hundred locations across the country. They sell cannabis and cannabis accessories. Okay, so I didn't, by the way, you never said would you ever try it?

No, it's all good. Not everybody smokes weed, not everybody enjoys the edibles, but those who do know you got to go to Canna Cabana. And Leo, this is an ashtray. If there's somebody in your life who smokes weed, there's a Canna Cabana ashtray. Oh yeah, I could probably use that for a few people in my life. A few of them.

I don't know if you know anybody. It's a nice toque. And a shout out to Canna Cabana. Again, go sign up for their Canna Club, Canna Cabana Club, cannacabana.com. Great sponsors of the program, as are StickerU. StickerU.com is where you upload your image and you get your stickers

and it's great quality. And Rod, you have grabbed the Toronto Mike sticker. I'm sure Leo's had a couple in the past. Where do I show this? Where's your camera? Where's your camera? There you go. It's over by Jimmy Hoffa. There it is. There it is. Shout out to Jimmy Hoffa. But that's a

sticker you dot com sticker. That's a Toronto Mike sticker, Rod. I look forward to you slapping that on the back of your automobile. I'll put that on there. That's good. It's the right size because I have a very small automobile. Ridley Funeral Home. Wonderful, wonderful

people there, but Brad Jones, who's the funeral director there. I'm watching you two. Brad Jones, what a huge Raptors fan he is. He's a huge fan of you guys both and he loves the Raptors. Shout out to Brad Jones who has his own podcast. I'm going to come see you one day, Brad. You know what? I'll get you a discount.

Hey, Brad. Brad, I'm going to come see you too. I hope it's not before Leo. Okay, that's all. Leo's going first. Leo will come and visit you first, Brad. And Mike too. Uh-oh. Okay, now Mike's giving out free... Hang on, Brad. Mike's giving out free caskets.

Pretty much. I'm worried the casket won't fit for Leo here. Cremation urns. Ridley Theater at Home wants Leo, you to have this measuring tape. You never know if you have to measure something. Make sure that the casket's going to be big enough for you. Hang on.

Centimeters, Leo, centimeters. Oh, boy. This is absolutely... When are we going to start the show? When are we going to actually start? I want to know, I know this wasn't your choice, necessarily. I'm trying to understand,

Rod, like, was it basically you were there so long, you were making big bucks at TSN and this is the way of the world now. These large salaries need to be weeded out but was it part that in part that you maybe you wanted to do something different like i'm just wondering did you get the tap and they said time to go and then you just negotiated like when i would say there's a gray zone there kind of i would say i think there was that was it i mean you saw what happened with all the networks it's still happening with bell and rogers yeah and you you know from what i understand is you know there's a certain amount certain dividing line on i negotiated a contract

that they signed right and i certainly wasn't going to take any pain cut and uh right you know when you know i just my contract was for a significant amount less than Leo. My contract says you can work with Rod, and I signed it. Okay, that's it. I signed lunch and Rod. I signed a $5 million contract. They didn't sign it. That's the only thing.

It was $1 a year for 5 million years. But no, I think that had a lot to do with it. And yeah, you know. There's no shame in this, right? No, no. But I would also say that, again, the last, I loved every day that I was doing it. But I just, there's other loves and other things I want to do. And you start seeing the, you know, you're in the back nine of your life.

I play a lot of golf. And, you know, I want to go get some birdies, i play a lot of golf and uh you know i i want to go get some i want to go get some birdies some more birdies and i want to do other things and i want to do there are other other games and other bucket list things that i really want to do including production i work with north star bets and toronto star now which i'm loving doing that stuff we're amazing just going to start a i think some sort of video podcast called the rod cast leo and i have talked about doing a podcast which we are i now that this is the first time we've actually been together i've been able

to do it we should i would like when was the last time you guys were together i haven't seen i haven't seen him we were going to get together and have some do some heavy drinking a while but he he's been busy we've all i've gone to florida a lot and stuff like that. But you know what's... And we had the incident and the jail term. So he was in one cell block. I was in the other. And it was... Yeah, we had a lot of... Anyway, no.

But those are things I want to do. And I want to do stuff where I'm the boss. Because frankly, I don't like bosses. Well, you've earned it, right, buddy? Like, shout out to north star bets uh north star bet that it's great that you can be like a brand ambassador there and host programming there and that's the bit of that's got a bit of connection too so you mentioned them with the raptors jordan who's the publisher of the toronto star who i think we're all really

proud of jordan and that whole family and uh we were very close with john and and what he did with the raptors bringing isaiah and isaiah thomas were very close with John and, and what he did with the Raptors, bringing Isaiah in, Isaiah Thomas at the time, great family. And you know what I love about that family more than anything is the charity work they do in the county. Yeah. The charity work they do.

And that's, I also want to do more charity work. And you know, I, I, so right now, uh, this is a good time to tell everybody that I'm available for bar mitzvahs.

I'm available. I can host, I can host birthday parties, car washes, hot tub parties. Would you host a bar mitzvah in the guise of Charles Barkley, like the whole time just doing the chariot? Yeah, except I... Shalom. Yeah. I would do anything.

I'd do anything for Charles Barkley. You know what's interesting? In light of like this conversation like rod you know changing and he had to tap on his shoulder whatever so right when when i didn't go back to sportsnet and uh so i remember i remember you told me so so and i was shot no but what happened was so there was a there was a announcement that sportsnet announced their crew tsn announced nothing at the time sports announcer crew twitter i watched my funeral on twitter because people assumed that i didn't see my name with sportsnet tsn didn't make an announcement so everything was oh dude we're gonna oh no like for 24 hours

i watched my funeral it was the it was the i told you that remember it was the weirdest thing ever i i wasn't i don't know if i was wrong i remember you told me yeah a few weeks beforehand yeah and i just said really but the whole thing was crazy right so like how many times can you i always say this like when when it's too bad when you see these great funerals, too bad if that person couldn't have seen that when they were still alive. But I'm watching this thing for 24 hours, and I couldn't say anything, right? I couldn't say anything. And then finally, whatever, TSN finally announced the crew,

and I tweeted – what's that? What's the guy who said, my end has been exaggerated? Mark Twain. Mark Twain. Reports of yeah, Mark Twain. Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I just tweeted that, but it was a bizarre thing to watch your own funeral. Well, yeah, and I think it's, again, you and I, I always said, this gravy, you know, this extra, we're always in overtime.

And the thing is, you know you're we're i will be 60 this year you're over uh 60 i'm not as old as you and and i still think if we were in the united states and nothing against the american broadcast but i think they value their their their announcers uh and their experienced broadcasters more. I do think experience matters. I mean, I got in the business when I was really young at 18, but I had to gain that experience. I do think that there is a movement adrift in Canadian broadcasting, not just in sports, but in news and everything,

that it's all money-related. And I do think that a lot of the people that have moved into certain positions just haven't, haven't been there and done that. And I, you know, that's fine if at the bottom line is, you know, showing numbers and showing impressions, but at the same time, you've need, you need to have been there before. And I think that's just, we're finding that everybody's becoming a broadcaster now, right? You can become a broadcaster or a podcaster but it's just different with our our networks now and again this is not just sports this is news a lot of great people

trust me i have not i am i have no pity party here i've enjoyed everything i've done if it ended tomorrow i still want to do more but there are a lot of people out there more talented than leo and i who lost their jobs were cut based on salaries yeah and you know what i love is the fact that they are able to you know talent will rise up and they're able to to to carry on with what they want to do it's too bad that a lot of the network executives who've never ever been there before are making those decisions 100 you know, these cable companies don't make enough money. That's the problem. Or make enough money so that their cable doesn't work.

Rod said he had tickets to see The Weeknd on Friday night. I was actually, I was the warm-up band for The Weeknd. It was called Thursday. And it was, but Iup band for a weekend. It was called Thursday. And it was, but I didn't even know that. I mean, hey, I can understand. I don't know what happened there. Even my bell service went down the night before.

I don't know. Oh, that's a coincidence, I think. Yeah, and it's like, I love that meme though. The one, they got the picture of Rogers Center. Is it Air 404 Center? That's her.

But how much do you think that day cost? That had to be a billion dollars. Oh, it might be more than that because it might cost them the, whatever, the permission from the CRTC or whatever to do the merger with Shaw. How many?

This could be a trillion dollar mistake. But how many people that rely on it, how much money did it cost them? No, I know. I mean, Interact was down. Banking went down. Just Interact going down. You're right. And even that concert alone, I can't imagine, you know, many people that rely on a communist money that cost them no i know yeah i mean a lot of banking went down just interact going down you're right and even that concert alone i can't imagine you know they get a refund those tickets and holy smokes but i was actually down the street i was

i saw roger waters at the uh scotia bank the friday night yeah but i was biking over yeah they were so the friday and saturday roger waters played uh scotia bank arena yeah so it was just the dome so just the dome. So just the dome was shut down. Cause I guess they're all Rogers in there. Cause Rogers. Was weekend playing going to play. The dome.

Oh, yeah. So the dome was the only. Yeah. Cause Budweiser stage would have been. Yeah. Well, they had Keith Urban was there.

Cause I biked by all those. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But think about all the interact, everything that went down and, and, and mostly,

I don't know what you guys, I had some friends I'm going like, like I know Leo when Leo ghosts me, that went down. And mostly, I don't know about you guys. I had some friends. I'm going like, I know when Leo ghosts me, that's fine. But all these people, important phone calls. Why are they not calling me back? What did I do? I got to go look through my time. Did I offend them?

Did I butt dial them? What did I do here? Well, you do butt dial because I got a couple of those. I just wanted to make sure that your butt was vibrating. So is it safe to say, Rod, I'm trying to get sure that your butt was vibrating. Okay. So is it safe to say, Rod, I'm trying to get a vibe on this. You're still setting things up for what you want to do next, but you're enjoying this, being retired here.

I wouldn't, I've never, there's another thing. I never retired. Right. So I would say I reloaded. You're taking a pause. Yeah, and I'm looking. I'm frankly really looking. At the broadcast industry,

I want to still do my stuff with Thorstar, do some writing, Northstar Bets. Broadcast. Broadcast, podcast, whatever that is. But I do miss games, and that's kind of why, you know, Nico Carino and Lowe, you know, good buddies, you know, when Carino and, and low call, you know, good buddies, you know, when the Scarborough shooting stars were involved,

I wanted to get involved. I didn't wait any way, shape or form. I love, I love calling those games. You know, I don't have Leo though. That's EBL has been phenomenal.

Yeah. They've done a great job. 3,000, 4,000 people that Jay Cole for the first few games. And this is all on CBC gem, right? CBC gem. I? CBC Gem. I've watched a couple.

They're fantastic. Yeah, it's fantastic. Fantastic product. Like, these are Jalen Harris plays. Lucas Nogueira played the other day. The CBL, their management group, going from Mike Moriali to John Lashway. John Lashway helped the Raptors get started.

John Lashway was there when we were there. And so they've done a phenomenal job because i really think a domestic pro league is critical for the growth of the game in a country could you imagine having that oh when you were around exactly and and the great thing is having you need one in the winter but having in the summer all the guys that are playing somewhere can come back and work out and play right so it's a great deal make a few bucks they can go to italy or turkey in the fall you expose the game so kids can go to the game and go, hey, I can do this, right? Amazing.

We need a winter one. We need a winter alternative. Bigger winter one. They have one, but they need a bigger one. It hasn't been done right. And you do need one, but that's the difference between the NBL and the CBL is management and organization. They're unbelievable.

Yeah. It's fun though, man. I'm glad you know, man. You know, I'm rooting for you hard. I don't know if there's any plans to grow back the mustache. Is that on the agenda at all? The pornstache? What do you call that?

How was your reaction, Leo? When you saw him one day, his mustache was gone. That was a long time ago though. Yeah, but I know. You know what it is? A lot of people don't know this. Can I tell them? I'll tell them. If you look closely at Leo's right elbow,

right eyebrow, his right eyebrow, that's my mustache. So Leo, we shaved his eyebrow off one night, and he needed something. So I gave him my mustache. Yeah, he did. And so he just dyes it. You're so giving, man. You're a sweetheart. I gave it to Borat.

And Leo, can you confirm maybe, maybe you can't, you'll tell me right now, or maybe you'll punch me in the nose, but will you be back on TSN Raptors broadcast next season? Yep. Okay, good. Yep.

All right. I'm Leo's agent. I can tell you yes, definitively he will. Unless I get a tap on the shoulder. He signed a multi-year deal. All right, here's a loaded question. For Great Lakes Brewing. Where will you a tap on the shoulder. He signed a multi-year deal. Alright, here's a loaded question. For Great Lakes Brewing. Where will you two be on September 1st from 6

to 9pm? Because there's going to be a big TMLX event. That's Toronto Mike listener experiences at Great Lakes, which is in southern Etobicoke, not far from here. We're going to have a huge shindig to celebrate 10 years of Toronto Mike. September 1st from 6 to 9pm. Dude, I don't know where I'm going to be tomorrow.

You can't go that far ahead. I said it was a loaded question. I don't know where my laundry is. So like September. I'll remind you the day before. Hey, call me the day. Call me the morning of actually. I'll call you the morning of. September 1st 6 to 9 p.m. You're invited. Palma Pasta will feed you. There'll be free Great Lakes. You'll get to drink your

fresh craft beer. You'll love it. So I'll remind you the night before. Leo and I are both available September 31st, if you want to do that. A couple of quick hits before I ask you. There's a question I want to ask you on the way out, but I want to know, what are your thoughts? And Rod, you got a son drafted by a baseball team here. What do you guys think of the home run jacket?

I said last year when the home run jacket showed up for the Blue Jays that this is a fun thing when you're winning, but when you're losing, this is going to be awfully cringy and embarrassing. And I feel like that's the vibe now when you hit a homer and you lose four to one, but you got the home run jacket and whatever. What are your thoughts about the Blue Jays home run jacket?

I loved it when it came out. Because they had a vibe. We went on a big run. Yeah. And I think it's become traditional. I think they could temper it down and have to temper it down when you are on a skid. Leo and I, I know, I don't even have, he will say the same thing. We are big old school believers. Look like you've been there before.

I don't like pimping. I don't like uh posing now i know hey especially in latin america they have changed baseball by the way they celebrate remember when they first start people oh that's oh jose bautista right one of the greatest bad flips every now and everybody does it and it's become part of the game and it's it has added color it's passion it's added color but it has to be done at added color, but it has to be done at the right time. And if it's not done at the right time, and I think of Joel Embiid with the,

the wings, people got on him, but Hey, it's a big basket. You know, when, when guys give the signal or whatever it is, everybody who is a professional athlete,

um, I am sure, you know, they have their pose or their, their moment and it becomes their highlight reel material but when you're losing it it doesn't it doesn't resonate quite as loud so i would just say temper it down a bit you know i think some of that's just embarrassing personally okay i'm a three-point shooter i hit a three five minutes into the game yeah like who cares dude

this is what you do or the goggles you want to give me the three five minutes into the game. Like, who cares, dude? This is what you do. Or the goggles. The goggles. You want to give me the three after you hit the game winner? Hey, I'm all for it. Go for it. Or you've got a seven-footer who dunks the ball and he's got to pose. Dude, you're seven feet tall.

That's what you're supposed to do, right? So I get, you know, like I said, there's a point of celebrating. There's a point of understanding who you are and what you are. And there's a point, like you said, act like you've been there's a point like you said act like you've been there before act like uh you know what it's like it was meant to be like don't look like a surprised no jack donahue was great when i played for him he'd say say you're getting frustrated guys in your shit right you're having a bad game don't let him think he's got anything to do with it yeah right same thing when you're going if you knock down seven threes in a row don't sell act like, I do this shit all the time.

I saw a baseball game the other day, and a guy pimped it, posed it in the first inning. Careful when you do that in the first inning. And it's a regular season. And it's a regular season. Be careful what you do. I love the, I saw the Seattle Mariners, their little dance yesterday.

I love that. You know what? They won the game. They can dance. You can celebrate when you do. I love the, I saw the Seattle Mariners, their little dance yesterday. I love that. You know what? They won the game. They can dance. You can celebrate when you win. When you do something special, I'd still like to see a little bit. And I know I'm sounding like an old fogey and an old school guy, but there is something to that, man,

because you might be seeing somebody's hand in your face or in your crotch. Well, that's the difference too today you won't you don't really but i mean i'll tell you what back in the day if you did some of the stuff someone not or a baseball came at baseball came at your head or there's a guy but you go you would drive through the lane someone's gonna put an elbow in your face that doesn't happen it happened to bautista remember rudnick agor yeah yeah and smacked him and so that stuff does linger not as much because it's done so prevalently now. And by the way, everybody has that. Everybody has some sort of home run jacket, chain, whatever it is.

They have some sort of celebration. In college baseball, it's this jump and elbow smash. They did it a few years ago. The Dodgers did it. Remember, I think it was Bellinger who actually ripped his arm. I think it was Bellinger. Or was it Seager? I can't remember.

They went up, went for the elbow smash, ripped their arm apart. Just be careful. Have fun. Hey, sports is still supposed to be fun. I think you can have fun in different ways. But the jacket is still pretty harmless. It's not like they're showing anybody else out.

Yeah, but if you go on YouTube or Twitter, whatever else, you go to AAU games whatever else you go to aau games it's it's the more you can embarrass an opponent a guy trips a guy it wasn't your move he trips right oh yeah everybody's screaming you block somebody's shot you know people are going crazy so what it's a block but it's the whole idea i want to embarrass embarrass you. I love the silencer at the end of the game. When you see your last shot, and you're in the road, but not in the middle of the game. You would have ripped somebody apart.

No, it's about humiliating and embarrassing people, and that's where I think you don't need that. That's not sport anymore. Now, Rod, I know you're a big golfer. You golf often. I'm curious what you think of the new live tournament. It's business, I will tell you. I think it's real.

It is a big threat to the PGA Tour. There's no doubt. A lot of people thought this was going to be like the XFL or USFL. It's not. It's real. They get their guys. I have a real hard time where the money's coming from, the blood money that's there.

Now, having said that as well, you don't just look it up. Just look up the backing of this group of where they've come from, what they've done, human rights violations. Now, they also, it's just not that golf tour. It's also

horse racing. There are a lot of Saudi connections. There are teams soccer teams that are owned there's big money and i say all of that if they if they got more players and it was an attractive tournament would i watch yes and if somebody offered me a lot of money and that's a lot of money i would take it and especially guys like not like dustin johnson i was a little surprised by him but it's a lot of money he's getting more i think more cake than anything but a guy like nichols people go nicholson and you know some if you look at their age the birth certificate their earning power over the next

few years if someone's throwing you a boatload of money hard to say no it's hard to say no uh but it is a threat mike it's a threat and uh it's i don't know where it's going to end with the pga tour i feel bad for the average fan every week who can't who can't see the the stars of the game there will be more defections because money talks who and it's you know that you mentioned the ethical issue and then you gotta look we just celebrated an olympics in china we're gonna be going nuts for a canadian men's soccer team comparable thing mike and people talk about the the bad money in crypto for example right right you think banks don't launder money you think drug dealers aren't banking i mean seriously like the the perspective of all this stuff gets really whacked out there's blood money everywhere there is blood money

well we just had an olympics and a in Russia. Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014. It was a showcase. Billions and billions of dollars spent. And we all watched. And two men decided to kiss each other because they love each other. They could be arrested. Yeah. Which is, when you think about that.

When you think about our world right now. You and I would have a lot of problem in that environment, right? Stop. Okay, stop. This is not the time or place. Yes, it is. No. Come on. I love you. I love you too. Rod's being serious. I know, but I know. And Leo is a very thoughtful, philosophical person on a lot of the world situations. I am Ukrainian by heritage. I am every day horrified by what's going on there. I had been there with the Canadian military years ago, so it's very close to my heart.

And being Lithuanian, my parents lived it, experienced it. Yugoslavian people remember when all that went on and you wonder, how could it happen? I was in Lviv a few years ago and I said, the city reminded me of Barrie. It was like, there's the radio shacks and there's McDonald's and the same thing architecture a little different more colorful kids kids the same way obviously a different language same thing could happen and and you look at what's

happened the atrocities we're about 130 days into that now uh which is so sad i do think there was a fatigue that has now run into our daily scope. I was, could follow it every single day. Well, the same crap is going on there every single day right now. And we're throwing a lot of money. Everybody's throwing a lot of money into the war. People say, well,

you're not in the war. Well, we are because we're throwing money into the war. I hope it ends peacefully. I don't know if it's going to, it's the, it's one of the worst situations It's unimaginable

Our world Here we are, we're having fun Talking the world of sports And it's a nice reprieve But having said that To have that happen In a world, modern world That we live in

Is utterly incomprehensible to me. I feel so bad for the children. Okay, this is a goofy thing. But, you know, Florida is wacky, right? So July 4th, it's just fireworks from morning till night for four days. People are just in their backyards. They're blowing off bombs in their backyards. And I'm just listening to that environment, right?

My dogs are terrified. And I could imagine if a kid didn't understand what that noise was, I'm going like, imagine living this, and that wasn't firecrackers. That was real bombs that could blow your house up or kill your families. Living in that environment every day. When I was in Lviv, there was the Crimean. It was after the Crimean, the whole Crimean takeover thing that happened back then,

just after, and you could hear that gunfire and bombs. There was a war going on when we were there. And I was so crazy. I was in Chicago the other day. And same thing, I was looking out and saw fireworks everywhere. And I thought,

imagine every day in Ukraine, people are waking up to that and they see that or at night and we're selling we're having fireworks to celebrate independence right and freedom and every night they see that and and i know the klitschko brothers i used to do a lot of boxing to know um to know the courage and bravery of these two great heavyweight champions who never fought each other and now have to fight for their survival. And, you know, I always looked at it, I never wanted to politicize anything that we've ever done as in sports because we do sports.

And people go, oh, just talk sports, just shut up and dribble. Well, we're also human and we also have hearts. And especially when you're emotional about it because you have friends or family that are over there. And you know every single day this is going to continue. This could be a five-year war until they squash this place. It's horrible. It's horrible.

It's beyond horrible. It's horrible. It's really horrible. And, you know, I just, I like to think there's a peaceful, you think diplomacy, you think they could talk this out and, you know, maybe make some sort of deal, but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on. Even if you make a deal, you've destroyed a country.

You're like, okay, I was in Greece and went to see Andy in Greece, right? And, you know, I took my youngest son up to the Parthenon, and I'm going, this is an incredible structure that was destroyed for no reason. It had to be rebuilt. Why? Now you're destroying it. The city's being destroyed.

And it's still destroyed. Yeah, but for what? For what? In the long run, what happens? Right? It's just... And how do you reason with a madman? You can't.

Well, that's the issue. That's the biggest issue I have is that, you know, I'm, you know what the solution probably would be. And we haven't. And people should also know, they go, oh, this is the worst since Adolf. We clearly weren't around that time. We have also had other, by the way,

mostly mad men through the years that have, you know, started stuff based on conquest based on um racism gender classification all of those things human rights atrocities by the way also they're going on in other parts of the world and and and with equal horror that's just going on that's what's going on in uh ukraine yeah but to think in a common sense world that we live in, we've just gone through a pandemic where we all had to shut her down and think and logic had to prevail.

That would also prevail somewhere else. And I don't know. I don't know how you deal with this person, this regime, this ideology that they want you know they want to get back to where they were and that ukraine should be russian it yeah well you know it once was i think we're you know it's i'm i i certainly don't want to go too deep on it i don't think it's but it's i it's i'm saddened right now by we've gone so far that now it becomes fifth in the newsreel. Yeah.

And by the way, it's worse than it's ever been. Yeah. It's worse. And then to bring it back to sports, you have a guy who will probably end up as the NHL's all-time goal-scoring leader, head of the great one, you know, Branford's own. And if you look at his Twitter profile picture right now, he's with Vladimir Putin. I have a hard time with that anybody who says they don't and anybody can anybody can also say hey you know it's sports and you know but i i do have a hard time with that that stuff i think any any other person any logical person well it also doesn't fly with all the other sanctions and

whatever else it doesn't fly i mean if you're gonna if he's got to be a part of that. Sorry. Yeah, it's, you know, I like to sit there and go, well, you know, there's a freedom that exists for athletes that, you know, you can do. It helps the world. Maybe we can, you know, like we're going to get, by having a voice like that, maybe if he came here and start, you know, was aiding the situation or explaining the situation more, but he's an athlete.

He shoots hockey pucks and he skates fast. And you saw what happened at Wimbledon where they banned Russian athletes. Do I think bans are work? Are the sanctions working right now around the world? Apparently not. Still bombing. I have a hard time.

Anyone who aligns themselves with this ideology or this madman... Price should be paid. Well, you know what, or they're just illiterate. And they're not... Because this is common. This is common sense. I mean, you can see, it's right in front of your eyes. It's right in front of your eyes what exactly has happened,

what's been said out there. What's been said, what has been done, why. There's no rhyme or reason to why, you know, unless you go, or go back, or go back, go back. You love them so much, go back. You love him so much. Go back. Thank you both for not sticking to sports. It's like you mentioned the shut up and dribble.

Like nothing pisses me off more. Like Jesus, no. Thank you for not sticking to sports. We should also, by the way, we should also mention. Yeah. I have so many Russian friends and so many people here in North America who are Russian who are appalled by what's going on i absolutely appalled i am sure that you know i i don't want to take side

that says oh this it's all russian like i that's one thing i also hate it's all russia no well it's not it's not and it's all it's all ukraine some russian oh no it's ukraine ukraine started this russia started no no it's a war what's war. It's an invasion. It's an invasion. A war suggests some kind of war. Well, yeah, but I mean, you know what's happened now. It's like they're fighting each other. But I totally agree with you on that.

Yeah. But what happens when you have fighting? Eventually, it's happened everywhere. Mostly everywhere is that you have some sort of ceasefire and you have a detente and you have a peace accord. And I hope something happens.

Because I just... I don't see a happy ending there, right? No, no. No, he is hoping, man. Okay, so on our way out here, you guys have been amazing, honestly. Rod, what a pleasure to meet you. We have to take a photo together before you drive off.

The photo. How the hell am I getting out of this dungeon? Leo will help you with that. He knows the way out. He knows the secret exit. On our way out though Rod Black is there a question

one question you would like to ask your friend Leo Roudens here on our way out you have a question for Leo one question it could be anything at all oh boy and remember the mics are live

oh boy any question you have for your friend Leo thing at all. Oh boy. And remember the mics are live. Oh boy. Any question you have for your friend Leo? I'll be serious and somewhat emotional. The question I have for Leo is how much toilet paper do you actually use during a month? What an asshole. No, that's what I said too. What an asshole an asshole i mean you got to use a lot of it if you're like and only here's the other one here's the other one too once how many pairs of under root underwear have you ruined through the years i've been drinking this great lakes

how many pairs of underwear have you gone through you You know what? I am so upset over it. And don't try to play this. Everybody knows you farted. You fart all the time. Anybody around. Mike, 27 years, I had a stomachache one day. Now I'm going to get crucified for the rest of my life. I don't know how to take it other than now I know what it's like to be wrongfully accused and vilified.

Welcome to my world. For one bad stomachache. But Leo, now it's your opportunity because now you get a chance to ask any question of Rod Blank here. This is a good one. This will be a good one. See, I'm not like Rod, though. See, I don't have to dim his light.

No, I'm not dimming your light. I just am curious about your toilet paper consumption. You know, I don't know. I don't even have a question. I'll let you off the hook here. We'll do this. Okay, so let me tell all FOTMs listening, and both of you as well,

that if you go to doer.ca, D-U-E-R.ca, or go to the retail store on Queen Street West, you can save 15% right now with the promo code Toronto Mike. This is durable, rugged, comfortable clothes that look fine. I wear my Dewar pants

and shorts. They're the world's most comfortable pants and shorts. And the t-shirts are awesome too. So save 15% with the promo code Toronto Mike. Does Dewar have underwear for Leo? Probably. It's called Did It. Dewarar, does Dewar, does Dewar have underwear for Leo? Oh, here we go.

Probably. So Leo, it's called, it's called did it. Dewar.ca, D-U-E-R. So here, before I play some lowest of the low

and play us out and then we go grab our photo there. Please, a moment of seriousness, if you will, look each other into each other's blue eyes and tell each other

what you mean to each other. Like, tell Leo what he means to you. Yeah. We're, you know what? The best thing is I haven't seen him in person. I don't think I've seen you in months.

Cause he's, he's a dick. I try to call me. Well, it's been no, no, because you didn't get the bail money to me, but we don't see each other.

We text each other. We bust each other all the time. And every time I see him, it's like, we never were. We are meant to, we always said we're going to be together on some senior citizens porch

telling stories about fart jokes when we're in our 90s and I still have a feeling we will but no when you're with your best pal you know what there are some people who say oh I haven't talked to that person in a while I don't have to talk to him every day I don't have to see him every day but every time I see him

Leo you light up my life. No, man, I love this dude. You know what? I tell you perspective is that we lost John Saunders. Yeah. And Rod and I love John. We had some great times together. And when you have great people in your life,

you've got to appreciate every day you have them. Yeah. Attitude of gratitude. We love my boy, Leo routins and my boy rob black well said and our boys and our boys well yeah between us we have 12 kids and uh we of course we love them girls you guys and girls well kids and kids and wives of all genders very ex-wives yes and ex-wives too so we love everybody. We should just do, we are the world,

right? We are the world. It was a transfer. They can't. Thanks so much for doing this, man. Honestly, I just loved the idea of you guys reuniting in my basement and look,

it became a reality. It feels so good. Reunited. And he farts so good and that i hate that guy that brings us to the end of our 1080th show for the big 1080s you can follow me on twitter i'm at toronto mike clown. Leo, you're at Leo Roudens on Twitter. You're a good follow, but you're at Leo Roudens. Rod, you're at Rod Black TV. Are we done yet? I want to go.

I can't stand this. That was so much mobile. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. What a shit show, huh? We got to come on here and do this. Palma Pasta. Is that Palma Pasta? Pretend we like each other.

Look at Mike. He's not even wearing pants.ma Pasta. Pretend we like each other. Look at Mike. He's not even wearing pants. Sticker you is at Sticker you. Dewar is at Dewar Performance. I'd wear pants. Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley F8. Let's get out of here, Ron. And Canna Cabana are at Canna Cabana underscore.

He's got people in here. See you all tomorrow when my special guest is comedian. I love you too. Love you, man. Ron James. I love you more. See you all tomorrow and my special guest is comedian Ron James. See you then. Everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't stay today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray. Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who

Yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true Yes, I do I know it's true. I know it's true. How about you? I've been picking up trash and then putting down roads.

And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes. And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am But who gives a damn because everything is coming up

rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow Warms me today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is

Rosie and Gray Well, I've kissed you in France And I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain. And I've kissed you in places I better not name. And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour. But I like it much better going down on you. Yeah, you know that's true because everything is coming up.