Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Marty York: Toronto Mike'd #174

Episode Date: May 16, 2016

Mike chats with Marty York about his controversial Tweets, his thoughts on sports media in 2016, his career at the Globe and Mail, TSN and Sportsnet and what he's up to now. He names names and answers everything.

Welcome to episode 174 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is Marty York. Welcome, Marty. Thank you, Mike. Nice to be here. For the first time in 174 episodes, I'm going to crack open a... It's called Octopus Wants to Fight. It's an IPA beer from Great Lakes Brewery.

So I'm going to enjoy this on, what is this, Monday night? Monday night. There we go. Cheers. Cheers. Excellent. That beer in front of you, you got a pack of beer and you got some winter ale. That's all going home with you. So don't forget that.

And you can enjoy that from Great Lakes Beer. So I mentioned it's Monday night. I'm glad you're here because yesterday, last night, was kind of an exciting eventful time in Toronto sports. We had, of course, the Raptors won their game seven against the Miami Heat in resounding fashion, if you will. And as that's happening, as that's winding down, there's a fisticuffs are breaking out in Texas

because, I guess, payback for the bat flip. And you got Odor and his clocks, Batista. So all this happens. I follow you on Twitter and I'm kind of, this is all happening. Everything is happening as Bob Cole would say. And so while the wraps are up by 13 in the fourth quarter, you tweet the Raptors heat game today is dull. So I just got to know, I got to know, on behalf of this entire city, when you tweet something like that, are you being sincere or are you just trying

to rile up Toronto sports fans? You know what, Mike? I, you know, I came up with the Globe and Mail and I was a little kid. I was 14, 15 years old when I started there. And it was an era where objectivity really mattered. And there was a managing editor at the Globe and Mail by the name of Clark Davey, who really emphasized trying to be detached when you're covering sports teams. And not being a homer was the word that he used.

He first introduced me to that word. And he said, you know, cover sports. He told us all this. Cover sports the way you would cover entertainment, let's say. If you went to a bad film, you know, you would say it's a bad film. And regardless of whether you knew the people involved or anything like that, it didn't matter where they were coming from or where they were based. The bottom line was you just called it the way you saw it. And, you know, even when I graduated from York University, he put me on the news side and, you know, said, okay, learn how to cover news, learn how to cover

politics, learn how to cover inquests or anything else, and inject that kind of coverage into your sports coverage. And I wasn't the only one he did this with. So the entire sports department was kind of hard-hitting and objective and certainly didn't, you know, practice cheerleading type of journalism. And that's just the way I grew up. And, you know, I was at the Globe and Mail for a long time until 2000. I started when I was 14, 15, something like that. And I just covered sports that way.

I didn't care, um, who was involved. So yesterday's game, which I was at, by the way, um, it was, it was, uh, a situation where the game was one-sided. It doesn't matter to me whether it was the Heat or the Raptors that was dominating. I mean, the fact of the matter was one of the teams were winning big and that doesn't make for a very entertaining game. So, um, it was, to me, it was dull. I understand that, you know, fans in Toronto are going to think that it was exciting, but if you looked at it and if you saw this game and it happened to be between, you knowago and boston i mean you nobody in toronto would give five minutes to right if you didn't have a dog in this race you right exactly that's

a good way of saying it uh and these microphones just stay right on it because i don't want to lose any of this uh don't be afraid of being too close you can't get too close these mics but uh but okay so fine that explains fine that you felt the game was dull and you you you meant what you tweeted which is you thought it was dull uh you also tweeted shortly thereafter that uh and the raptors are whiners too especially that lowry guy so you you think kyle lowry you misspelled his name by the way i know i put him in there i think uh you think he's i hear him referred to by objective people as Kyle Lousey, but I don't refer to him that way.

It depends on the night, I think. Not last night, right? No, he had a good game. Yeah, great game. Great game. So you just feel he's a winer too. Very much so. I think if you watch him play,

he spends a great deal of wasted, squabbling with the officials. I don't know why he does that, but he does do it a lot. And I know you also predict Cavs in four, but I think actually a lot of people have that prediction. So I'm not going to point that out as Marty trying to cause any anxiety because I'm a big fan. My kids and I, we watch every Raptors game, and I'm going with Cavs in five, because that's my real...

If I take off my We the North cape, Cavs in five, but it could easily be Cavs in four. I'm just glad we get to play the games and see what happens. And you know what? It could be Cavs in seven. It could be Raptors in seven. I mean, it could be anything. A prediction is just a prediction.

It means absolutely nothing. I mean, if you really knew, you wouldn could be anything. A prediction is just a prediction. It means absolutely nothing. I mean, if you really knew, you wouldn't be tweeting. You'd be in Vegas and you'd be, you know, betting. Nobody knows. I mean, it's just, I just, I just give my prediction because people ask me for it. And, you know, and I tell it like I think it is. Look, I mean, I have no idea. Like, I think it is.

Look, I mean, I have no idea. And people shouldn't take it so seriously when I say, you know, when I predicted the heat in four, and then, of course, I changed it to five, and then I changed it to six, and then I changed it to seven. I'm just kidding around 90% of the time. Because who really knows? No one's sure, though. You know, your persona on Twitter, it's, and I'm not saying it's necessarily a false persona, but I don't think anybody really knows that Marty York is fooling around when he does the

Heat in four. Because the Cavs in four, most basketball guys are saying something like that. But Heat in four was kind of an unusual prediction, if you will. It seemed to be an anti-Toronto sports prediction. Well, it's not really meant to be anti-Toronto. I think it's meant to be, let's say, a little offbeat. And the reason is that, as I just said, Mike, nobody knows.

Predictions are silly. And, you know, when people, you know, make their predictions, who really knows? I write for Roto World, the NBC-owned fantasy site, which I think is 10 million users. And we all, the entire staff, made our predictions in the NHL playoffs before. I mean, some of us were right, some of us weren't. It's silly. Anybody who spends a great deal of attention following predictions is wasting their time. Having said that, I do know the CFL and I've been correct a lot on the CFL, just coincidentally. Last year I was in a CFL pool and I won it because my predictions were hot.

You got a one in eight chance over there. That's right. With the CFL, the smaller pool. Don't worry, we're going to get into the Globe and Mail. I got questions about in eight chance over there. That's right. With the CML, the smaller pool. And I want to, don't worry, we're going to get into the Globe and Mail. I got questions about what you're doing these days for sure. I'm not worried. I don't want you to think I've skipped over that,

but I just got to cut to another tweet you sent out just after the fight in the Blue Jay game. You wrote, during the Jays fight, I think you wrote, Batista is dumb, malicious, and evil. Uh-huh. Do you believe that? Yes, I do. That is...

Because he doesn't seem dumb. I don't think he's malicious, and I'm pretty certain he's not evil. He's dumb. And actually, he's bright in certain aspects. He's extremely bright. He speaks English very well for a second language. And he is very bright in certain aspects. But when it comes to baseball, to me, it's dumb to flip your bat.

To me, it's dumb to slide illegally into second with the purpose of trying to hurt somebody, which is very clear. That's what he did. It was a late slide yesterday. I saw the replay. I which is very clear. That's what he did. It was a late slide yesterday. I saw the replay. I watched it very carefully. And the earlier one this season, I think it was in Tampa Bay, he stretched out with his arm deliberately trying to trip up a player. To me, this is malicious and this is dumb.

But he was beamed. So it's clear, though, that Bush hit him intentionally with the fastball on the rib. So the slide into second. And I know all this kind of irks me a bit that we have this baseball code to begin with. And the slide into second is retaliation for being hit in the first place. And then I guess the punch is retaliation for the slide plus, of course, the bat flip. By the way, Ron McLean agrees with you about the bat flip.

Okay, just you're in some good company there i as a fan though in that moment in that moment the uh you know we hadn't been that far since 93 and then not that that was a walk-off or anything but that seemed to seal the deal uh unofficially it felt in that moment like the bat flip was okay to a fan in toronto right to a toronto fan yeah and it was very offensive to a fan in Toronto. Right. To a Toronto fan. Yeah. And it was very offensive to a fan in another city. And if, if that were a member of the Rangers doing that in the same situation, uh, people in Toronto would have been extremely upset, but not only the people there, the, the, the

players, the people in baseball and not just the Rangers were upset by that people throughout baseball. Why? Because baseball is an old fashioned traditional game where there are, it probably leads the world in unwritten rules. And one of the unwritten rules is you don't show up your opponent. You just don't. And I mean, I could go back to games that I covered where, uh, you know, pitchers would pump their fist in the air after a strikeout and that sort of thing. And they were dealt with afterwards. It's just not a good thing to do in baseball. Now I'm hearing guys like Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler, guys, by the way,

that I got along with very well when they were playing and I was covering baseball for the Globe and then Sportsnet. I thought they were really good guys. I even worked with Pat. But somehow, some way in the last couple of years, you know, they've changed their tunes. I guarantee you, neither one of those guys would have liked a bat flip when they were playing. I've heard Buck say that times have changed and, you know, baseball could use more of this flair. I wonder if Buck would have acted the same way, as I said, if it were another member of another team who was throwing his bat, flipping his bat like that in jubilation.

I mean, that is really mean spirited and malicious. I know it was a spur of the moment thing. I know that he didn't plan it. It just happened. But it's still something you don't do in baseball. Can I ask you, is it okay if that's a walk-off? Is it that it didn't end the game, or is it just not okay anywhere?

It's just not okay. I covered baseball in the 80s. Nothing close to that was okay. You couldn't pump your fist in the air, as I said. I mean, whether you were on offense or whether you were pitching, you couldn't do that sort of thing because they'd remember it the next time. I'm not saying, don't get me wrong, by the way, I am not saying that's the way it should be.

I don't care. I don't care what it is. I mean, these guys want to pump their feet. Let them go ahead. I'm just telling you that in baseball, within the game, it's considered disgraceful. And you heard guys come out and say that. You know, Goose Gossage and those kinds of, Mike Schmidt.

There were a lot of them who have said that. It also was clear that in baseball, because there's that mentality of payback, which is pretty stupid. I mean, I don't like violence, but you just knew that was going to happen sooner or later. That was going to happen. He was going to get beaned. Somebody on the Rangers, and by the way, Mike, it's still going to happen. There are other members of other teams who were offended by what he did with that bad flip last year and the hot dogging in general.

So he's going to get beamed again. And, you know, there's going to be similar incidents. He hurt his team. He was very selfish. I know the fans liked it in Toronto, but it was a selfish thing to do. You know, he didn't have to do that. He could have just been a... Joe Carter didn't even do that when he hit that home run to win

the World Series. No, but he did leap around the bases. Well, that's okay. That's okay. I got you. It's silly, but that's baseball protocol, and they know it. They all know it. And Batista, when he did a bad flip, that's unheard of. And so, as a result,

he has hurt his team. And I also think it's affected him at the plate. I truly believe that he thinks he might get beamed at any time. He isn't moving into the plate. He isn't crowding the plate like he used to to get his power. What has he got? Six home runs?

I mean, it's just... And he's hitting what? 210 or something like that? This is a different Jose Batista. Without a doubt, the numbers are way down. Yeah. Without a doubt. No question. And I think it's partly because of the whole mindset.

Probably there's also something to do with the contract. You know, he held his own press conference at the beginning, before the training camp even began, or right around the beginning of the training camp, and saying, I'm not going to be giving any discounts. And I mean, this is silly, stupid stuff that you shouldn't do. If he was going to do, if he's going to do it, there will be repercussions. And so he's been facing them in the last 24 hours. But you threw in evil to get some attention, right? The malicious and the, we'll give you the dumb and the malicious, that's your opinion,

attention, right? The malicious and the, we'll give you the dumb and the malicious, that's your opinion, but the evil, we threw that into it. No, he's evil. I don't like what he did to Steve Simmons, who I think is an excellent reporter. Oh yeah, where he said, who are you? Yeah, that was evil. That was an attempt to embarrass Steve Simmons. You know, Steve's a good columnist and he's one of the few who will tell it like it is today. He's been on the show. He's a recent guest, actually, Steve Simmons. And another recent guest, fairly recent, is a guy named Mike Wilner. You familiar with Mike?

I know Mike when he first started out. And also in baseball, not so much Major League Baseball, but in our own little baseball leagues. Oh, yeah. I still play. Okay. But I also umpire. And there were a few games where Mike was playing. He's actually a pretty good player.

Is he? And I umpired those games. And yeah, he is actually a good player. He could be even better if he played more. But that was five, six, seven, eight years ago. I don't even better if he played more. But that was five, six, seven, eight years ago. I don't even remember how long ago now. And of course, I knew

Mike and we traveled together covering baseball meetings and games and that sort of thing. So the tweet he sent, this is Mike Wilner's tweet last night, was on another note, it's a shame that Marty York has become such a bitter, hate-filled human being.

I used to actually respect him. So Wilner sends that tweet. And at some point, you reply, and I'm not going to give everything, but at some point, you kind of, you CC his boss on there, and you tweet that there are libel laws in this country. Perhaps you're not familiar with them, Wilner, but you will be very soon.

So is that a, is that a, you threatening Mike Wilner there? Or is it just like, You can interpret that whatever way you want. But, you know, I, I think that I tried to, when one of the, one of the people out there in Twitter land decided to try to initiate a, a spat between Mike and I, I tried to make it very clear that I didn't say what this guy was trying to tell Mike that I'd said, I didn't say anything like that. Right.

And I told, and I said to Mike, you know, just be careful. Don't, don't let this guy trap you or, or, or, you know, start a, because I've known him a long time and I didn't want to have any issues with him. I haven't listened to his show in about a decade. Oh, yeah. I have no idea what he says. I just get a lot of emails

and have received a lot of tweets about what they perceive as boosterism and homerism and also rude behavior towards some callers who dare to be critical of the Blue Jays. I have not honestly heard his show at all. Uh, I, I kind of liked him, so I wish him well. Uh, but, um, I didn't, um, I don't know anything about his show and I purposely refrained from retweeting anything that was negative about him, because I didn't think that was fair, not having listened to it. Now I'm retweeting some of the ones that are very critical of him, and there appears to be a lot of people who dislike anything he does. You're right.

I didn't like his comment, Mike, yesterday, because to me, it was libelous. I am not a bitter man at all. I mean, you don't know me very well, but anybody who knows me will tell you I'm quite the opposite. I'm actually a nice guy. I'm not bitter at all. So far, so good. I'll be honest with you. I wasn't sure. I was in the history, what are we, one episode, episode 174 in the history of this podcast, the three guests where I received the most emails about like, essentially wanting to tell me that hey i'm not i'm not going to listen to this episode i can't i don't respect this guy enough to even listen and that kind of stuff number one was mike wilner who is very polarizing you either people like him or they hate him that's right and

they find some people will say and i've told him this when he was over uh condescending and arrogant is the tone a lot of vibe because so they're mike wil condescending and arrogant is the tone a lot of vibe against. So Mike Wilner, Steve Simmons is number two. A lot of people are still ticked at the hot dog story about Phil Kessel or whatnot. And you, Marty York. Well, I mean, I was in the business for, you know, almost, I was a little kid when I started. I was 15 years old and I treated,

I didn't treat sports like journalists do treat it generally today. Steve Simmons doesn't treat it like that either. I can't speak on behalf of Mike Willner. I don't know his work, and that's the truth. But look, you know, if you're doing your job, no matter which job, some people aren't going to be happy with you. And I can only speak on behalf of journalists who treat sports the way I believe they should. And that is not as a fan, not as a cheerleader, not as a homer, as someone who is objective and honest and calls it like it is. I think Steve Simmons does that very well. Can you do that if you work for the company that owns the team?

That's a great question, Mike. I mean, seriously, that's a very good question. When I was at Sportsnet and when I was at TSN, two situations happened. Let's start with TSN because I was there before Sportsnet. Um, so I was covering the CFL. I was on the CFL. I was on the original CFL panel on TSN. And, um, you know, I was still at the Globe at the same time. And I remember Doug Flutie getting really upset at me right on the air because I asked him about a story that he didn't really want to discuss.

I remember Mike Pringle yanking his headset off and firing it to the ground because I dared to ask him about a tantrum he threw in the locker room, or at least that I found out he did. He didn't want to talk about that. So I got in heat or trouble, let's say, for being a real journalist at TSN. Even though they knew what I was like, even though they knew I would dig stories up, even though they knew that I felt my obligation is towards the viewers, the readers. I mean, not towards the people in the game, not towards the other panelists or

anything like that. My obligation, first and foremost, was to the viewers, the readers, the listeners in the media. So therefore, therefore um i i i didn't i i didn't really appreciate that i was scolded and and reprimanded and told that i have to watch it if i want to continue on tsn i didn't really care to be honest with you i mean financially i was fine at the time so i didn't care and and uh so uh i continued, uh, it was time to move on. And then I went to Sportsnet and when, when I got to Sportsnet, remember the Jays were not owned by, uh, uh, Rogers yet. And, um, in fact, when I first got to Sportsnet, it was CTV Sportsnet. It wasn't Rogers Sportsnet. And, um, Jerry Dobson was the uh was one of the uh executive producers that

i worked under and jerry was very clear to me when i left the globe um and went to sports net full-time jerry made it very clear to me said marty do what you do don't worry at all about um being critical of the of the local team just say you want to do, what you want to say. And I think Scott Moore was very, who was, you know, the big cheese there, and now he's back there again. He was a terrific guy, and he never, you know, he would say, are you sure about this one? Are you sure about this one?

He used to say stuff like that to me. And then I remember I wrote a story that uh pinball clements was going to be the next coach of the uh of the argos and i went on the air with that and everyone just denied it there was a guy on the fan at the time named doug farroway i don't listen to fan anymore but so i don't even know if he's there or not but but he was at the time and and he said something like oh well i see marty york's reporting today today that Pinball Clemens is going to move from player to coach, head coach soon. Well, that's not going to happen. And that's how he ended the report.

And, of course, it happened the next day. And Scott just came over and he says, I will never question you again. You write whatever you want. You report whatever you want on the air. And when I say write, I was with sportsnet.ca at the time. So he said, you know, just do what you do and you have sources and you have information and you go ahead and you... So at the time, I didn't have any problems. But I found out subsequently that the CFL Board of Governors complained to TSN about me

and wanted me out of there. I found out there were all kinds of calls to Scott Moore, who was very defensive. He told me afterwards that I wrote, I did a basketball story one time about the Vancouver Grizzlies being in trouble and were going to fold. And nobody believed it at the time. And the guy who was running the team, I think Stu Jackson. Stu, yeah, Jackson. Stu Jackson, yeah. He called Scott and complained about, who is this guy, York, get him off. And a lot of those kinds of stories that did end up coming to fruition

were okay at Sportsnet at the time. But now, but now, I don't know that that's the case. And I don't even think that Scott Moore, knowing him the way I did, Jerry's not there anymore, but, but the, the, just, I doubt very much that Scott Moore would go up to anybody at, at Sportsnet ever, or at the fan, which he runs also, and say to them, don't be negative or don't be critical of the Blue Jays. You know, I can't imagine that because he's not that kind of guy. However, what I think is happening now, and this is just my opinion, I have no, I'm not sure. You mentioned Mike Willner.

Yeah. Back when Cito Gaston was managing the Blue Jays, he was critical one time of Gaston. I don't know all the details. I don't even know what he said, but I certainly found out about it. And he said something that was deemed to be critical of Gaston. Next thing you hear is that he got suspended for a week or something like that without pay. suspended for a week or something like that without pay. Something like that happened, I believe, with Jerry Howarth on the fan as well when Reyes was playing for the Jays before the trade for Tulewitzki. And I think Howarth was critical of Reyes. My sources tell me he wasn't on the air for the next week, and it had something to do with his criticism of Reyes. My sources tell me he wasn't on the air for the next week, and it had something to do with his criticism of Reyes. So I don't think that Scott tells any of these guys what to say, ever.

But I truly believe that they all know by some of the precedents that have happened, or they just think because they're young, out of school, and the mentality is different now. A lot of them are told, a lot of them believe that the way to endear yourself and to move up in the ranks is to be ultra-complementary of the home teams, which is why I go out of my way to be a contrarian, because I'm trying as hard as I can to let people know that what these guys are saying isn't always the truth, and I really believe that.

So the pendulum has swung over so you could bring order to the force, essentially. Yeah, and I'm just doing it by Twitter. I mean, I don't have a great deal of followers. But I have a feeling you have far more readers than you do followers. Oh, I know I do. I don't think they'd want to give you the satisfaction of the follow, but I think they want to know what you're writing. I'm positive that's correct because every once in a while,

somebody will say, you know, you're an idiot, and they don't follow me, but they certainly know what I've said. And I've had to block more than a thousand now because I have a rule. If you're going to use vulgarity, if you're going to get personal and, you know, people make all kinds of judgments in Twitter, and I guess I do too. So I'm not blaming anybody, but when you're wrong and you're saying these things that are kind of personal, I just have to block them.

And the nice thing about Twitter is if you don't like what somebody tweets, you can easily just either not follow them or if they're tweeting at you, you can mute them. Like there's a lot of tools there. So it's not like you have to follow Marty York and read everything he tweets. No. And you know, to each their own. It doesn't bother me.

This isn't my livelihood. I just, you know, I tweet mostly for fun. But I'm actually very happy with the fact that some people are, especially lately, are, you know, expressing gratitude that they're getting somebody who's putting things in better perspective it's possible though you found the there is an audience out there that hates toronto sports you would admit there is an anti-toronto sport audience and you would be like uh you know pornography for that particular follower i've never been compared to pornography before but no listen listen, Mike, you know what? A lot of these people are very intelligent. I want to say that. I mean, the ones

who tweet me with, not necessarily, I don't think that they, the good ones aren't haters. I'm not a hater. They're just prepared to point out the shortcomings of the home teams. They're not influenced by, you know, as I call them, the Homer media. They don't mind coming to their own judgments and seeing the flaws in the people that are worshipped around here. And I give those guys credit. I don't consider them haters. I don't think they hate the local teams. I just think that they know enough to be objective.

And like I said, I follow you. I am a Toronto sports fan, but I'd like to think I'm a realist. I don't have blue-coloured glasses. I don't wear blinders. I know when the Leafs are a realist. I don't want to be, I don't have blue colored glasses. I don't wear blinders. Like I know when the Leafs are a terrible team. I don't have this, you know, he planned the parade where like, you know,

eight and six to start the season. But when you tweet things like you, I know you tweeted recently, Marcus Stroman would be a, I think you've tweeted, he'd be a four or a five starter on any other team. That's just being a contrarian to, you're just,

I can't imagine you believe that. It's one thing to say he's not the ace, but to say he would be a four and a five... Go ahead. I'm all riled up here. I'm going to drink some more beer. You talk. I should open one of these, too.

Go ahead. Here's how it works. The fact of the matter is if Marcus Stroman were on another team and you didn't live in Toronto and you weren't exposed to all his, how do I say this, his enthusiasm. Height doesn't measure heart, that stuff. Yeah, I mean, if you weren't exposed to all this hype in the Toronto media, That stuff.

Yeah, I mean, if you weren't exposed to all this hype in the Toronto media, you would just realize that this is a guy who's basically just starting his career, who's done, you know, he's had a few good games, but he's also had a few clunkers. You know, we're almost a quarter of the way through this season. He played in like, he pitched in what, 20 games in his whole career going through this season he played in like he pitched in what 20 games uh in his whole career going into this um this season and look at you've got a long way to go before you can be called an ace in the major leagues and uh i don't i honestly don't think he's there yet i don't think he's proven anything i know people like him because he's a nice guy and all this kind of stuff, and he tweets a lot, and he goes on

TV and smiles. Some of the biggest jerks I've ever met in sports knew how to play the cameras. Paul Molitor was the biggest phony I ever met in my life. I love that guy. You're breaking my heart here, Marty. Because everybody loved that guy.

But the truth of the matter is he used to do some awful things. He would send up notes into the crowd through ushers, and they would say, do you want to bang a superstar? It didn't matter if this woman happened to be right beside her husband. And there was all kinds of stuff like that. He impregnated a woman here in Toronto while he was married. He was indicted for selling cocaine when he was with Milwaukee. I question whether he should even be in the Hall of Fame because of his crimes.

But he is perceived as a squeaky clean guy. And that's because he would speak with the media, he would smile in front of the camera, and people would say, this guy is a great guy, like you just said. He would winter in the city, if I remember correctly. Wasn't that the Molitor move where he pretended to? I think he did a little bit of that, yeah. But I mean, phony baloney.

I don't even want to say this, but the late Gary Carter, because he's passed away, was another one like that. I mean, I don't want to say anything negative about him. Well, next thing you're going to do, you're going to tell my boy that Santa's not real, so I'm going to see where you stop here. I mean, I've met so many of these guys. But I also have to tell you that I've also met a lot of nice guys. But in the case of Stroman, he might be the nicest guy in the world. Too much, too soon?

Exactly. He might be Juan Guzman is what you're saying. Yeah. He might not even be Juan Guzman is what I'm saying. He's certainly not an ace right now. There's no chance. And he truly is, if you look at his numbers and his abilities and everything else, he's truly a four or a five on many staffs.

We're going to get back to the tweets because I have more tweet questions. Let's go back to the Globe and Mail first. In 1974, you joined the Globe and Mail. You mentioned you were a teenager. Is that right? I was 1974. I was 13. Is that when I started? My crack research

staff does their best, but they're not batting 1,000. I couldn't remember the year, but it's something like that. But they're batting better than Turewitzki. I was literally a child. And I guess you start full-time there in 78 at the Globe. Maybe. I want to say 79 or 80.

So what was it like? I graduated from university. The day I graduated, I got hired full-time. I was just glad that Lowry didn't have to go to any graduation ceremonies yesterday. That was my worry. You know, it's funny, Stroman did. Don't you think that's a weird coincidence? Because Stroman went to North Carolina for a graduation ceremony yesterday, like a game seven second round. The last time there was a game seven on

the second round, Vince Carter did it. And I realized Stroman doesn't play for the Raptors, but it's still an interesting fun fact. Sure it is. Sorry, I digress. So back when you were at the, what were you doing at the Globe back then? Covering the CFL? Is that what you were doing?

Well, you know, before I got on full-time there, I covered the Olympics. I covered everything. You name it. I mean, back then, we were lavish on amateur sports. We covered, I can remember covering ping pong and badminton and fencing. You name it. Back then, you paid your dues.

And I covered everything in the world. But I got the CFL beat in, yeah 79 that's so that's when i started full-time they gave it to me right away uh like i told you i went on the news site for a few years while i was still at york university and i worked pretty well full-time during my university years uh that's no social life but But when I graduated, they did put me on the CFL beat right away. And I knew nothing about the CFL. I barely followed it.

But I grew to like it very much. And I guess 84 or thereabouts, you start covering baseball. Yeah, that's great. I don't know where you're getting this, but this is cool. I like people who are resourceful and you are. That's the reason I'm here.

I've turned a lot of people down. Let's do a quick tangent. Why are you here? Because you found me. You found me at my place of work and no one else has bothered to find me at what I'm doing now. I don't talk about it because it's

charity work and I get paid, but I work for a charity, and I do media work for the charity, and I'm extremely proud of this job. Do you want to name the charity? Yeah, sure. It's B'nai B'rith. It's a 140-year-old charity, and I'm the chief media officer. Cool. And I'm, you know, working for a human rights organization has given me an incredible amount of joy and gratification.

And we do a lot of good things at Epony Breath. And I'm probably more at ease with myself right now than I've been in maybe my life. Well, that explains. You need all that negative energy to go somewhere. That's why you're on Twitter. Is that right? Let me explain something. I know that lately my tweets are garnering attention,

but Mike Toth, who I have a great deal of respect for, he's a terrific guy, as you know. Yeah, yeah. And so he started following me today, and he told me he's loving my tweets and that sort of thing. Honest to goodness, Mike, I just tweet for fun, and I just tweet when I have time, and you know, usually that's late at night when I'm winding down after.

And honest to goodness, I don't mean anything negative by it. I just tweet for fun. But if you did not know yourself and you only read your tweets, it's fair to say you would come to the conclusion that you were probably A, very negative, and B, possibly bitter. I could see where people say that. but I'm not bitter at all. I'm totally pleased with my life and happy with the way things have gone. You know, do I miss certain aspects of the media?

Yeah. I miss my newspaper days. I miss the TV stuff. But I am incredibly happy with what I'm doing now. And in fact, I enjoy it a lot more. There's a lot more pressure what I'm doing now. But listen, I'm not bitter at all. I promise you.

Quite the opposite. And people are going to wonder, because I'm sitting in the room with you. you called me on your way here because we had some some direction issues and here we are well i mean i have to come to another country for this thank you for making the trip too because you're not doing it just for the beer that's for sure but uh you don't i gotta say i was i didn't know what to expect marty york's coming you know all the jokes are like you, do you have security? Hire, you know.

I got everything when I said you were coming over. Because some people, I won't name them, but people in the mainstream media are wondering, are you sane? They think maybe you're not sane anymore. And it's literally dangerous for me to be alone. I have heard that. I've heard that.

So I know you're not making that up. Yeah, I'm not making that up. I got that today. Yeah. And that's cool. I mean. Because you're. And. I have heard that. I've heard that. So I know you're not making that up. Yeah, I'm not making that up. I got that today. Yeah, and that's cool. I mean... Because you're... And then I read your tweets and my buddy,

I have a good friend who didn't realize, you know, it wasn't following you and I had him read your tweets. I call him Elvis and he read your tweets and he's like,

he couldn't believe the stuff you were tweeting because it was so over the top negative about Toronto sports. Well, I go contrary to what the group think is. And the group think is, you know, the Jays are wonderful. They have a great offense. They're going to win the World Series.

They have great pitching. They have, you know, a great manager. And it's not only the Jays. I mean, the Raptors get the same kind of hype. And, you know, right now they're successful. But that's it. Both those teams have been in the final four the last time they. That doesn't mean they don't have flaws.

It doesn't mean that they don't have shortcomings. And it doesn't mean that someone shouldn't be pointing them out. And, I mean, heck, if I'm not doing it, very few others are. So I just feel like it, honestly, I just feel like I told you about how I grew up at the Globe and how we were brought up to be critical and to watch and to be a watchdog and to, you know, cover sports in a critical way. Look, I could see where some people would think that I'm being insane. I view myself as doing a service, that I'm trying to provide some balance to what I consider to be ridiculous.

And I mean ridiculous cheerleading in the media. I could sit and watch and I hear the most asinine comments coming out of sports journalists, so-called sports journalists. But is it just the Rogers crew or is it beyond that? Because I can understand, I have the same issues with getting my news from Rogers media personnel. And I spoke to Wilner about the CETO suspension and what that message has sent.

And I've had chats with Global Mail columnist David Schultz about this because he's of the opinion there is no message from Scott Moore or email you can point to. There's no order to be soft on the Jays. It's self-imposed censorship. I believe that. I will agree with that. imposed censorship. I believe that. I will agree with that. As I said, I think earlier,

I think that a lot of these journalists think that they're going to score points with their bosses and with their fans, and with the fans, I should say, if they say what the fans want to hear. Listen, I saw Ted Koppel, a very famous newscaster in the United States for many years.

He did Nightline. He was on a talk show, late night talk show a couple months back. And he was asked, what happened to news? What happened to news coverage? Because you really don't see much news coverage anymore. You know, there is really, when's the last time you saw a story that was broken in Toronto about sports? But he was talking about news in general. He was talking about, you know, there isn't very much, there's the occasional thing about Trump or something like that, but there's really not real news being

provided anymore. So the question is why? Well, we live in an era where these tweets and Facebooks and social media provide quick, anything but thorough reports. There's just little quick, and you only have 140 characters in Twitter, right? There are times where I need way more to try to explain what I'm saying. But I'll do something really fast, and that's what the people want. And it's the same thing though, with the, with the news coverage, as Koppel said, it's not a case anymore where the reporters are providing the news, are digging up stories. It's more a case now of just telling people what they want to hear. And in, in, And I agree with that. And in Toronto, it's just quickly tell me how great the team I worship is.

Tell me how wonderful the Jays are. Tell me how brilliant the Raptors are. Tell me Tulo is a 300 batter. That's where I'm at because I've never seen it. But I hear these stories about Colorado. I hear the stories. Well, Colorado, so you have to understand. Put Tulo in perspective. I don't call him Tulo. It's Tulo Whitson. You're right. And I don't call Gibbons Gibby I hear the stories. Well, Colorado, so you have to understand. Put Tulo in perspective.

I don't call him Tulo. It's Tulo Whitson. You're right. And I don't call Gibbons Gibby, by the way. And I have an issue. I call Wilner out on that, too, calling him Gibby. Yeah, it's ridiculous. That's what fans call me.

Exactly. Media shouldn't be doing that. I agree. But are they going to call the next manager Wedgie? Yeah, I'm with you. Because Eric Wedge is the right. He's going to be taking over pretty soon. And so is he going to be called Wedgie?

I mean, there's a little bit of humor in that, by the way. You're supposed to laugh there, Mike. No, I just wondered. You've been telling us Gibby's going to be canned for a while. I know. Eventually you're going to be right. So I'm wrong. You know, it's the same.

Look, actually, when I initially did that, it was like a couple years ago. Yeah, it was a couple years ago. It was the year that Reyes was here, and they thought it was like a couple of years ago. Yeah. Yeah, it was a couple of years ago. It was the year that Reyes was here and they thought, you know, it was going to be such a great season. 2013, after we got Dickey here. People picked them to win the World Series, which goes to prove that, you know, predictions are bullshit. Yeah.

And anyway, I'm sorry if I said that. No, go ahead. You can swear on this show. Are we allowed to talk like that? You can swear. Oh, okay. So anyways, but so the Jays did nothing that season, and Gibbons had clearly lost control of the locker room,

and he wasn't doing anything. The only reason he was there in the first place, let's face it, is because the general manager, a kid named Anthopoulos, couldn't keep Farrell because Farrell wouldn't even talk to him. He had no respect for him. He needed a puppet, and Gibbons served that role, Couldn't keep Farrell because Farrell wouldn't even talk to him. He had no respect for him. He needed a puppet, and Gibbons served that role. He didn't have a job in baseball.

He wanted to be in baseball. So, I mean, Gibbons is not a good manager. I mean, let's be serious here, and I don't care how much you love the Jays. You cannot possibly say that John Gibbons is a first-class manager. He's not Tony La Russa. He's not Joe Torre. I mean, he's not these guys. So, I mean, that's clear. He's not Tony La Russa. He's not Joe Torre. He's not these guys. So, I mean, that's clear. He's not even Cito Gaston, okay?

So Gibbons, you know, I actually truly did get a tip from someone in the front office who had told me that if the Jays had lost another

game or two, he was definitely gone and that Paul Beeson had made his mind up. And trust me when I tell you, I can't divulge stories, obviously, but this was a person in the know. It just so happened that they went on a streak at that time and it just wasn't right to fire Gibbons when the team was winning. That's the information I got. Since then, I've basically been just joking around

because I've said it so many times. I think Gibbons is going to get fired this week. After every bad loss, I think Gibbons is going to get fired. I do believe he's a subpar major league manager, as I just said, and I think you agree. I agree, actually. I'm on the record with that. I also believe that in all the sports I can think of,

that maybe the manager has the least, makes the least difference in baseball, possibly. Like Gibbons, we can go to the final four with a mediocre manager. You know, it's interesting you say that. Here's what I learned covering baseball and speaking to, you know, a lot of baseball people over the years. In fact, this was Frank Robinson who told me this. He said, a manager can't be blamed. And this guy's a Hall of Famer. He said, a manager can't be blamed. However, if a team is winning or losing a lot of one-run games,

that could be pinpointed on the manager. Right. And the Blue Jays have been losing a lot of one-run games. Not so much this year, but last year. If they would have won those one-run games, they would have, you know, well, they did get to the playoffs. You know what? It must have been tough. Was it tough for you

last fall? You can't hate too hard on the Jays because the entire city fell in love with that damn team. No, it's not tough. I could care less. You could care less. Honestly, this is the one thing I think, Mike, if I'm going to emphasize something, and that's the reason I'm here to tell you this. People are under the impression that I hate.

I am not a hater. I could care less. That's the difference. I don't care if the local teams win or lose, but I will point out their flaws. See, it's a mentality that unfortunately is built in nowadays into a lot of Torontonians. And you don't see this in the United States that often. It's not the same there. I don't know if it comes from years and years of losing.

I mean, the Jays were cellar dwellers for a long time, right? Or at least they weren't in the playoffs for a couple of decades. A lot of third place. Since 93, haven't won a World Series. I mean, it's the same thing with the Leafs. A lot of third place. Since 93, haven't won a World Series. That's right. I mean, it's the same thing with the Leafs. I mean, forever. In my life, yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Your life, they've never won anything. And then you could say, you know, even the Raptors were perceived as chokers. Maybe not this year, but until this year, they certainly were. So, you know, you live in Toronto and you think of your big league sports teams, and for the most part, they were lousy. So, I mean, you can't help but point that out. But people don't necessarily want to hear that.

They want to do the rah-rah, stand outside and watch the Raptors on some screen. You think that's nuts for a fan to do that? I think it's insane. Okay. I think it's insane. I have a chat with my wife all the time, and I say, like, if I were younger and I had no kids, I could see myself out there.

Well, why wouldn't you want to just stay warm and watch a game inside? There's something about the collective and the experience. Well, then go to a bar. At least you're inside. I hear you. That's a... Glad you brought that up.

So you will tweet sometimes, like, only losers... Mm-hmm. I hear you. I hear you. That's, glad you brought that up. So you will tweet sometimes like, only losers, I'm trying to remember, was it celebrate a second round win or is it that only losers watch outside? No,

what I said was, losers refer to themselves as we when they're talking about the team they worship. When really, they're not part

of the team at all and they only give away their money to that team team they worship. Yeah. When really, they're not part of the team at all. Right. And they only give away their money to that team that they love. So, I mean, if you're going around saying we, I mean, you don't play shortstop. You don't play second base. You don't play for the team. No. I mean, so why do you say we?

I don't get that. And that, I think, is for losers. But you don't think it would be fun? If you were a fan of the basketball team, you're a fan of the Raptors, you followed them all season, and they have a game seven in the second round, you don't see how that might actually be fun

to spend several hours with like-minded individuals at Jurassic Park, as we call it? Mike, you have to understand, I spent a long time in clubhouses of baseball clubs, and not just the Blue Jays, but I was with the Expos a lot too. I spent a long time in clubhouses of baseball clubs, okay? And not just the Blue Jays, but I was with the Expos a lot too. The Expos were guys who welcomed any kind of publicity they could get, who welcomed any kind of fan adulation they could get.

They legitimately liked it. Tim Raines was one of the great guys you'll ever meet in your life. Tim Wallach was a super guy. Yes, he should. Agreed. He was a great leadoff guy. Tim Wallach was a great guy. Andre Dawson was a super guy. These guys were really good guys. And it was because they didn't get tons of adulation. The fans weren't groveling at their feet wherever they went. Okay. In Toronto, it's a different story for whatever reason. Maybe the fans have been brainwashed by the media without them even understanding it. But they love their teams and they love their players so much.

And these are guys who are just mercenaries. They're in here for a little bit of time. They take their money and get the hell out of here and run. So, I mean, it's kind of a strange situation. I saw many players absolutely ridicule the fans. I mean, I saw Dave Steeb the day after he pitched a one-hitter, or maybe two days after. And remember, we're talking a while back now,

so there wasn't email or there wasn't anything like that. They would get fan mail. And one day, Dave Steeb, who's a real jerk, was sitting at his locker and he was reading a letter and I saw him shaking his head and he was shaking his head while he's reading the letter. Then we finished looking at it. I don't think he read it thoroughly, crumpled it up and tossed it on the floor. And then he left.

And I was curious. I was trying to figure out what the hell did he just get so upset about that? You know what the letter said? What? The letter said, dear Dave, I am so sorry you missed out on your no hitter the other day. You pitched wonderful. I love you.

I think you're the greatest. I couldn't sleep because you didn't get the no-hitter. Literally, that's what this letter said. And Dave Steeb was shaking his head, basically saying, get a life, you loser. Now, that wasn't the only time I saw that. There's a disdain that these players who get a lot of attention have for the fans. So it bothers me a lot when I see fans who want to kiss up to these baseball players or these basketball players or these hockey players or even the football players to a lesser degree. It really bothers me when I see that because I saw it.

I remember one time George Bell, who I did like. Yeah, me too. Did you meet him? He was my favorite. I've never met him. Okay, well, I mean, I spent a lot of time with him. You know, in fact, he invited me to the Dominican. I spent time with him there.

He used to threaten to kill me all the time. Every time I went into the club, I was, buddy, I kill you, every time. It was like, it was crazy. But we actually had a kind of love-hate kind of relationship. And I thought he was a great player. It was like, it was crazy. But we had, but we actually had a kind of love-hate kind of relationship. And I thought he was a great player. And I think, I thought he was, I think he's the best Blue Jay of all time.

I mean, he was a great hitter. And I remember Sparky Anderson, may he rest in peace, telling me that the one guy who can beat you up is George Bell. So he never, he would pitch around him. You know, he wouldn't throw to George Bell no matter what. And that's why the Tigers beat the Blue Jays in that. 87. 87, correct.

So, but Bell, you know, he had a terrible disdain for the fans. I mean, he just, he thought they were a nuisance. He thought they were a pain in the ass. He hated them. And, you know, he would not sign on. Oh, and I'll tell you another story also about Devon White. But let me finish this one on Bell. Do you remember when there was a campaign to get him,

you're probably too young to remember this, but there was a campaign to get him into the All-Star game because no Blue Jay had ever been voted into the All-Star game. Is this possibly 87? Yeah, it was 87. MVP season? Yes, correct. I'm older than you think then.

Yeah, you're a young looking guy, so I don't know you wouldn't. But I mean, you look like your picture in the Twitter. Good, see, no phony here. No, no, you look good. Real deal. hitting great you know clearly going to be a an all-star but the objective of the fans who you know were feeling inferior because they'd never had a blue jay into the all-star game before so at that time they literally tried to rally to get um bell into the all-star game and there was an afternoon game and i was covering this afternoon game and there was this campaign it was right around the all-star deadline voting time.

You know what I mean? Yeah. And so I, I went to the, to this game and there were fans all over the place, you know, with the ballot boxes like they had back then. There was no email and no, you know, automatic votes. So they were saying, come on, stuff the ballot. And they would actually, they were actually, you know, going up to people saying, here, can you just sign it? come on, stuff the ballot. And they would actually, they were actually, you know, going up to people saying, here, can you just sign it, you know, do this ballot? You

know, it was kind of stupid because they could have done it themselves. You could vote all you wanted yourself. You could punch a thousand ballots, right? Or a hundred thousand if you wanted. But these guys needed to get these votes from quite a few of these people. So I went up to George Bell and I said, hey, George, did you see all those fans out there who were really campaigning for you, trying to get you into the All-Star Game? What are your thoughts about that? And I'm not going to imitate him because I don't do the accent very well. So I'll just tell you what he said. He said, I would tell those fans to get a life. That's what he said.

And I said, why would you say that? That's pretty negative. You accused me of being negative. That's what he said. He said, and I said, why would you say that? That's pretty negative. You accused me of being negative. That's pretty negative. He said, are you telling me that they took off work so they could tell people to vote for me at the All-Star Game? I mean, that. And he said, they need the life.

And let me tell you, Mike, it's no different with today's players. Don't think that these guys like Batista are any nicer towards the fans. I know that they tweet the fans sometimes. They get somebody to do that for them, of course. But believe me when I tell you, there is no, I don't care who they are. Not Tulewitzki, not any of these guys. They don't love the fans the way the fans love them. Trust me on that.

So sometimes I try to, I don't know, educate the fans a little bit. Let them know what these guys are really like. I'm sorry if I'm bursting your bubble, but it's the truth. That's reality. And so that's why I do the kinds of tweets I do sometimes. And let me tell you one more story.

Yeah, go please. Devon White. Devon White. Walking out of the dressing room, I was younger then, and it looked like maybe I was a player back then. So people came up to me and asked me for my autograph,

which was insane. They thought you were Ransom O'Lennix. No, actually, they thought I was Joey McLaughlin. Is that right? Actually, Garthor, I can see a little Garthor. Yeah, maybe a little. But anyway, they didn't even know who it was. They just thought it was a player, and then they sort of went out. So Devon White, and I said, look, I'm not a player.

I'm a reporter, you know. And Devon White went out of his way. Actually, this was well after Joey McLaughlin, to be honest. But I remember when I was confused for Joey McLaughlin because I had a beard at one time. Do you remember him? No, he, I don't remember. He was a bad reliever.

Very early 80s, right? He was a bad reliever. I come in in 83. That's when I start to follow the Jays. Okay. I have socks older than you. But anyway. So I'm walking out there, and Devon White actually went up to the people who were saying,

who were trying to get my autograph. He stopped them. He said, this guy's no player. You know what? His autograph. You know what? This guy's autograph. And it was kind of funny. He stopped them. He said, this guy's no player. You know what? His autograph. You know what? This guy's autograph. And it was kind of funny.

That's right. I thought that was the end of it. He goes, don't you guys want my autograph? And one little kid, and I swear, Mike, I swear, one little kid might have been nine, 10 years old, and he said, ohon mr white would you would you please sign my autograph and he goes you got a hundred bucks kid that sucks and the kid said no no i don't and so white said then piss off yeah and he walked away and then i wrote about it and he got all mad at me and he wanted to kill me because i wrote it sure and you know what the

weird part is the fans even hated that I wrote that. Yeah, that's weird. Fans didn't want to see that. I'm with you on this. I just, why would sport exist if not for us to be entertained and have fun and do stupid things

like go out to Jurassic Park and a collective group and celebrate second round wins because we're going to get to play the, we get to be swept by the Cavs, you know, instead of the Heat games. Or maybe not, yeah. Like to me, the whole idea of sport,

and I have kids, so a lot of it is tied. Like my son, for whatever reason, has become a super puck head where he'll watch a Leaf preseason game, even if there's a big like Yankees versus Jays game in the pennant race, he'll watch the Leafs preseason. Big puck head.

But my daughter has adopted the Raptors, and she's all about Kyle Lowry and following him on Instagram and this and that. It's just fun. It's entertainment. And I will never be critical of you or your children or anything like that. I don't do it like that. So we're not losers if we go to Jurassic Park then? Well, in my opinion, it's borderline loser.

I don't think I said that. I just think it's nuts. I think you did. I think the term I said was nuts. You got to be nuts to stand outside. But look, let me finish that thought if I could. I think I am not critical of – no, let me change that. I am critical of the fans who feel that way, who are in love with these guys, because I saw how the players treated the fans.

And so I'm sort of advocating for the fans. I don't want them to be fooled. Look, I saw women literally, you know, coming up to players and offering themselves for what? I mean, and, you know, most of these players have, one of the players had three wives. Most of these players have girlfriends in every city. Yeah. And, you know.

I heard this. Listen, the Tiger Woods thing was nothing compared to what so many baseball, the Wade Boggs thing was nothing. Right. This goes on like crazy all over the place. Is that bad? Well, you know, that's their life. I'm not going to question them for that. All I'm saying is that they're not the great people

that too many fans think they are. I'll give you one more example. And I'm going to name a name. Kelly Gruber, when he was in Toronto, he had that one year where he was Mr. You know, he won the superstars competition, which I'm going back. I know I'm dating myself, but this was something

on ABC. You're right. One fantastic year. One great, one great year. And that year he owned the city. He was Mr. Toronto. Yeah.

And, um, everybody fell in love with him. Well, the thing is he was doing all kinds of horrible things to his first wife, okay? Her name was Lynn. And, you know, eventually she divorced him. But she used to call me, and she used to say, you know, where's Kelly now? What's he doing? And I said, I don't know. Don't call me. I'm not going to tell you that kind of stuff. From what I understood, he even would take women home in front of her. And he was into partying like a crazy man. I'm not going to say that he took drugs, but there are stories.

And I actually don't like reporting this kind of stuff. I really don't. But it was some stuff that Kelly Gruber did that weren't necessarily husband-like. And they were taboo. And Lynn Gruber had to go to the games. And when she went to the games, there were, she didn't have to go, but she did. And there were people that would come up to her and say, oh, how wonderful your husband is. What a great guy he is. And there was one day, Mike, where this woman

came up to her and said, I hope my son grows up to be just like your husband. And she called me, and she was telling me about this off the record, or not off the record, but not for print, not for publication. But she told me about this, and she said she got sick to her stomach to the point where she had to go race to the washroom to vomit because her husband had treated her so poorly, in her opinion anyway, that she couldn't stomach all these fans saying how wonderful her husband was. Okay? So now you know where I'm coming from.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Now you know where I'm coming from when I talk about... And that's the whole reason I wanted to have you here. I wanted to find where you're coming from.

But you know what, Mike? You can't do it on Twitter. Yeah. You got 140 characters. I mean, I've been asked to write a book and I thought about it, I thought about it,

I thought about it, but it just sounds so... It does sound bitter. So I can see why people think that. Even when I'm talking about these stories about George Bell and Kelly Gruber and these old J's and Paul

Molitor and all these guys, it sounds bitter. So you can't win. But I'm telling you the truth. Now, I can't believe we're already at an hour here, and I hope you don't have to be anywhere too quickly. Because I have a big mouth. But I'm going to pepper you with some stuff that I

Go ahead. Pepper me. Okay. So, to pepper you with some stuff that I want to ask you. Okay. So just taking you back to the Globe and Mail. Yep. My question is, do you keep in touch with William Houston? I haven't talked to Bill in a long time, but, you know, I was associate sports editor. So a lot of those guys, you know, that you see now on Sportsnet or here on Sportsnet, all those guys were from the same era.

Bill was in that era as well. I have not talked to him in a few years, but I certainly liked him very much. After he left the Globe, and I believe he was pushed. I don't believe he jumped. No, no, no. I can tell you exactly what happened. Tell me what happened. Nobody gets pushed.

No? You know how strong the union is? But people get pushed. Okay. Is that right? Okay. There's a guild, and once you're in, you're in. Otherwise, 90% of those guys that were there, well, nobody's there anymore, except for Schultz. But I mean,

most of the guys... Myrtle's there. Well, I don't even know Myrtle. He came in after me. So did Grange. But I think Grange was the guy who replaced me. But listen, these guys don't get pushed. They get bought out, but they don't get pushed. Right, right, right. And I can tell you for a fact that Bill decided that he was going to retire.

He wanted to move up north and relax. Because it's a stressful job. He, kind of like yourself, actually, because he started a blog and people deemed him as rather bitter in that blog. And I remember some entries he was writing about, you don't know James Myrtle, but he's a tall guy.

He's a tall guy, by the way. I don't know. I've never met him, so I didn't know he was tall. Yeah, he's 6'5", or something. But that's neither here nor there. He's a hockey player. He's a tall guy, by the way. I don't know. I've never met him, so I didn't know he was tall. Yeah, he's 6'5", or something. But that's neither here nor there. He's a hockey player. He's the analytics guy. And Simmons and him had a go at it.

They had a row or whatever over analytics or whatever. And I guess I was just wondering if you kept in touch with Houston, because I have lost touch with him since the blog entries that he posted. I can give you his number if you want afterwards, but I have not kept in touch with Bill. But listen, he's not a bitter guy. He's not a bitter guy? No.

Okay. You know what? People don't know what people are like. I mean, through Twitter or through blogs, you can't tell. He had more than 140 characters, though, because it was his blog. That's right. He got to go that far. That's right.

Okay, so there's a story out there about Chris Schultz and you having a fight at the old fan location on Cherry Street in 98. Did that happen? Yes, that did happen. And that's the reason that after that, I got canned at the fan by Nelson Millman. I made a reference to that in my Twitter

just in the last 24 hours. You told the story that Nelson, so Mike Willner seeded that question. When I had Nelson Millman here, I brought up the whole fact that Nelson Millman, his old house was bought by the Willner family. And then Mike Willner moved into like Nelson's old bedroom or whatever. That's right. Mike told me that when we were in Atlanta covering the baseball meetings a long time ago. But here's what happened with Chris Schultz, who I think is a big dummy. And, you know, I broke a lot of stories

about Chris Schultz. I broke stories about him when he was in the, when he first got signed in the CFL. And then when he went to the NFL and he was with the Cowboys, I did a feature on him. And he's so dumb that he actually thought that a story I wrote about him with the Cowboys. I did a feature on him, and he's so dumb that he actually thought that a story I wrote about him with the Cowboys, which was really milquetoast, it wasn't even a good story. It had no revelations about anything, not like the stuff I'm giving you here tonight. This was like a boring story, and he got cut shortly thereafter, and he actually thought that my story in the Globe and Mail could be responsible for Tom Landry and the rest of the Dallas staff cutting him. Are you kidding me? Like, that was insane. I heard about that secondhand. They call Schultz Sybil. You know why? Because he has a dual

personality. And one of my best friends is Hank Elissick, who was a legend in the CFL. And he told me some unbelievable stories about the way Schultz would act, you know, go from hot to cold in a matter of minutes. I worked with Schultz at TSN for a little while, too. And, you know, he never liked me, never gave me any time of day. And I didn't care for him. And I still think he doesn't know what he's saying when he's talking on the air. Honestly, Mike, if you sat there and you tape recorded what he said or, you know, somehow videoed him or something like that on what he said, I can't tell you how many times I've watched. I don't watch him anymore.

I cannot. I changed channel. I love Dunagan. I think he's great. And I like some of the other guys on the panel, but I cannot stand Schultz because he makes no sense. After he's finished, go back and say, what did he just say? You haven't got a freaking clue. But anyways, he's a big six-foot-nine football player.

He's huge. And one day, we're at the fan. I was doing the late show. He came in to tape something. And he got upset because in the Globe, when I was with the fan, I was also with the Globe. And he got upset because in the Globe, when I was with the fan, I was also with the Globe. And in the Globe, I wrote something like, somebody ought to get Chris Schultz a calculator.

And the reason I said that was he was talking about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and that they were, after four games, they were 5-1. I mean, after four games, they're 5-1. Let's get him a calculator. Right. I mean, so that's all I said. That was all I said. Well, he got me in a closed room, locked the door, and started screaming like you wouldn't believe. He didn't, he wanted to punch, right? He didn't give you the rough-knit odor.

No, he wanted to, but he couldn't, right? And so he was actually literally have tears coming down his eyes because he was trying to punch, or wanting to punch so badly. But he couldn't get violent with me, I don't think. But he sure screamed like a crazy man. And there were a lot of other people around when he was doing this. And I let him talk, and I said, look, no matter what you say, it's not going to change the way I report. I don't care.

And if he hit me, it would have been a great story too. But it didn't, listen, I don't care. I've been threatened by other guys cliff johnson took a bat to me uh willie wood the former argo coach once literally pushed me into a dark room turned the light off i mean it was a and and before he turned the light off he cocked his arm like he was going to hit me i you know i don't care all these things are like stories to me i I mean, they'd be great. But with Schultz, there were a bunch of people around there who heard him screaming at me. And for some reason, somebody got it to Bill Houston and Bill Houston put it in his truth and rumors column at the globe. And he didn't ask me, I was the associate sports editor at the time. He didn't ask me, which I never would have interfered with any he wrote anyway, happened to be true. Millman called me the next morning

and said, I think you leaked that to your friend Bill Houston and I don't want you coming into my walls anymore. Even though you make Norm Rumack a better broadcaster, he said to me.

You still in touch with Norm? I haven't talked to him in a while, but I like Norm. I haven't talked to him in a while. We were working together the year before last at Frank D'Angelo.

You know him? Do I know Frank D'Angelo? Yeah. Have you had him on? No. People want me to have him on, and I'm afraid to have him on. He's nuts. Yeah.

I'm afraid to have him on. I'm glad we're having this chat. Just the very last episode, I actually had this conversation where, because he hires these has-beens, and they make these- Well, I wouldn't call them has-beens, okay? I was one of them so he hired both Norm and me

you know how I meant I never meant I meant for his movies like Sicilian Vampires okay then that's fine no but he had Perry Lefkoe and he had

you know Norm and he had myself and he had Josh yeah he had really good people next sports star

yeah and that's radio and TV and so Norm was there and I was there that's the last time I saw him that was about a couple of years ago Yeah, he had really good people. This is next sports star. Yeah, NSF, radio and TV. So Norm was there, and I was there. That's the last time I saw him. That was about a couple of years ago. I do not have Frank, right? Frank is a little bit off, right?

Yeah. I'm afraid of him. Yeah, you should be. Okay, good. Then my instincts were finally correct. All right. Did the Toronto Star make you an offer in 89 to jump ship? Yes.

Toronto Star made me several offers. The Toronto Star wanted me to be their main sports columnist on several occasions. And you stayed at the Globe. Yes. So why did you eventually leave the Globe? Because television was beckoning, and because also there was a new sports editor

who was appointed, some guy by the name of Neal A. Campbell, who, in my opinion, never broke a story in his life. He didn't have a high school education. He was promoted to, sorry, he had a high school education, but I don't think he had any further. I couldn't understand the sense of him becoming the sports editor. He had told me that he had big plans for me. And then was upset because i reported on sportsnet uh at the exact same time which is what everybody does now that a guy named ray yock was being interviewed by the argos uh he he then decided he had cause uh to he didn't you couldn't like i said you can't you just gotta sever the person right you can't do that you can't... You just got to sever the person, right? You can't do that. You can't push somebody out when you're in the newspaper business,

at least not at the Globe. So what happened was he was threatening that he was going... He just got in as Sportsnet, and he was threatening that he was going to remove my column, he was going to make me sort of a reporter again, and that... Anyway, I can't remember all the details, but it was very uncomfortable.

I didn't need it. Sportsnet wanted me full time. And so I said, okay, buy me out. And they did. And that was a very sad period of my life. I was very, very depressed because I literally spent my entire life at the Globe. But I made the decision that I was going to leave. I didn't want, I'm sure that the whole thing

would have blown over like three, four weeks later because other reporters at the Globe had the same situations, like Bill Houston, for example. They told him, you know, they were wanting him to do this and that and this and that. And he ended up just doing the same stuff as he always did. And he stayed until he felt it was time to go.

Did you plagiarize Michael Farber in 91? That's out there too. Yeah, I know, and I've seen it. But here's how it worked back then. Sure. And still does to a large degree. Like I had so many stories that were just taken from me exactly the way I wrote them, okay?

And in this case, if you look at it, and you probably have it in front of you, there was very little that was taken from Mike Farber into what I wrote. In fact, I can honestly tell you, I didn't have the piece in front of me when I was writing it. I simply memorized something that he had written and put it, something about Ivan Calderon's jewelry or something like that. And I think I said it in similar fashion. But you have to understand, when I turned down the star,

the Globe gave me, it made me the highest sports writer in North America, highest paid sports writer in North America, as far as I knew. Wow. And they threw in a lot of perks at that time. And listen, I loved being with the Globe, but it did breed a lot of jealousy. Dave Schultz was one of the most jealous of all of them.

Stephen Brunt. I mean, these guys weren't thrilled that a guy they thought was just, you know, this negative jerk was getting so much more money than they were. And it bothered them. And I kind of understand. As I look back, I do understand. I hold nothing against any of those guys, honestly. I do understand where they were coming from.

They just thought I was a fraud. And I didn't think I was, but they did. And so they went out of their way. And Neal A. Campbell was really instrumental in that. They went out of their way to look at all the thousands and thousands of stories that I had written to try to see if they could find any similarity. And they found some, and then they decided this was plagiarism. However, the managing editor didn't think it was plagiarism at all. And just, you know, he just said, you know, be careful. And that was it. at all. And just, you know, he just said, you know, be careful. And that was it. Am I a plagiarist?

I don't think so. I mean, I know of people, my idol when I was a young man was Dick Beddows. Do you remember him? Yeah, absolutely. And he was, he was great. And we worked together very closely. I mean, the Globe ended up getting rid of him. May he rest in peace. He was a great guy. I eulogized him. But, you know, they said that he plagiarized. I mean, it was almost like something you could use if you wanted to get rid of a high salary.

I'm not saying that's what happened. I mean, we... Like, if you look hard enough, you're going to find some example of it? Like, if, you know... Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I think that you could find that on anybody. I mean, I'm hearing that now about someone at the Globe and Mail. I think her name is Peggy Wente or something like that. It's in the news. Wente. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Margaret, yeah.

You hear that all the time. All the time. All right. And so you leave the Globe and then we next see you. So you did TSN and Sportsnet covering the CFL. So it was Sportsnet, then TSN? No, it was TSN first. TSN first, okay. But I worked at the Globe the same time as with TSN. Okay.

And then when I left the Globe, I was already at Sportsnet part-time, but when I left the Globe, I went to Sportsnet. So why did you leave Sportsnet? Oh, that was simple. Scott Morrison didn't like me. He was the executive editor at that time. I'm not going to say what I think about him. It just sounds like bitter, sour grapes.

I don't have a lot of respect for him. And we're working hard to get rid of this bitter label that we've got. We don't want to undo all that hard work. Honestly, Mike, honestly, I'm not working hard at all. I'm just telling you the truth. I don't really give a shit. People think I'm bitter or not.

I don't care that much. I'm just telling you I'm not. But I wasn't thrilled about Scott Morrison's leadership at Sportsnet. And everybody had told me that when my contract expired, it wasn't going to be renewed. It was, that was something that we all knew. And sure enough, when my contract expired at Sportsnet, when Morrison was there,

and remember Scott Moore had left there at that time. I don't believe Scott Moore would have done the same thing, but Morrison couldn't wait till the day my contract expired. And then I left. After I left, and I'm not saying this is attributable to me, but after I left, there were a bunch of other people. Jody Vance was great. A guy named Michael Emmett, tremendous producer.

Jim Van Horn. A bunch of guys off the floor. A bunch of guys off the floor, a bunch of guys on the air. And, you know, Mike Toth was a guy who I thought was fantastic. It wasn't too long before he was gone. And then eventually they realized that Scott Morrison didn't have a clue, and they fired him. And you know what?

We were close to TSN. We were very close in the ratings to TSN when he decided to make all these moves. Then when he and his henchmen decided to get rid of all these guys, the distance between TSN and Sportsnet really grew largely. And really, Sportsnet would continue to be in trouble if it weren't for the Blue Jays last year. And their NHL has been disastrous, their NHL purge, which they overpaid on, by the way. It was a 5.4 bill.

It's about as interesting as a traffic jam. Pardon? The hockey deal. So 12-year deal, right? We're in year two, I guess. Yeah. I mean, I really feel for them. I don't know how they're going to make it.

But don't you think... That's why they're not paying any money for David Price and guys like that. Is that related? Yes, it is. You've got to think that when the Leafs are competitive again and there's playoff hockey in the city and there's other Canadian teams in the playoffs, you've got to think...

Probably because of the homerism mentality. But remember, this is a national network. So, I mean, people in Calgary don't like the Leafs. People in Vancouver don't like the Leafs. I think. Probably because of the homerism mentality. But remember, this is a national network. Right. So, I mean, people in Calgary don't like the Leafs. People in Vancouver don't like the Leafs. They have their own teams. Yeah. Big show there.

And I'll try to go fast over this part, but I remember reading you in Metro. Yes. So, is that what you did? Okay. So, when you leave Sportsnet, at some point you're writing for Metro. Yeah, not long after I left Sportsnet, I was hired by Metro to be their associate sports editor and main sports columnist. And you've already warned me, be careful of that Frank D'Angelo, but I didn't need the warning. My instincts had kicked in there.

There's something with that Frank D'Angelo. I'd keep him out of my basement, right? You know what? I mean, no. I mean, I think he'd be happy to talk with you. It's just, I was just kidding when I said that stuff about Frank D'Angelo. He's got that. I know, but you know what?

I'm not kidding. I really, something about Frank D'Angelo, I'm frightened. I don't know if I want. I would sooner have Marty York in my basement than Frankie Angelo. I know. I've been told. I've been told. Mike, what are you thinking?

Think about your family. Think about your safety. I was warned. I'm not kidding you. I like your family. They're very nice. Yeah, that's only half of them because the older two are at their mom's house tonight. Oh, okay.

You saw half of the crew up there. Very nice. But yeah, it's a big happening crew up there. Okay. So we've talked about how you, it's a big happening crew up there. Okay. So we've talked about how you, and you have it in your Twitter bio, you abhor reporters who cheer. And we talked about Wilner and we talked about Rogers Media employees. So I'm just going to run down some names at Rogers and just tell me what you think of them. And I want to start with Hazel May.

You're getting your money's worth. And this will be shortlist. And it's zero. Shortlist. want to start with Hazel May. You're getting your money's worth. And this will be short list. And it's zero. Short list. That's right. Hazel May. Oh, no, sorry. I'm getting GLB, Great Lakes Brewery beer.

That's right. That's not zero. Now, Hazel May, in my opinion, and then I want to hear from you, but in my opinion, her role at Rogers is sort of to be a cheerleader. Like, I don't, maybe. There's no such thing. No such thing. Tell me.

If you're a television station, you have an obligation to your viewers to be objective and to tell it like it is. I don't care if you're owned by the same... But even the local broadcast, like, it seems like... But there's no local broadcast. It's a national broadcast. I hear you, but that's the national team. Like, that's the Toronto team.

Oh, please. I hear you. So if the Toronto's been Yankees... Do you think that these teams, these cities don't have their own teams? They have AAA teams. They have AAA teams. They have AA teams. They have single A teams.

There's a real hate on for Toronto. I got news for you. I've traveled a lot. So I hear, yeah. I've traveled a lot. The rest of the country isn't enamored of the Blue Jays quite as much as people here in Toronto. However, last year when the Blue Jays did make the playoffs,

the entire country appeared to adopt them. But it's just a short-lived thing. Yeah, that was a magical moment, if you will. If you say so. It seemed only, I was, yeah, that was, it all kind of came together and it just felt like all of a sudden Blue Jay fever was rampant. But anyways, we digress. You're right about that.

It was. It was. It was. And that's why they sold so many tickets without even making an effort to acquire the guy who was responsible for them making the playoffs. And I say Price. He carried that team. He was the reason.

Without him, they don't make the playoffs. But, you know, they had a losing record in the playoffs and they've had a losing record ever since. And I think it's vital to point that out because people forget that. But in the same breath, they did finish second in the AL. Yeah. So it's fair to say, and even without— They had two good months after they got Price.

Right. But it was fair to say at the end of last season, they were probably the second best team in the American League. Probably. Yeah. You could make a pretty good argument that they were the second best team. Second or third. Second or third, yeah. Okay. Houston was pretty good too, besides Kansas City.

Right, I forgot what happened in Houston. So, okay, what about Shai? Actually, yeah, so Hazel May, do we like her? You know, I was around when Hazel started. She was a bartender at a golf club that Mike Lemon, I mentioned him earlier, great producer. Scott Morrison didn't like him for whatever reason, but, uh, Mike Lemon was terrific.

And he was being hounded by this bartender at the golf club to get, to, uh, let her have a chance. And, you know, he, he's a great golfer. He went there all the, every day almost. And she would really, really hound him almost every day. And finally, he said, just to get her off his back, he said, you know, come on. Okay, fine.

We'll let you come in. And what happened was, I'm trying to remember if it was, I know Jerry Dobson, who was in charge at that time, saw this audition at Hazel. And I think Scott Moore as well, I'm pretty sure. And Scott Moore has an eye for talent. And he said, this person's different and she's really good. He thought she was, you know, without any experience whatsoever,

he thought she was great. And they, Jerry and Scott and Michael, assigned her to the morning show that they had at the time. And I did a lot of shows with her in the morning. And I know that Jodie Vance didn't like her style off the air because she would mingle a lot with players. Let's put it like that. But and she wasn't objective. Kelly Gruber, maybe?

No, no, no. It was it was it was after that. Yeah, just kidding. There were some. It's my callback to the Kelly Gruber stories? No. No. It was after that. Just kidding. There were some. It's my callback to the Kelly Gruber stories. She liked athletes. Let's put it like that. And people in sports.

Okay. So I'm digressing. You're asking me if she's good on the air? Yeah. She's okay. I just wonder if she's one of the homers that you refer to. You know, I don't know. I don't watch her very much.

Okay. I really don't. I don't see her. I know she sometimes does some sideline stuff during games, but I don't pay enough close attention to her to really know if she's a homer. What about Shai Davidi? I don't know him.

Barry Davis? I know Barry because when Barry was really starting out, he's very young, at the fan, I knew him really well. And he used to ask me a lot of questions and we used to have some really nice chats. He's a very nice young man. And I told him...

That's when he had the hair, right? Didn't he have the long hair back then? Isn't that when he was buddies with like Strombo and Merrick? I think so. I don't really remember who he was buddies with, but I do remember he wasn't on the air very much, but he was working at the fan, getting tapes and that sort of thing. And I really liked Barry a lot. And I told him when he was on radio, I said, you're going to end up on television and you're going to be good on television.

And he has subsequently reminded me that I told him that many times. And I think he's pretty good. The only thing I don't like is, like so many of the others, I see that he's just so attached to the Blue Jays, and I wish that Barry would be the Barry of old and sort of detach a little bit. What about, you mentioned earlier briefly, but Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler?

Yeah, they're terrific guys when I knew them as players. Both of them were great. I even knew Tabler when he was with Cleveland. He always had time. There's no skeletons in their closets. Martinez, when he quit baseball, I thought honestly, sorry, when he quit, when he retired as a player, I thought he was a really good guy.

He became a broadcaster. I really liked him. We hung out in the press box. I had dinner with him so many times in press rooms. And I learned a lot from him because I thought he had great insight. I never hesitated to interview him when I needed some baseball insight because I thought he was great. And, you know, I thought he was even a good manager. How do you like that? I didn't think

he got a fair shake as a manager. And I know that was popular not to like him back then, but I thought he was good. The only thing is that I don't know why. I hope it's not because he was told to do it, but for whatever reason, the last couple of years, he has changed on the air quite a bit, and he's not objective anymore. When he was a national broadcaster, you know, for ESPN or whoever he was with, I thought he was fantastic.

But now, you know, it's get up there, get up there, or whatever he says. Get it out, get out, get out. Yeah, whatever. Come on, cut that crap out. And Tabler says ridiculous things too, which I understand yesterday he said. Again, class guy. I really like Pat Tabler a lot.

And I had a lot of time for him. And we even worked together a little bit at Sportsnet and TSN. But when he says, oh, this brawl is going to turn the Jays back into, you know, back. I mean, the fact of the matter is the Jays are below 500. I don't think they're going to be in the playoffs this year. They're pretty far behind two better teams, Baltimore and Boston. I mean, and it's not as early as everyone in Toronto wants to believe. Almost a quarter of the way through the season.

And there's no deadline deals coming akin to last season when you can add a price and a Tulewitzki and... Yeah, and spend a ton of money suddenly. Right. And mortgage the future for now.

You don't have that coming. There aren't many of those kinds. The kind of guys who are with the Jays, that's Batiste and Encarnacion, those guys are going to end up elsewhere and Toronto's going

to get prospects in August. So we're going to sell. Yeah. Dan Schulman is back doing a bunch of games. What do we think of Dan? I think Dan's terrific. I've never heard a negative word about Dan. That's true.

I knew Dan when he was a child with a high voice and long hair. And, God, am I making myself sound so old? I'm not as old as I'm sounding. No, because he was from Barrie, right? No, no. He was from Toronto. I was in a rotisserie league of journalists, like a fantasy league.

It was only American League. And there were a bunch of journalists, and Danny Finkelman, I don't know if you know the name, he was with CBC at the time, and a whole bunch of other guys that are friends of mine. A guy named Randy Steinberg, who I named Randall the Handle, and he's now... Yeah, I hear him on the fan doing the betting show. And he was a very close friend of mine at the time, because I hired him at the Globe.

And then I helped him get where he is. He's pretty good at what he does. But he was involved in this baseball fantasy league. A whole bunch of us were. And one day, one of the guys who was in the league, a guy named Rob Wurtzman, who is now a doctor, he was a little kid in high school. He was in it because he knew Finkelman.

And he said, I have a partner this year. And he brought this little kid he knew finkelman and he said i have a partner this year and he brought this little kid and named dan finkelman and dan finkelman i mean he was he he come up to me marty how could i get into this business he was so young he was he was a little baby and i said oh you just persevere kid like i've told the same things to all so many of my students and that sort of thing over the years yeah just keep knocking on doors. Eventually, you get your chance. And so what he did, he was an actuary. He became an actuary out of university. And I can remember Finkelman calling me and saying, Marty, you've got to write a story about this Danny Finkelman.

I said, I'm not going to waste my space on some kid who wants to be a broadcaster. He said, yeah, but he's giving up his actuary business to learn how to be a broadcaster. I don't care. I said, you know, that's not interesting to me. Well, he volunteered at the fan. Millman gave him a chance, and he did updates, and he then became the PA announcer at the Barrie baseball games.

I forget what team. And he had a meteoric rise because he was so good. His voice was fantastic. It must have changed rapidly because that's a deep voice. I wish I had those pipes. Yeah, the pipes are amazing. But he changed his name, right?

Changed his name? You've been referring to him as Danny Finkelman. Okay, but you've been referring to him as Danny Finkelman. Danny Finkelman was a guy who was in the league, and he was the one who said to me, you've got to write a story about Dan Shulman. I got you now. Yeah, I got you. No, no.

I thought Dan Finkelman was Dan Shulman. No. Okay, got you. No, Dan Shulman. So anyway, I've known him all along. He lived on the same street as me after he got married and still lives in the same neighborhood. But he's making two, three million US a year. I'll bet.

And I'm not. And he's done extremely well and he ought to be very proud of himself. He's very good. Cool. And last two guys and then is Jamie Campbell and Greg Zahn. I like them both. Jamie and I developed a very close friendship when I was at Sportsnet. We spent a lot of time together.

This guy is something else. Jamie Campbell is one of the most charitable people I've ever met in my life. We were in New York together one time. We were covering the end of the baseball strike, if you remember. 94. Yeah, 94. And we broke the story that the strike, if you remember. And, um. 94. Yeah, 94. And we broke the story that the strike was ending that day. I had a tip about it.

We were first, ESPN was calling, everybody was trying to find out where I got the information. And we broke the story that the strike was ending that day. And Scott Moore was so pleased that he said, Marty, Jamie, go out to the finest restaurant in New York, do whatever you want, get the best steak around, and it's on us, and just have a great time. And it's great.

That was nice. Well, I went and picked out on had the great steak and a few brews and the whole bit. Jamie said, will you excuse me for a minute? And he cut the steak in half. And he, believe me when I tell you, this guy's got a heart of gold. He said, I saw a guy out there, you know, he's homeless and he could use this more than me. Wow.

And he went out and he gave the guy at least half the steak, maybe more. And I mean, he does charitable stuff all the time. Jamie Camels is as wonderful a person as I've ever met in my life. And I'm into charity now, so it really resonates with me. That's a great story. Yeah, he's a great guy. And he's good at what he does.

He's had a couple of tough breaks at sports, but he's good at what he does. Greg Zahn is the only objective at times. But he's allowed to, right? Yes, he is. Toth told me this. He said the former athletes sometimes get to be the guy who gets... No, it's nothing to do with former athletes. Yeah, but this is Toth's paraphrasing. You know what it right? Yes, he is. Toth told me this. He said the former athletes sometimes get to be the guy who can...

No, it's nothing with former athletes. Yeah, but this is Toth's quick paraphrasing. You know what it is? It's very simple. Yeah, go ahead. It is close to what Mike Toth was saying. Okay. Scott had this rule that, you know, you could be an editorialist. And that's why he's there, to be editorial and be an analyst.

It's the same thing he lets he lets Don Cherry do his thing. Yeah, Don Cherry's another one. And he, so he wants, you know, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to see that they've tried to make Zahn into baseball's cherry. Just look at his jacket. Yeah. I mean, it's obvious. So, I mean, and I think Zahn is about the only, I can't think of anybody else who's

objective in the Toronto, who's covering baseball in Toronto. And I give him credit because, you know, as a former player, a lot of those guys don't do that stuff. What did you think? Did you see Jamie Campbell's Chris Colabello interview? Did you see that? No, I did not. Okay.

No, but I've heard about it. I heard he was very charitable to, I told you he's a charitable guy. I heard he was very charitable. I told you he was a charitable guy. I heard he was very charitable. Okay, speaking of charitable, your former colleague, Stephen Brunt, did a Mark Shapiro, they called it a documentary, but I'm on the record as calling it a,

I want to call it like a PR piece, like a fluff PR piece. It's no documentary, but he did a piece on Mark Shapiro, and I wondered if you had caught that, the Steven Brunt piece on Shapiro. Unfortunately, Mike, I didn't see it. Oh, man.

What do you think of Brunt? You know, we go back a long time, and I mentioned him earlier. He was one of the guys that wasn't too supportive of me. He didn't like my style of journalism. Here's the thing. He stands on his lofty perch and makes judgments. I don't know that he's ever actually broken a story,

but people like him because he is a big picture kind of guy. He puts things in perspective. But he can gnaw on you. And my understanding is that Bob McAllen, just of the fan, just got tired of him. That's what Schult You know, I'll also say this, Mike, that I'm stunned that a guy who graduated from the Globe and Mail and where we learned to be totally objective. And, you know, he wrote very objectively and he was a good writer. And, you know, I can't believe that he is, I don't want to be too harsh here, but he appears to be on the Blue Jays bandwagon.

You know, I heard him talk about how excited he was about the season and how at the beginning of the year and how he anticipated the Blue Jays, you know, setting records and how it's thrilling for him to hear fans talking about the Blue Jays again like they did in 92, 93, because wherever he goes, you know, the Blue Jays are this and the Blue Jays are that. And that, to me, is perpetuating a myth. So I don't like it. So he's one of those reporters who cheers now

that you're abhorring, according to Twitter bio. He doesn't do it as blatantly as others. I don't think he says we. But he appears to do... It strikes me as that he's doing too much of that. Didn't Andrew Walker suggest you needed psychological help a couple of summers ago? Who's Andrew Walker? So you really don't know? No.

Okay, then don't worry about it. Who is he? He's one to four on the fan. He had a show with Brady. Oh, the guy Brady who he got fired or something. Yeah, yeah. Well, Brady's gone,

but Walker's still there. Yeah, I don't know the guy. He's irrelevant to me. And if he said, what did he say? You need psychological help. Yeah, but how would he know that? I've never met the guy in my life.

Honestly. I mean, you would have a better idea. I'm now the go-to guy when they want to psychoanalyze Marty York. I spend an hour and a half with the man in my basement. Here's what I think. I don't know, Walker. I didn't even know. I mean, this guy has sent me some

idiotic juvenile tweets. Like a fan. If he's a journalist, if it's the same guy... He's a one to four on the fan. Okay, I didn't know that. I really don't know the guy. So, Bob McCowan? What do you think of Bob McCowan? if it's the same guy. He's a one to four on the fan. Okay, I didn't know this. I really don't know the guy. That's cool. So Bob McCowan,

what do you think of Bob McCowan? Oh, I think he's brilliant. I think he's a very, very smart guy. I knew him when I was, I've known him since I was a teenager. And in fact, I was his co-host for many, many occasions before the fan even became the fan when it was CKFH

or whatever it was. Is this the 1430? Before CKFH. Okay, wow. So I think Bob's brilliant. I'll tell you what he does. Tell me. He doesn't really watch the games.

He's not interested too much in the players. He is a very shrewd businessman, extremely smart, believe me. He's not nearly as arrogant as you think, because on the air he comes across as arrogant, but he's quite the opposite. He's just a shy guy. He's introverted. He prepares 10 minutes before the show starts. He'll read the paper.

At least that's what he used to do when I was working with him. Right. He would read the paper and he would just, you know, and then he would ask really good questions, you know, and that's why I think he's the richest sportscaster in this country. I mean, I think he's really good.

He comes, you know, you're asking about him. Yeah. And almost wherever I go, when people realize who I am, they'll say, you know, what's Bob McCown like? And so I give him a lot of credit. He's been able to get himself on their minds. I quite like him. I've been listening for a long time,

and I still like his show. You have to like him. He comes across as, I mean, yeah, he comes across as a long time, and I still like his show. You have to like him. He comes across as, I mean, yeah, he comes across as a bit arrogant, but he does a good job. He's a professional. But it comes across like a persona. To me, the curmudgeon thing he works so hard at,

it just seems like a shtick. It is a shtick. Yeah. He's a good man. And he was really good on Global when they did the very first real sports cast in this city. Sports line, right? Yeah.

And he was excellent at that. And I have a lot of respect for Bob. Have you ever heard, I know you said you don't listen to fans, so I'm sure you have not heard Dean Blundell? Is this a guy you've ever heard? No. I know of Dean Blundell because I knew of some of the work he did on a previous station. 102.1. He was controversial.

Actually, I had occasion to speak with Scott Moore when he was hiring Dean Blundell and I told him that I thought that was a brilliant move. I don't know how he's turned out. I've heard stories, but I don't know. Does he know enough sports? I'll ask you. I haven't heard any morning radio in a very

long time. You were just asking for your listeners. I know him well as well. He's a controversial figure. I've heard that. He's a polarizing guy too. A lot of people don't think he has the depth of sports. That's what I'm told anyways. He doesn't know his sports. He's got a bit of a frat boy, kind of

some inappropriate stuff that rubs some people the wrong way. I didn't know that. I mean, I knew he was controversial on the FM station and my son really liked him and other friends I've had that thought he was great on the FM station.

I really don't know. Is he a homer now? You know, I don't know. I'll plead ignorance on this one here. There. The, a couple of quotes of people,

like I mentioned, a lot of people reached out to me when I said Marty York was coming on and some in the business told you I was insane. So somebody wrote that Marty seems to miss the whole concept of sports as entertainment. As he rails against the mindless hometown boosterism, he assumes wrongly that it is up to the fan to apply critical thinking and analysis to every move made by their sports heroes and teams.

For the vast majority of us, sports are an escape and a diversion, and there is nothing wrong with believing that this is our year at the start of every season. That's a commenter on my site, Toronto Mike, named Sid V. I don't think it's Sid Vicious, but anyway, go ahead. It's not vicious at all. It's very well written. It's very articulate. And I know he's right.

Look, my own brother is a Blue Jay fanatic and a Raptors fanatic. He goes to the games and he cheers and he wears their shirts, and I love him. And my father, who passed away in October, was a real big sports fan. But he didn't – he was the one guy who I was able to convince to stop being such a fan for the hometown teams. It's not like I had to tell him. He got it. He understood what I was trying to tell you earlier.

It's not that I'm trying to tell fans to stop having fun. They want to do that. Good luck to them. All I'm trying to do is provide some balance, explain to people what these guys are really like. I'm not expecting them to know that. I'm expecting the journalists to tell them that so that they won't sit there and worship

the ground they walk on. I don't want them doing that. They're not worthy of it. I mean, everybody who loved Tiger Woods, and I say everybody, of course I'm generalizing, but Tiger Woods was a hero until you found out what he was really like with all the skanks.

And then all of a sudden he was a bum. Some people liked him even more. Yeah, that's true. But I mean, the point is they all have private lives. They're all different. I know some people don't want to know and don't care. All I'm saying is that they're not necessarily worthy of your adulation. It bothers me when a school, because I think of Lynn Gruber and what she said about Kelly Gruber.

I hate when the teachers are telling their students to cheer for the Blue Jays. I hate it when Swiss Chalet, I hope you don't mind me giving the applause. No, I don't mind. I hate when they say, today's Blue Jay Day. Today's Raptor Day. I don't like that. Maybe I am No, I don't mind. I hate when they say, today's Blue Jay Day. Today's Raptor Day. I don't like that. Maybe I am insane. I don't know.

But I've experienced enough to know that these people who work for baseball teams and basketball teams in this city and are mercenaries and just collect their money and leave, they don't care less about you or the community. I don't think they're worthy of all this adulation.

And I don't like it when teachers tell students to love the local team. To me, that's crap. Let the student decide for himself who he likes. Right. Now this quote, I don't have the context anymore, but when I read it, it won't quite make sense, but you'll get the gist of it.

But the quote is, was it about York's gutless attack on Jerry that the late Tom Cheek told him? And only him, of course, that he hated Haworth and couldn't stand working with him. So I got to be honest, I don't even know this story.

Well, I'll tell you the story. Okay, go ahead. And as much as the, as Sid, the previous tweet, was it a tweet? No, it was a comment. Okay, the previous comment was very sensible and intelligent and articulate. This one's stupid. Who's this one by?

You know what it is, I've named names. Okay, you don't have the name? I don't have the name. Okay, well, whoever wrote this is really stupid. First of all, that's not what I have ever said. Second of all, he didn't only tell me. It was common knowledge.

I wrote it in the Globe a long time ago. I like Tom Cheek. We had a good friendship. We spent a lot of time together on the road. We drank beer together. We weren't bad. I didn't always agree with him, and he was a big homer, but I still liked him.

And what I reported all along is what everybody else knew, but they didn't have the guts to report it. And that was that Tom and Jerry barely spoke to each other when they were not on the air. They did not like each other. They were totally different people. Jerry is a semi-religious kind of guy who basically goes into his room at night and reads the Bible. Tom was a guy who liked to go out and have a beer and have a good time and enjoy himself. They were just different people. It doesn't mean that Jerry was the complete asshole, although I don't like his style. I didn't say that. I just said that he was a big homer who is, who to me, uh, will say things generally speaking, not always. Cause remember the Reyes thing I told you about earlier, but,

but most of the time he just kisses the home team's butt. And he, he come up to me, he had come up to me many times and said, is there something wrong in your life? Why are you not writing about how wonderful this team is? And I'd say, because I have a job to be totally objective. I owe that to the readers. And he couldn't get it. And Tom got it. So if you're asking me who I like better, I like the late Tom Cheek.

And I understand that I have something in common with Mike Willner that way, because I think Mike was really a protege of Tom's. Yeah. And as a fan, because I used to fall asleep listening to Tom and Jerry at night. I would listen to them and I'd fall asleep. Oh, not because they were boring. Not because they were boring. Just because it was getting late. Because I would fall asleep.

Yeah, I can tell you Tom Sheik was the best. He was great. He's like the soundtrack of the summers of my youth. I can see why you'd say that, but he was terrific. You know what, Marty? I got to say, I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't sure what it would be like having this conversation, but it was a pleasure.

You explained yourself, and people can take it for what it is, and I hope some people listen to this podcast and reconsider their thoughts on the evil Marty Bjorn. Well, I really enjoyed it, Mike. It was great meeting you and it was fun going down memory lane. Thank you. This song, by the way, is called Rosie and Gray and it's from Shakespeare, My Butt, which is a fantastic early 90s album from the lowest of the low. And the lead singer of this band, whose name is Ron Hawkins, is my guest next week. So if people come back for episode 175, I'm going to chat with Ron Hawkins

of Lowest of the Low. Cool. That sounds great. And that brings us to the end of our 174th show. You can follow me on Twitter, at Toronto Mike, and Marty is at Marty York. See you all next week. where you've been because everything is kind of rosy

and green. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the snow is soft.