Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mike Richards: Toronto Mike'd #156

Episode Date: January 13, 2016

Mike chats with TSN Radio 1050 morning show host Mike Richards about his years on The Fan 590, The Team, Calgary's FAN 960 and why he chose 1050 over 590. We also discuss TSN Radio ratings, going against Dean Blundell and his battle with rectal cancer.

Welcome to episode 156 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 TorontoMic.com and joining me this week is TSN Radio 1050 morning show host, Mike Richards. Well, you know what? This seems very familiar to me because it's kind of early in the morning when we're doing this. I'm in someone's dark basement. Ooh, I don't know. And there's beer in front of me.

And this is familiar territory for me, just so you know. You don't have to be nervous until you black out. And then it's like when you go to be nervous until you black out. When you go to the dentist on Seinfeld. Hey, thank you very much. You were supposed to come in yesterday, but we got hit with some snow and we rescheduled for today, but it's just awesome

to have you here. Yeah, I mean, I wanted to be here. I just didn't want to die, so I thought that maybe I would wait a day. Although I've never been in this part of town. The fact that there's a New Toronto, when did they start that? I gotta say, I didn't know about New Toronto

until I bought here. So this is only a couple years ago I moved into New Toronto. Everyone talks about Mimico all the time, like Shanahan and Boland and these guys are Mimico guys. Well, Mimico is the better-known eastern neighbor to New Toronto. So we're just on the west side of Mimico guys. Well, Mimico is like the better known Eastern neighbor to New Toronto. So we're just on the west side of Mimico.

Well, as I'm driving here, I'm kind of looking around and thinking, this is it. This is in the movies. This is the last time I drive and go, I don't know this guy. Never seen again. So tell me though, you seem like a savvy, you know, professional broadcaster, big deal? When I go to the washroom at the ACC during the first intermission, that's your face. Oh, that's when you've made it. You know, people say, you know, I took a dump and saw your face. Of course you did.

This is how you know you're famous. That's right. In the worst kind of way. So what would cause you to think you should drive to this unknown part of town and, like you said, go into some stranger's basement where it's kind of dim. You wouldn't believe the things I've said yes to. I have absolutely no... Some people have a chip where a warning

goes off, like, this could be a bad decision. Right. I have none of that. I have gone... Now that we're in this area... What's it called? The strip joint that's on the Queensway. Oh, House of Lancaster. House of Lancaster, yeah.

Queensway in New York. So years ago, infatuated with this girl, and I decide that I would go home with her. And I do. And she said, by the way, she's this hot French girl. She goes, I really want you to come home with me, but I do have a boyfriend. I'm like, no problem. Let's get hot French girl. She goes, I really want you to come home with me, but I do have a boyfriend. I'm like, no problem. Let's get in the cab. People hear that sentence and go, what were you thinking?

We get there, and I'm making out with her the whole time. We go up to the condo, which is right by square one, right when it was brand new. And she's excited and also borderline suicidal, very nervous. And I'm going upstairs. Obviously, lot of Ryan Ginger at this point, and I open up the door, and he opens the door. He looks like Mark Gastineau. Oh, yeah. The football player, right?

Yeah, Mark Gastineau from about 1986. And I said, so what do you do for a living? And he goes, I'm a boxing instructor. I said, do you mind if I come in? Who does that? I had no car. I had no money. My voice agent at the time, I had to phone them in the morning.

I said, where are you? I said, honestly, you don't want to know. This explains why you couldn't make it in yesterday. Yeah, that's right. You're in the Marilyn Monroe Towers, I see, when I go by Square One. So just so you know, that's why I came, because I say yes literally to everything. You know, I'll be honest with you. You work for Bell Media, right?

You're a TSN guy. I have trouble getting TSN people here. Rogers people line up happy to come. If I ran down the list of Rogers people, from Arash Medani to Damien Cox, they're happy to come. Wilner comes twice, okay? They're happy to come, you know? But I've had, and I've reached out to many TSN people.

I love the TSN people. I think they're afraid. I think TSN, our thing is just don't be seen by anybody. Hide. You know, it's an interesting scenario that I've gotten myself into. That's how I'll put it. Because at the time that I was hired, when I had to make a decision coming from Calgary.

Right, which we're going to get to for sure. It was a decision between I was already working for Rogers, and there was an assumption, because the show goes to number one and the numbers in Canada are tremendous, that I would just end up going to Rogers and the fan. It was the only option at the time. There was no TSN radio. Right. So when Mark Miliere and Stu Johnson start talking to me, they're like, well, look, we'll

start this thing if you would commit to coming where we are. But there's all kinds of movement at that time. Then Scott Moore comes over to Rogers, which wasn't because Pally was first. Pally comes first and I'm still in Calgary, which I loved. It was the greatest six and a half years of my life. Everyone should have the chance to live one year in Calgary to be spoiled.

It's a, it's a young city overall. It's a young thinking city. Even if you're not a young person, they're still going to Stampede and pulling their pants down. It's just who Calgarians are. And I thought, well, how can I leave this? This is really my kind of town. But at some point, just like in hockey, when it gets big enough, it's hard to stay because, you know,

monies start coming in that you could never, ever get in Calgary. Certainly not there. And so then at some point, you know, there's a decision to be made. And yeah, there was a lot that went into that time. Well, you know what? You're a little ahead of me here because we're definitely going to dive into this. Yes. Because the rumors were flying.

I was writing about the rumors at the time. Mike Richards is going to be the new morning guy on the fan 590. Like, this was flying around. Sure. I had inside people sending me emails. I won't name his name because he ended up being wrong. And I don't want to remind people. But people you would know and trust in the business saying, book it.

It's happening. Well, it probably wasn't wrong. At the time, it probably wasn't wrong. And I've known Scott. Scott's tried to hire me for years for different projects. Right. And there wasn't really that other option at the time. And I just assumed that, quite honestly, that I was going to the fan.

I mean, why would I not? This is a good teaser. Stop there, because we're going to find out what happened. But first, I've got to do a little tiny bit of housekeeping. Do we get to drink the beer at any point? You know what? You can drink. That is your beer, my friend.

Well, I'm telling you right now. I know classier people don't do this, but... No. There we go. So which one is that? Because they give me an old pompous ass. That's Stu Jeffrey's favorite beer. Is it?

Well, here we go. It's very fitting. So I'll drink while you talk. No, you drink away. That makes this always a better convo. It's like the Golden Globe Awards. The more you drink... Oh, that is away. That makes this always a better convo. It's like the Golden Globe Awards. The more you drink... Oh, that is good.

Oh, that is very good. You know, even if you hated that, you'd have to tell me. No, honestly, this is very good. Pompous ass. I only serve that to pompous asses. I was going to say, this is very fitting for me.

So that beer, yeah, thank you. That beer is courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery, which is a local craft brewery that is the first of many Toronto Mike sponsors. So enjoy that. That six pack is yours, but I got more for you there. When you first got here,

you sort of, you went to it like you had sonar. This is a very Mike Richards segment. Okay, you can have that one too, pal. I actually had to put the call in. My contact there, this guy, Troy, I had to put the call out that I'm out of beer because Em Griner took beer for her husband. A bunch of beer went to...

Stu Jeffries took more than his share. Sounds about right. And you were coming in as well. So, yeah, enjoy that. I see a tweet just went through by Nick Kiprios. He says, Those fuckers at TSN are hard to book on Toronto Mic'd. So, thank you, Nick, for that

tweet. Also, on that note, there are two TSNers. Three TSNers have said yes to me. Mike Richards, who I'm looking at right now. You are the Mike Richards, right? Well, it depends on who you talk to. And

I had a note on that in a minute, too. But James Duthie and Michael Landsberg. So James Duthie and Michael Landsberg gave me very nice replies that I'd love to come on. But the devil's in the detail. When I press them each gently, hey, let's book you a time and a date, that's when they get a little quiet on me. Well, I think probably for Michael's schedule beforehand, it was easier. Now, because they've made whatever decision and he's kind of all over the place.

Yeah, Off the Record's been canceled. Yes, and then James, who's, I mean, they never know the late night stuff. He lives up in Aurora. Oh. He's up in Aurora, so that becomes probably a lot trickier. And he's got kids, too.

And he probably doesn't know this part of Toronto exists either. No, he probably doesn't. This is super south for most people. And he does fake a lot of things of Toronto exists either. No, he probably doesn't. This is super south for most people. And he does fake a lot of things, but I really believe he would not know this area. Alright, well I'll keep working on Duffy. You might have to send him a text too. On that note, yeah,

that's right. Any excuse to play this? But I wanted Mike Richards on the show and I got a good friend. I call him Il Duce. You might know him as Anthony Petrucci of Palma Pasta. Oh, mi frutalo. Sure, I know him for sure. So I put out, I just was talking to him.

I'm like, I got to get Mike Richards on the show. I want this Richards guy. And he's like, Mike, he's like the godfather. He goes, I'll do you this favor. And he tells me, I get a text from him shortly thereafter. He's in. It's a done deal. I honestly felt like I went to the Godfather for a favor, but now I'm worried about what he's going to want in return. They don't do it for free. You always have to pay back the Godfather. Well, he is the lasagna king. And so what he wishes,

it's going to come for you tenfold. But he will come a day where should he ask a favor of you, maybe on the day of his daughter's wedding, you must comply. Capisce? Beautiful. And this is the hook. So you got the beer, right? I kept the door unlocked upstairs because Anthony is sending over a Palma Pasta delivery van with lasagna for you.

Oh, my God. The lasagna king. He's mint. Yeah, and I'm glad you're here because I made him bring one for me, too. So the fact that you're here, I get lasagna, too. In fact, I told him, I joked with him, you know, Richards doesn't know this conversation is taking place. Maybe I just scored myself two lasagnas.

But you don't mess with the Godfather. No, you don't. Thank you, Il Duce, for scoring the great Mike Richards to Toronto Mike Studios. Oh, and Toronto Mike, I was thinking since you were coming in, I could do a bunch of Mike on Mike episodes. Sure. Right? There's a lot of them.

There's a lot of them. I've already had Mike Wilner twice, Mike Stafford from 640. Oh, yeah. I go way back with Mike Stafford. Oh, to 99.9. Sure. He's a great guy. I go way back with Mike Stafford. Oh, to 99.9. Sure. He's a great guy. He looks a little like Kelsey Grammer.

Did you think? He does now. He does now. I knew him when he had hair. Yeah, see, I missed the hair era of Mike Stafford. But yeah, he's been on. And Mike Toth. Oh, yeah, Mike.

Who used to work at Bell Media. Yeah. Back from Calgary originally. Oh, right. Oh, yeah. He did all kinds of crazy stuff. He did the Stampede stuff there. He did everything. Trust me. He did everything there. Mr. Calgary originally. Oh, right. Oh, yeah. He did all kinds of crazy stuff. He did the Stampede stuff there. He did everything.

Trust me. He did everything there. Mr. Calgary. Yeah. I heard. Even stuff that you're not supposed to talk about. He did it. Yeah.

He talks about it, though. No. Very funny guy. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, you're the fourth Mike, excluding myself, the fourth Mike. And we joked earlier about, are you the right Mike Richards? But just before we dive in, so at some point in the i guess early 90s uh seinfeld breaks and there's a michael richards like now there's a famous michael richards because he's kramer no big deal because you're always mike

richards right yes always so then this guy breaks in with the flyers like i don't know what that is a decade ago or whatever and uh suddenly you become what i call google proof like you can't really go it's tough to you have to if you're gonna google mike richards you're gonna have to include like 10 50 in that or whatever and even then because you're a sports radio station you still get a lot of stuff about the hockey player so the day we booked this appearance is the day that mike richards was signed uh he signed a new contract so he was all over like twitter and the news and stuff. So what's that like sharing a name with somebody that,

you know, is kind of steals your Google. No, it was good. And in fact, if we ever do a show together, I think we'd both be drinking at 10 in the morning. That's just a guess.

Oh yeah. I'm not a fan of dry Island. My Island would be very liquid, very wet. My Island. Yeah, that's right. The Mike would be very liquid. Very wet, my island. Yeah, that's right. The Mike Richards share something in comments. Yeah.

The early morning booze. We do. We do. Do you hear what he did? Yeah, so? Well, it's just like when Michael Richards went mental. Oh, the N-word. Well, people said, oh, he's gone too far this time.

It wasn't me. But people, this woman from Hawaii, this religious woman, you know, just because you have issues and problems, I'm like, lady, honestly, it wasn't me. But yeah, to have Mike Richards, of course, in the day, because I like doing production, it was great, because you'd come in and say, boy, you wouldn't believe what I did last night.

I shone around the board and said, here's Richards, he shoots and scores. So there's the childish side of me going, yeah, that could be me. So this is a good thing because I was going to say, you know, you could always go with like,

Mick Richards, I was thinking, or Mikey Richards. Okay, there is a story about Mick Richards because I thought in having a radio name that if I had Mick Richards being a Stones fan, this would be the greatest thing of all time.

Right. And my girlfriend, slash now wife of 28 years said, don't do that. And I honestly, I think of 28 years said, don't do that. And I honestly, I think it's the last time I listened to her. I didn't do it. So I said, okay, Mike Richards it is. But it was going to be Mick Richards.

Which does sound like your typical kind of radio name, right? Of course it does. Hey, Mick Richards, Todd Filthy Chubb. Yeah, the Jagger and Richards. That's amazing. Quick shout out to two new Patreons of Toronto Mike. So I have a Toronto Mike Patreon crowdfunding campaign that's active. That's a lot of mouthful there.

But David Tindall and Julie signed on after the M. Griner episode. Actually, sorry, I'm forgetting a guy. Oh my goodness, too many in a row.ry taylor he took a lot of beer too barry taylor used to be on edge 102 okay now he does a raptors podcast but barry taylor took a lot of my beer too so after the barry taylor episode those two signed on so thanks to them and thanks to everybody uh i'm gonna send you all an email because i i've got an idea So expect an email from me. But thanks to all y'all. All right, let's dive into Mike Richards and his radio career. So I'm going to list some stations you've been on. And then you're going to tell me, if you can, about how

it all begins for you. But CKBB, 1050 Chum, Mix 99.9, Fan 590, which we'll dive a little deeper into in a bit, Y95, Kiss FM, The Team. That's a long list, man. And trust me, some of them didn't last that long. Kiss FM in Toronto, when it was C-I-S-S, Kiss FM, it was country music. Yeah. And so I signed on in September. So that was at music. Yeah. And so I signed on in September. So that was, what was it, 92.5. And by January, they had sold, that was Rockle,

they sold to Rogers, and that's when 92.5 becomes Rogers and they go to hip-hop. And the C becomes a K. It becomes a K. Right. Yeah, and then it became Jack and all the other incarnations of it. But that was a short-lived one, but fun. Country music.

Country music, not only are they probably some of the finest musicians and players, but songwriters, singers, and just personalities. I loved it, talking to Vince Gill. That's the same guy Stu Jeffries brought up in terms of sweethearts in the country music. And the talent is sickening. You know, you want to see the true, I would say almost pop music of the day is what country music is. You know, I don't know if there's necessarily

that kind of music where, like rock to me is, try to find it. Like it's difficult, unless it's like one particular kind of rock. So if it's, you know, on the heavier side, if it's metal, metal, liquid, speed, whatever you want to call it, death metal, you can find those, strangely enough. But just sort of what we consider to be rock from the day, for instance,

when I basically started at 1050 Chum, 1050 Chum being the legendary station, that was in the days of the Chum Charts and really the top of the pops is what you're talking about. Right. Hard to find now unless you consider that country music is the pop music with a twang

is sort of what that is. Okay. So I enjoyed my, I thoroughly enjoyed it for the 210 days I was there or whatever it ended up being. But do you still,

Mocha was on the show from the Roz and Mocha show and he was telling, so was he there with you at that time? No, no, there would be, no. Because he's telling me. In country music there was no people of color on the radio he there with you at that time? No, no, there would be, no. Because he's telling me.

In country music, there was no people of color on the radio station, I can tell you that. No, yeah, somehow he was at the Kiss somewhere in the back and back scenes because he's still got

all those mugs. Well, they probably left and that was a weird thing. Rolco had that weird thing about mugs and kisses where you had to go to businesses with a, and I had come from basically,

you know, a little bit of sports because sports radio, of course, we'll probably get to that. There there wasn't a ton of it but it was sort of a rock and roll background i played double kick drums for like 12 years you know and kind of a dirty boy you know and so there wasn't this family-centered sort of music and radio station they're like so everyone let's go to a company and you'll give them a mug with like hershey's kisses and i'm going i'm not doing that i don't want to do it and so we'd have to do that so everyone, let's go to a company, and you'll give them a mug with Hershey's Kisses. And I'm going, I'm not doing that. I don't want to do it. And so we'd have to do that.

So that was their big campaign. There was warehouses filled full of these mugs. That's probably where he got them from. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember those mugs. My mom had one. That was like the Garth Brooks era. Oh, absolutely.

Well, that was massive for that radio. That and Shania Twain. Right. Just huge when those things came out. Yeah, for sure. Okay, what was next after Kiss? Well, Kiss was... This is your life, Mike.

It was always... Because if we're going in progression, so you start at 10.50 chum. Okay. I'm an op at the time, and then they put me on air for a little bit. And then from that real small stint, so I'm only 25. So I'm 25. I start there there when i'm 23 then i get hired for mornings at 99.9

by a guy named don stevens who was also the program director and uh so and that was a tough time too until jerry forbes the longtime radio guy moves in and we become like really good friends but after that i'm bounced around a lot because i'm doing impressions. I'm doing the comedy. I'm doing the musical stuff. And so you're always kind of a co-host, but it's what people would call a sidekick. I mean, that's kind of what I did. And so eventually I end up, you know, after

a couple years being out of work, I start a comedy service. So after 99.9, I start what's called Headline Comedy. And so I do that originally out of the in the Edge, the original CFNY. Yeah, is that the Yellow House or that's the strip mall one? The strip mall one right across

from the Maple Lodge Chicken or whatever it was. Yeah. The worst stench of all time. They were murdering chickens as I was doing comedy and the smell was horrible. And so I do that for a couple of years. Bob McCowan hears sort of the sports bits and said, well, let's get it on the show. So he gets the recorded stuff.

And then Bob, being who Bob is, said, nah, this is no good. Get the guy in live. So then Bob and I, you know, I'm on Bob with Bob from 94 till, oh, I guess into 95-ish or something. It was about a year and change, and then they put Darren Turner and myself together, and that's how that happened at the fan. Yeah, so a lot of us kind of come to know you from the fan. I thought you were freaking, you're still funny.

So funny. You're still funny. Still funny. You're still funny. Down Goes Brown, who's a funny kind of hockey blogger, and we've chatted about you in the past. When the rumors were circulating you were coming to 590 again, we sort of struck a convo about how we both have these memories

of just hilarious stuff from you. It was a blast. Look, I've had pretty much a really great time with everyone that I've worked with. I'm not someone that has left in a sea of anger or even when it ends poorly that you're not really friends with the guy. I don't think I've ever not been friends with anyone that I've ever worked with.

I'm pretty much a good time Charlie. I'd feel really bad if someone said, that guy, that guy's an asshole. What? When? I didn't do anything bad. Do you want me to come to your house? I'll wash your feet. I'll do anything.

It's like, how can you not like this guy? It's not part of my being. Yeah, I don't know what that's, that existence. So I had a great time with Bob. Bob and I had a tremendous amount of fun, like a lot of fun. I know he's got a character. He kind of has a persona he puts on, this curmudgeonly kind of grumpy. That's right.

But the real Bob, he's a good guy? He's a nice guy. He's a great guy. He's a great guy. He's a great guy. I mean, I haven't had a chance to talk to him in years, literally. But we'd have, I mean, we spent a lot of time together in that year and a half, whatever that was. Yeah.

And in fact, at the time when he sort of got bounced, I really thought it was kind of unfair how that came about. You don't really get a chance sometimes to really do the things that you want to do, and they dictate. It's almost, to me, it's similar sometimes when I watch NCAA football and they make college coaches make their decision to move. It's pretty much the worst time that you could for your own kids who you're coaching to a bowl, and you're not there because, you know, you're Brian Kelly. You leave Cincinnati and decide you're going to go to Notre Dame and leave the kids that you could for your own kids who you're coaching to a bowl, and you're not there because you're Brian Kelly. You leave Cincinnati and decide you're going to go to Notre Dame and leave the kids that you recruited. It's like the father all of a sudden, where's daddy?

Daddy's not home. So for Bob at that time, I thought it was just really tough. But Bob's a survivor. So the moment that they say he's got to go and they bring in John Derringer, Dan Schulman announces that he's going to ESPN and they got to call Bob back. I think literally at the house, he was yelling from a shower. Hey, Richard, you wouldn't believe it. Just phone needs me back. So, so Bob, yeah, Bob is, you know, a legend there. He's still, still there kicking butt on primetime sports. But what are the other guys you remember at the fan at that time

who you kind of knew would make it big? There's a lot of names that came out of that era of the fan who went on to bigger and better things. Well, I think for Dan Schulman, who's always a really solid guy, and of course he's one of the most likable guys, but I didn't realize the play-by-play aspect in being as large as he is in the United States. And I think he probably echoed the same sentiments. The fact that he's working beside Dick Vitalin, just who he rubs shoulders with, and then wins these enormous national awards

for his broadcast. And I don't know if he ever thought he'd be that. He could enough. Although now that he's going to spend more time in Toronto, actually, I'm going to try to get him in here because he's a guy I always point to. This guy might be the greatest success story of all the guys

who are there at the fan. This guy just became enormous. I don't think there's any decision. You're a close second though. Well, I like that I'm close. I'll take it.

I'll take Tide for third. It doesn't matter to me. But it was an interesting time and a turbulent time also for the fan. I mean, people have to understand that for most of us that got

into radio, and I'm a radio guy, I mean, at least professionally, trust me, it's not something that I ever thought I'd be in. A lot of people are like, you know, when I was in high school, I thought of radio, I listened to radio. That simply wasn't... Okay, well, how do you fall into radio then? Because I make a terrible decision at hockey

all those years ago to not go to the Peterborough Peaks when Mike Keenan told me to go. Oh, really? And I didn't go. I was a goalie. We're bearing the lead here. So, okay. So, just because I know that you were always a funny guy, that you were doing the yuck

yucks and stuff as a teenager, right? In high school, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I only started doing that one... I mean, my dad is a tremendous educator and a scholastic coach, but he never was with hockey. He never really quite under nothing to understand it. You know, for him, there's a lot of, you know, uh, uh, research and, and years of understanding the mechanics of a given sport where, as you know, in minor hockey, certainly in the seventies and small towns, it's the mayor, it's the guy who owns a dealership.

It's a, the liquor store guy, you know, that's who you get. So you the guy who owns a dealership. It's the liquor store guy. That's who you get. So you may or may not get real coaching. And most of the time, I would say you didn't. You had someone that wanted to be a coach. They'd throw the puck around on the ice. They'd blow whistles a lot. But there wasn't a lot of high-end strategy.

There wasn't very sophisticated methods of training. So it was hard for my dad to really get with hockey, if I want to put it that way. I'm not saying it was hard for my dad to really get with hockey, if I want to put it that way. I'm not saying it was disrespectful, but it wasn't until I moved to the States in 1976, 77, and eighth grade I attended. And again, I was a track guy. So a lot of the sports, they didn't even basketball. They didn't want to see me.

I couldn't even get a sniff. But once track and field came, then they had no reason to be able to hold me back. I go to the city championships in three of the different events. And that's when I was approached by the... Which events? I've always run the 400. So the 400-400 hurdles, triple jump, triple long, and the 400, 4x1, 4x4.

They've always been close to me. See, I buried... I think at times when they hear the show for the first mean, see, I buried, I think at times, you know, when they hear the show for the first time, even in Calgary, they hear the parodies, they hear the impressions, they hear the gags. A lot of people just don't like it. They don't want to hear that because that's not what they think sports is about.

So immediately it's almost you turn some of these people off. And they also hand-in-hand think that you don't know anything about sports. And so when they say, well, okay, who was drafted? I go, look, I'm not a trivia guy. It's not Stump the Schwab. You're going to win that one almost all the time. Where I win is where I could probably coach almost every sport I can think of.

Almost every sport but baseball. Baseball to me was not part of my upbringing. I didn't have love for it. It's something that obviously as an athlete, we've learned, but it just wasn't my thing. I talk't have love for it. It's something that, obviously, as an athlete, we've learned, but it just wasn't my thing. I talk about it on the air all the time. When we talk Blue Jays, it's because I work at understanding what that team is, who the players are.

Right, it's not coming naturally to you. No, it's not something. I couldn't lie to you and say, well, I could go out, and if a little kid's baseball or at a higher level, I could go. But the other sports, I have go out and if a little kid's baseball or at a higher level, I can't. But the other sports, I have no problem putting on a headset or going anywhere, whether it's volleyball, basketball, track and field. I don't care what

the sport is. Okay, cricket. Cricket, I'm out. Yeah, me too. Cricket, I'm out. And also, I heard there's no drinking there. So, once again, both Mike Richards not showing up. And that's so good because those games last for days. Oh, three days. There's no drinking, there's no women. Well, good luck with that. Did you ever, I had this problem for a brief period of time in the 90s,

but were you ever confused of Jim Richards? Because Jim Richards was like... Jim did weekends. Jim did weekends. And of course, at that time... He was kind of doing funny stuff too, right? Sure he was. The irreverent funny stuff.

That was really funny stuff. You're both kind of, you know... Odd. Yeah. Yeah, no. No, we get along and I mean I've seen him once in the last year or whatever but always loved Jimmy and what he did on the weekends. It was always funny but you know you had Jim Richards there

and of course in the evenings you had Bob Mackiewicz Jr. See because Macko was, you know when you say Macko to me, that's his dad. That's his legendary dad who was one of the best program directors, one of the radio guys in the history of Canadian radio. Right. But you also had Strombo, and he looked like the Greek Jesus back then. I mean, he had long hair and the ring to the nose and the beard.

I'm like, hey, you, just don't touch anything on the way out. Did you have any sense he would, you know, I mean, you couldn't have predicted what happened with Strombo, but I guess, did you have any sense he was going to do anything? Well, I just didn't want him to rob me. Right. I think at that point. Is my car still down there? Watch the guy with the long hair. But we hit it off because he's such an interesting guy, you know, who really go, it doesn't matter if it's music, politics, certainly sports, which he's always loved. And I think a lot of people don't give him credit

for that kind of thirst for knowledge, which he does have, which. Yeah, he's always, he's an interested guy. He's an interesting guy, but he's an interested guy. He is. And I think those are the kinds of people you want as friends. You know, it's tough to have a conversation when all they want to do is talk about the Maple Leafs power play. Right. Which sometimes is a short conversation. But Stromboli, and I said, you know, at times the hardest thing I think about this business, and not radio, but sports, sports in general,

is that people have such strong feelings and opinions about it that it turns sometimes quite ugly in an area that it doesn't, I don't appreciate where they come from. I think it's an immaturity. And so there's a lot of attack out there where this guy's a hack. This guy's terrible.

Strombo doesn't know what he's talking about. And I'm like, well, that's not true. I know it's not true for a lot of these guys. They pound on guys at the fan and they pound on, you know, TSN personalities. And I'm like, well, for most of them, they never tried to get into that part of the industry. So right away, you know, TSN personalities. And I'm like, well, for most of them, they never tried to get into that part of the industry. So right away, you know, I'm looking at you like you,

you telling Bill Belichick how to coach a football team. You're an idiot. Now, do you have an opinion where you don't like a certain person or, you know, someone doesn't like my show, they don't like what I do? That's fine. Right. But the moment you think that you know more than that,

that's like watching Grey's Anatomy and then starting up your own blog where you start criticizing real surgeons. Right. You don't know what you're talking about. You have no idea what you're talking about. And so for Strombo and some of the, you know, my good friend Paul Romanuk,

who we worked with in the team, we had so much fun, I learned. And I learned a lot from Paul. I learned a lot from Romy. Okay, so how did you, because now you got yourself at the fans, so, sorry, at the team. So why did you leave the fan 590?

Well, I was asked to go on holidays. I mean, the typical, typical story. I go on holidays. Permanent vacations? Yeah. And I come back and Pat Marsden, they want to bring in. I'm like, is he alive? Are you serious?

And so John Derringer at the time, so it's myself, he goes mental. And so at the time, look, there were a lot of things going on. And I thought the way that the fan was, and I just, we couldn't really do what we wanted. We couldn't get to where we thought we needed to be. And so I was thinking of leaving anyway. But, you know, there was a change of program director and then Nelson Millman came in and that was it.

So Millman canned you. Yes. He's been a guest on this show, by the way. Yeah, no, no. That's what happened. They came in and the company made whatever decision

and Nelson tells me that I'm not going to be on the show. I'm like, what? I said, okay. Well, look, if you're bringing in that person,

then good luck with all that. I mean, at that point, that's when I sort of looked at it sideways because you have to remember that sports radio at that time still was in its infancy, certainly in Canada it was.

It had been a little longer in the States. But they still did things in a way, and I think to a degree, I look at both stations, including maybe the biggest offender of my own, where they go back to a real old way of looking at how sports radio is consumed. And if you fall too in love with the niche part of it, the X's and then the O's, you're going to find the world's smallest audience.

Because most guys who like sports, they're not the hardcore guys going to Blue Jay games and scoring the games themselves. It's a subset of a subset. Yes. And to me, I still don't have an interest in that. I mean, that's why coming here is fun. You talk about a lot of stuff subset. Yes. Yeah. And to me, I still don't have an interest in that. Right. I mean, that's why coming here is fun. You talk about a lot of stuff. I get free beer.

We're not going to talk too much about the Leafs power play. That's my promise to you. No, that's fine by me. That's fine by me. Okay, wait. So Millman comes in. Millman, by the way, credits Derringer with saving that station because his words. And it was because of the lock.

You have a strike, right? I'm trying to remember which one's a lockout which one's a strike but they're the baseball shuts down so you're coming off i guess the fan starts it is like the perfect storm because you got the leafs are amazing they have the 10 and 0 start they go to a couple of final fours the jays are amazing they went two world series in a row and it's like this perfect storm and then there's this like drought where there's a lockout and there's a strike and all you know they cancel baseball for the 94 season and then he credits

Derringer with saving the station. Really? Do you agree with him? Well, I think what John brought was the understanding that you could be from a different background and still talk sports and it didn't mean that you were uneducated

or the fact that you weren't a well-researched person or somehow a jock. Like all those – when sports radio first starts in the States, they're all ex-jocks and play-by-play guys. That's all they are. Right. And so if it came from another area, and that's why they always concentrated on the afternoons, because they couldn't get the morning guys because the athletes didn't want to get up at that time and really needed play-by-play guys. So John was a different, and of course, he came built in with a pretty big audience.

I mean, he was Derringer, still in Toronto, famous of Q107. I don't even know if John would feel that way about it, to be honest, and he had to work real hard at it, and he still, I mean, this wasn't the day where there's Twitter attacks and the social media we have now, because I don't know how kindly he'd take to some of those blasts.

But I think Landry and Stelic, I think for what Don did, maybe he doesn't get enough credit for holding them in there. I mean, I've known Don. My first radio job at CKBB, we worked together. Okay, yeah. We worked together. So I've known him since that time. And he's a tremendous guy.

Most of the people that I've certainly met in my, in my time, regardless of the format, have all been pretty good people. And I think, you know, sometimes I see what's written where they think there's this huge, well, there's, there's an, there's a competition. Like you would compete against someone from a different team, but there's, there shouldn't be dislike. Now there are some guys that I've seen that fire their mouths off and get very angry about stuff. I'm like, what planet are you from? So be careful, because that job, you better hang on to.

That's a Greg Brady. That's Greg Brady, right? I don't know anything about the guy, but when he was lipping off, I didn't understand it. Because somebody pointed me to that audio, because they do a podcast after the show, and I don't hear much live, but then I went back and listened and yeah there was a lot of pot shots taken at TSN by

Greg Brady. Well enjoy the fan because you're going to have to stay there because if that's over. So it's bad practice to burn bridges when there's only like three companies that are running everything in your industry. Well as of today and you saw that Chorus has just bought Shaw for 2.6 billion, 2.65

billion dollars or whatever it is, some outrageous number. So before you start burning some bridges, you've got like three has just bought Shaw for $2.65 billion or whatever it is, some outrageous number. So before you start burning some bridges, you've got like three people you can work for. Yeah, Chorus, Bell, and Rogers, right? In the day. Unless you get one of those sweet CBC gigs. Well.

That's another story. How lazy they are. But yeah, I just think that most of us have probably worked together, and I don't think I would necessarily go after somebody unless it became personal like that. And for me,

I try to stay away from it because if I go after it, which I did in Calgary, there is some very famous early blasts that I did against other people personally on the air

when I first got there when I was sort of attacked. I did five minutes on a program director out there that became kind of infamous. Well, let's get you to Calgary then. Let's get you there. So did you ever listen to the Marsden and Derringer

morning show on 590? Oh, no. No. That would have had almost... I mean, I'm not someone, if I'm not there, that I sit there and listen to it every day and wonder what I would have done. I had no interest in...

But you feel you were better than Marsden, in your opinion. My shoes are better than what Pat Marsden. Pally. Is it Pally? Well, it's just a really old school, again, the antiquated kind of way of thinking about it. And John did a good job. And, of course, they became close over the years.

But John would have, I'm sure, had to have worked at that relationship. It certainly wasn't the relationship that he and I had. Right. So I wasn't interested in what happened in 1957. It just wasn't the relationship that he and I had. Right. So I wasn't interested in what happened in 1957. It just wasn't, I'm not listening to it.

In the Great Cup Final of 57. All right. So then where do you go after you're booted off the Fan 590? Where do you end up after that?

Okay. So we're going back. So I end up at, well, I almost ended up being the guy at Q107 because there was some turnover there. Who was leaving?

Remind me. I think it was Scruff Connors. I think one of the many stints that he had. And so I'm going to be hired to do Morningstar with a guy named Jeff Lumpy. It's going to be Jeff Lumpy and myself. Who's been on this show. Yes. So Jeff and I are going to do the show. And then Ted Smith, Cow Jeff Lumpy. It's going to be Jeff Lumpy and myself. Who's been on this show. Yes. So Jeff and I are going to do the show.

And then Ted Smith, Cowboy Ted Smith, said, I don't know who these guys are. Get Jesse and Gene. All right. So Jesse and Gene go on there. Now I'm caught in limbo. I don't know what's going on. So they obviously own Y95, where Jeff is the morning man. So they're like, well, why don't you go to Hamilton?

I go, Hamilton? Have you seen Hamilton? The Hammer. Some of these people don't have fingers. I can't go to Hamilton. Of course, the irony is, biggest Ticat fan you'll ever meet. Like a hooligan, basically, is what I am. Wow.

A crazy person. And so because of the friendship that we strike up, we end up there for, what, two, two and a half years? And that's when the program director who leaves y95 goes to kiss fm sees us there brings us over to kiss fm for the six months danny kingsbury yes uh who used to work at the the fan he was putting the danny kingsbury was that not the fan like i gotta get my edge 102 102.1 danny kingsbury and he was also program director at q1 right right right right right right right uh lumsby by the way, reminds me of yourself

in that he does a really good Don Cherry, for example. So you guys, yeah, great to meet you. Oh, no, well, we're incredible. Like I said,

most of the guys that I have worked with, that relationship continues. He couldn't get you a gig on Red Green because then you could go to all those fan expos or whatever.

It's like being a Trekkie. I think I might have passed on that. Something tells me I wasn't really up for the show. You took a pass on that one. All right, great stuff. So how do you end up in Calgary? Well, after the team collapses because they don't...

Okay, sorry. I'm going to need you for a few... You have a few hours for me here? Look. This is important. There's a giant six-pack of beer in front of me, and I've hardly even drank it. I just wish I had known you were going to crack it open.

I would have had it refrigerated for you. Although it's cold enough down here. It is cold enough down here. It is cold down here. My poor boy sleeps around the corner. I'm like, are you okay? He's got frost. We're at school now, but he's got icicles on his face.

I'm like, we can do something about that. But he doesn't seem to mind. All right, so sorry. Please continue here. So, you're... Well, after they sell Kiss FM, which is another infamous firing. It's another famous radio firing

where we are told to dress up and go to the Rosewater Supper Club on Toronto Street. And so everybody, this is at Kiss FM, this is the Country Music Days, myself and Jeff Lumby and everybody else there.

They get all dressed up and we're supposed to meet the Rawlinsons who own the station. And so we go in and we didn't know what it was. I honestly at that point had no idea. And I thought maybe they're adding another country station and maybe there's going to be an affiliation somewhere. You feel you're going to get some good news. Well, that's what the thinking was. So the girls all get dolled up and so on. So we're sitting there and I immediately start throwing them back.

Is that it? I don't know a way to put it. I am having a good time. Sure. A lot of pretty cocktail waitresses and things are going good. And then they put us in what there's a glass dining room that overlooks. It's up above that looks down at the main dining room. And they put us all in there.

So you're on stage. You've got a fishbowl here. It is exactly a fishbowl. And they haven't shown up yet. They're late. And I mean hours late. So the one guy that's a representative is sitting there, and I look at him like, you know, what's going on?

And then they move us from the main fishbowl into a really small room, like a cell. It's a small dining room, but you're cramping. One of the Rawlinson's shows up, I can't remember which one it was, and has a whole package full of white envelopes and said, we've been bought by Rogers Communication Inc. and you're all being let go. And they start handing the envelop amount, and everyone's crying.

I mean, you've got people in there bawling their eyes out. And they said, does anyone have any questions? And so I raised my hand. They're like, yes, Mike, what's your question? I said, do we have to pay for the drinks? And we did. Is that right? I didn't pay for the drinks.

No. That's the story. That's the punchline of the story. Yeah. But I almost felt like saying to him after all these years. They made you pay for the drinks. Not only that, why would you put us in a public place? Yeah.

Why would you put us in that glass dining room, the fishbowl as you called it? That means people would have seen the mess. The tears and the mascara running on the woman's faces. Some of those people never got back in the business. Some of those people never got back. I've heard some terrible fire masks firing. Hebsey was in here a couple of weeks ago talking about how he got fired from CHCH.

I've heard some pretty bad stories. He was in the wrong room, so he got told when we had him. I know, I did see that. I did see that. That was a good punchline, too. You're in the wrong room. And they were towing his car because he wanted to get some stuff. And his car was being towed out of the freaking parking lot.

These guys are losing their livelihoods. And no severance there, either. I don't know if you had anything there. No, that, they took care of us enormously. Good, because Rogers is coming in. Rogers, and there were two guys from Saskatchewan who started a radio company. And now that the giant mogul is coming in, they made all that money. They gave it back.

Before, he said it's possible that someone was going to sue, and I think someone may have had legal action. Of course, you know me. I just took that money. Drank it. And I went to an island or something. I don't know where I went. Whoever makes the decision, like, hey, let's get him dressed up and put him in a fishbowl.

I want to have a chat with that person just to find out what were they thinking like what was their mindset that thought made them think that was a good idea for a mass execution yeah unless you're filming it for some like snuff films like to trade snuff films online you know i mean like a hidden camera like watch how they react when we tell them they don't have a job like that would be a hit that show in in Germany. That's a huge show in Germany. That's comedy in Germany. The Schadenfreude or whatever they call it. That's what that would have been.

Now you're out of work. That's a fantastic story, by the way. You're out of work. Horrific, but at least some time has passed. Time plus tragedy equals comedy. I think maybe that's because I'm out of work for almost two and a half years. Wow.

And I can't get anything. I had certain individuals that I talked to, and I'm really, at this point, from the fan anyway, kind of blackballed. I don't know why.

I never had a problem with anybody. But for Nelson, I certainly wasn't getting through that front door for whatever reason. Do you have a message? He'll be listening to this. Do you have a message? He'll be listening to this.

Do you have a message for him? No, I understand. We haven't really talked about it, but when it's not your sandbox, when you're managing, it's like being the manager of a team. It doesn't mean because some player's available, if you're not thinking he's the right fit for you, you're not getting on the team.

And so when the team comes back, I get hired. I work with Paul Romanuk. Again, it was a little scrambly how they got it on there. And so we're on for a little less than a year and a half. But literally by the time, you know, that they're going to make these decisions and it's more about the stock holders and, you know, you know, cause they don't understand how long you need to be in that business, how long that format truly needs to be on air before you're going to see anything. And so after that point, myself and Paul Romanek, that's when I end up saying, well, if I'm going to be stuck being a co-host every single time, because Paul Roman, quite honestly, the day that it's over, says, I don't know why you're a co-host.

You don't need us. You don't need anybody. You truly don't need anybody. A lot of guys wouldn't say that. He's a wise man. A lot of people would, you know, they like having a guy that's going to carry the freight, or at least a good portion of it. They don't have to worry about all the funny stuff,

all the whatever. And he said, just you should go somewhere, and you should be the morning guy. And a lot of people in the fan wasn't going to take a chance on that. And again, there was still this, certainly not on my behalf. There was never any hard feelings whatsoever. I just, I, at some point I was a little confused why I wasn't being invited because I was popular there. John and I were a popular team, but this was, you know, and again, a lot of that had to do, I think, with all the impressions, all the comedy,

where you're the pie-in-the-face guy. So a program director by the name of Kelly Kirsch, because I started going on Fridays with their afternoon team, a guy by the name of Kevin Usselman with now the late Joe Sports. And so I would do these Friday rants almost and throw in impressions and do whatever. And finally, Calgarians, because the team was in Calgary, like, well, if Richards isn't, if he's not working, because he talks about it all the time, why wouldn't he? Because they had no morning show. Right. Sportsman's Dinner, Tony Spoletini, who puts it on, who was the former Stampeder, and Jerry

Forbes, who was the king of radio at CJ92 out there, they want me to come and speak at this Italian Sportsman's Dinner. Like 1,000 people go to this thing. And Joe Theismann is the main guest. So I go out there. I pop into the fan. And I say, because we talked back and forth and the talks kind of stopped,

they thought maybe the money was too low. They said, you won't come for this money. I go, trust me. Try me. I'll come for the money. I need to go on and do this. And so I speak at the dinner, huge success. It was very fun.

And the next day or that morning, I went on and I had no contract because I was offered a job in Edmonton at the Bear. And I was like, my life has come to where I'm going to have to work in Edmonton now. Hamilton wasn't bad enough. Now I'm going to have to go to Edmonton. And I really, I was willing to go there. But at the same time, they were kind of dragging their feet as me being the host. They were going to set me up with a guy called, you know, Yukon Dog or whatever it was like what do you mean you mean i'm not i'm not bringing

you in and out of breaks i'm not talking about the music well you'll be there but you're not at that point i was just really pissed off now i'm angry now i'm on a mission so i go on there the fan hasn't given me a contract so now i'm gonna blow the one as soon as i go on there in calgary i'm probably blowing edmonton off. Right. And so my wife goes, is this something that you want to do? And I go, if I can't bet on myself at this point, then I don't know why I'm in this business. And I've got to be honest, I'm kind of angry now. Go on the air.

I'm on for literally three minutes. And this piece of paper comes underneath the studio door. And it's the thinnest contract you've ever seen in your life. They had really probably no confidence in me either, but they thought, well, it's better than what we've been doing. And then kind of the rest is history. I never got more support ever than I did at that time from Kelly Kirsch. And this is, just to be clear to everybody,

this is the fans 960 in Calgary. That's correct. Now, just real brief, you mentioned, I took a trip to Edmonton recently for a wedding, and the highlight of my trip to Edmonton was the fact we flew into Calgary and rented a car in Calgary and I got to enjoy some Calgary and then go through Banff.

So that was the highlight of my trip to Edmonton. Leaving is always the highlight. I've never seen the sun. I don't believe the sun has ever shone on that city. I don't know what it is about that town. There's heavy drinking there and I get it. As much as I'm for heavy drinking, they just, I think, look in the window every day and go,

well, it's not going to be a good day again. That's right. That's funny. So Calgary, I had a curiosity because another guest on this show previously, speaking earlier about Greg Brady, Andrew Walker was on this show. Yes. Andrew Walker. Do you have any recollection of an Andrew Walker in Calgary?

No, I've never heard of Andrew Walker. He came in towards the end because there was a bunch of different co-hosts they had tried out. And I believe he had come from Red Deer at this point. I think it was Red Deer he came in. And we had a hell of a lot of fun. We did a lot of hilarious remotes together. It didn't matter where we went. We just really had a really of a lot of fun like we did a lot of hilarious remotes together um it didn't matter where we went we just really had a really good time we followed the calgary hitmen to the different cities when they actually win the west that year um there was just a lot of stuff and and i think

you know at some point people listening i mean it was becoming apparent that probably i wasn't going to be there and uh and i actually feel bad because when we talked, when I came back to Toronto, we met at an event called Smash Fest. And it's Dominic Moore, and so all this stuff is going on. And he came up, and I don't mind talking honestly about it. I mean, the one thing you're going to get from me is I'll tell you the truth. He said, you know, I was really mad at you. I was really disappointed in you.

And I said, why? Well, when you left, like, you just left. But I think at the time, and I feel, and I look back on it and I go, he was right. I mean, but when these things happen, like, it's very confidential, and there's a lot of money involved, and there's a lot of almost secrecy about it,

and it's very delicate. On top of that, I had a lot of things going on in my life that he wouldn't have known, because no one knew about at the time. Now, the strange thing is when I look back at that time, that's, I mean, I had a stalker. I had someone from Toronto, a girl that had started this insane attack on me that where there was this daughter, apparently she had said that I had raped her when she was 17. Wow. And that this daughter was sending me very angry, I mean, just the most profane emails

that you could ever imagine. And you think you'd know how you'd handle it. You know, as kind of a guy's guy, you figure you could handle it. Well, I can tell you, you don't. And you don't handle it the way that you ever think that you would. And it sort of takes me out of my

day-to-day understanding of my world. My world then became only, at that point, six to nine. I coached high school football every year that I was there because I loved coaching. I stopped coaching high school football, and I started to put on weight that I'd never really seen before. These attacks were significant, severe. When I finally told my boss, and I didn't tell anybody, the lawyer for the flames is the only guy I told.

And he said, have you ever talked to this girl? No. So you don't even know if one exists. No. He goes, the story sounds too fantastic, too made up. And so I lived with this all the way back to coming to Toronto. Okay. And the first day of TSN 1050, I'm expecting something really bad to happen because there was some threat.

She was threatening that some of these things would happen. Did she want money? Like, or if it's a she at all? No, well, no. Because I knew who she was. When I start in the business, and I'm 23 years old at 10.50 chum, I'm at 10.50. She's the only one who sort of knows who I am, and I hadn't seen her since that time, but she must have had some feelings for me that never left.

And she made up this huge story. So as it turns out, I finally have to go to the police. The police get involved. They finally literally go and break down, not break down the door, but, and of course the whole thing turns out there is no daughter. There is no, she's arrested. There's a peace bond, but occasionally she's supposed to stay away from me. And the last month there have been two instances where she's still trying. Wow. And then she was getting a male into my wife as a school teacher.

So it's difficult to get into the internal mail. She did. These fabricated stories, these copies of emails because hundreds of emails were going back and forth because I realized at this point being so far away from my family. If she's as crazy as I think she is, what's to stop her from going to where my son's going to school?

What's to stop some car waiting for my wife to get out of her school? Now my mind is just apparent. I've got to somehow control this and keep this in check. Well, you can't. It's frightening. The reality is that you can't. And so this old sort of salty, Nick Nolte cop comes in. And so when the team or the TSN 1050 starts, I'm spending,

sometimes I'm in the police shop to midnight, one o'clock in the morning, going through all this stuff. And it's going on forever. And I'm getting nervous because nothing's getting done. Right. Until this Nick Nolte cop shows up. Who was Nick Nolte. Yeah.

Let me tell you something. You know where this broad lives? Jesus Christ. I know that place. Is it dumb? I don't know. Within 24 hours, she's arrested. Wow.

Yeah. Where was that guy? Where was he the last of the month? she's arrested. Wow. Yeah. Where was that guy? Where was he the last of the month? That's right. But the process of, I mean, that was all part of this modern history of me being on TSN 1050 that is... Yeah, no one knows about this. That is bizarre. Yeah.

I mean, and of course, as I look back on Calgary now, and as it turns out, not only did I have a stalker, not only, well, there's a bunch of other issues that were going on that were all financial, that were just a nightmare that I'm trying to survive. But the biggest, the biggest unknown to me, even at that time is I have cancer. I have cancer and I don't even know it. And so since I've been in Ontario, you know, it's been very, very difficult. Uh, you know, you're trying to start off something that's brand new. And I know deep down that you can have success with this if there's some patience. And as my first wish was upon being hired, just don't get in the way. This is, look, I may not know a lot of things, almost everything you can think of that people

know I don't, but this format and what I do, this thing I do know. So if I'm going to come to your place, if I'm going to TSN, give me the reins, don't get in the way, and give me television. You give me television and that, we're all good. Well, you fast forward four years later. I don't have television. I don't have my own website. I'm never on tsn.ca, and I can't figure that thing out to begin with. I look at that website. Yeah don't have my own website. I'm never on tsn.ca, and I can't figure that thing out to begin with.

I look at that website. Yeah, we need to redesign that. And I have no idea what they're doing. Now my co-host is gone. You know, Bell comes in. Bell wasn't part of the original conversation, and I find out that Dave Bastel, who I handpicked to start this,

who I'd brought in, that was the second time I had to bring him back. I don't know what the problem was. And now he's gone again. You find out when he finds out. You don't get a heads up. We were talking to Doug Gilmore. So Dougie's on the air with us.

And Dave goes, I've just been called in. I've got to go. So I'm trying to grab materials and ratings, whatever I think is going to help. But it doesn't matter. It didn't matter. It wasn't going to matter. It's not about ratings.

And that's a whole another discussion anyway. But for Dave and that decision, I mean, it was probably in my career, the worst decision I've seen. The worst. At Tor Habsfan, which sounds like an oxymoron, but ask Strongbow about that.

Yeah, it is very confusing. Ask Strongbow about that one. Did ask me, so his tweet was, can you ask him how's life without David Bastel? And do you see a future with him again? Well, first of all, the first part of the question is it's very difficult. I mean, basically, you're like brothers. And I said, I get very close with the people that I work with and very defensive about it.

And this one, I couldn't stop. No one could stop. Bell is who Bell is. And so they own the sandbox. They make that decision. We got no chance. And it's worth noting, this is one of many Bell Media, good Bell Media people who got pink slipped that month, if you will.

Hundreds. Yeah, hundreds. Hundreds. Mike Toth is actually one that we mentioned earlier, but many, many. In Ottawa, their television station, their radio station, they gassed, they almost stripped those stations bare. And so, I mean, at one point I'm thinking, well, I don't know if I survive. Sure.

Because if it's just purely numbers, maybe I'm gone too. So we didn't know. And again, having been through this many times, I just thought at this point in my career, I can't believe I'm dealing with this. I literally cannot believe we're dealing with this. The second part of it, oh, Dave and I would work together in less than a second. I literally cannot believe we're dealing with this. The second part of it, oh, Dave and I would work together in less than a second.

I mean, I talk to him. I'm not saying every day, but we're in communication constantly. Right. And yeah, we'd love to work together again because that was not our decision. Well, so yeah, there's a lot more here now.

There's a lot here. Now we start the podcast. Should I press record now? Yeah, go ahead. I'm ready. Since we have our pre-interview here. I'll just take a drink over here now. There's a lot here. Now we start the podcast. Should I press record now? Yeah, go ahead. I'm ready. Since we have our pre-interview here. I'll just take a drink over here. You go ahead there.

You pompous ass. Okay, so why did you come to TSN Radio 1050 for the Mike Richards show when the rumors were so strong? And like I said, names that you know and love were telling me you're coming to the Fan 590. Because it literally came down to an 11th hour decision. And my representation is J.P. Berry from CAA. So I can't do any better in entertainment or sports in the world than CAA out of Los Angeles. So J.P. is dealing with both sides. And mostly at that time, I'm dealing with Scott Moore at that point.

And also with both sides. And mostly at that time, I'm dealing with Scott Moore at that point, and also with TSN. So it's getting tough now because for Marc Millier, he's telling me what's going to come, Stu Johnson, what they want to do. And on the other side is the fan, where Scott Moore is, and I know what the fan is. Now, as the negotiations get closer, all of a sudden, Scott's kind of taken out of it.

And I don't mind talking openly about this. If Scott was here, he'd tell me what was going on as well. We have a great relationship. And I'm dealing with one of the Rogers guys. His name was Paulski. Maybe he's still there, I don't know. There was Paul, Chuck McCoy, all these other guys. And I can't get a hold of Scott.

And so then they said, well, would Mike stay in Calgary for, and all of a sudden all this money, money that they never had from me, all of a sudden it's falling from the skies. They're literally making it rain on me, but they want me to stay in Calgary. And, of course, JP goes, you're not getting this. TSN is offering him this, this, and this now. Now. And Mike is without his family. I should mention, for the six and a half years I was out there, my family was only there

in the middle, sort of two and a half. Because for the first couple of years, they weren't sure if, you know, is this the same old Mike Richards stories? Are they going to have enough? Or not let it, which was my thing, just let it grow. Don't get in the way, which was Kelly Kirsch's almost sole genius in that he provided for me whatever I needed, what he was able to get, scrounge up because he's in Calgary. He gave to me. He supported me 100%, always had my back. So they come out for the middle two and a half years,

but my son's going from high school, then a university, so he goes back to Laurier. So in that time, they have to go back. And so now I'm sort of caught in between. I'm caught in between. So what do I do? You you have on one hand what you know at the fan 590 there's an unknown with tsn 1050 i think on this podcast i'll tell you something that i've never said publicly this nobody knows when all of this is going on and including the stalking and everything else that's happened, I mean, the pressure is enormous on me. I come to a conclusion that maybe, just maybe, I should buy my own radio station. So I start to work with friends in the oil and gas industry,

of which I knew plenty. And I attempt to buy my own radio station. Wow. And I thought, if I can't beat it this way, then maybe I'll just do my own thing. Right. And it got close. Wow. Oh, it got real close.

This is in Calgary? No, this is in Calgary. Okay, wow. Yeah. And someone said, what are we going to call the station? Now, this is very fitting with the beer that I'm drinking right now. I'm going to call it Mike Richards FM. In that time, things were going so well, why wouldn't I?

Right, right, right. I wasn't going to have some clever name. It wasn't going to be the breeze or the mountain. I wasn't going to call it any of that stuff. I thought, you know what? But at the end of the day, the kid who actually sort of had the keys to the car was insane, and I couldn't get it from him. The next day, I'm on actually sort of had the keys to the car was insane. And I couldn't get it from him.

The next day I'm on a plane and I'm talking to Don Stevens in Toronto within 24 hours. Just because we had sort of set that up. And I meet Don kind of for the first time that summer in 2010. And there was nothing talked about. But he said, you know, if you'd like to come here, blah, blah, blah. And I talked to Don a little bit. And then throughout that fall, they were kind of forcing the issue a little bit. And I said, well, number one, for me, the money wasn't kind of right.

And then they said, well, if you don't take this, you're not getting the job. Well, then I'm not getting the job then. And JP's going, what are you doing? And then they bring in Andrew Crystal. Right. Yeah, so set that table. So Landry and Stelic were gassed at 590. That's correct.

And they were looking for, they were looking at you to be the replacement. They did bring in your buddy Lumby for like a summer internship. Like you just hold, keep the seat warm

until the, he knew going in, like this is just summer only. Yes. And then, you're right, the speculation was Mike Richards will get the gig and like after Labor Day

or whatever, and they end up going with Andrew Crystal. Correct. Yeah, because they said take the job or you're not getting it. And I said, well, I'm not getting it because I'm not coming.

And that was a big mistake. Well, yeah, it looked like it might have been. And then, again, in the negotiations between then and when the deal's kind of made, and it's literally just after New Year's when it comes, just after the World Juniors in Buffalo where they lose that terrible game to the Russians where they're winning, and then they end up losing. I remember that.

And so when I realized that it seemed at the time that the fan didn't have their ducks in order, it was on the advice of J.P. Berry, and talking also with Mark Millier, and Institute Johnson, who I have the utmost respect for, that I have to take that deal. Because at that point, now you're dealing with an hour of having to make a decision, and I had to make a decision.

And then you have to deal with all the angry emails from people who missed the simulcast of CP24 that used to be on 1050. And I said, that's the thing about taking this. There's a bunch of things with TSN 1050 that I probably did not take into account upon making this decision. Number one is just that people are creatures of habit. If you're not turning and programming 1050 into your radio. I'll say it for you.

When TSN radio starts on 1050, nobody has 1050 preset on their cars. Like nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Let's face it, in Toronto, if you need that quick hit of news

or whatever, you go over to 680 news, which is like, at least that's for radio. No one's listening to a simulcast of a television station on the radio. Nobody. It's insane.

And the ratings, you know, nobody's listening. So you're literally starting, starting the radio. Nobody. It's insane. And the ratings, nobody's listening. So you're literally starting from scratch against a longtime heritage sports radio station in the city. As I said, when I went to Calgary, they had dashes in the morning. There was nothing.

And so I came here as well, and it's the same old, same old. But it didn't faze me because I've always been someone that's fought a little bit against the odds, and I love a big challenge. But the challenge is much bigger than I had thought. And what I probably really didn't understand was that the difference between the ballots, the diary system, and the PPMs, the people meters. When I'm in Calgary, up to about five years and change, they show me being sometimes third, fourth, fifth in the market. And now I'm pissed because there's no, I know that I'm not.

Right. But I have to go with what the, the moment electrons come in and I had been there now for five years and change, within three months I go to, I'm number one. Right. So I just assumed coming here after a period of time because i don't know how long people can have meters that regardless of how it starts it's kind of where you finish so people are like hey it's been uh been four months it's dying painful death richard's terrible station nobody listens to i'm like well i thought well when we get the new meters in i don't know

was it like six months a year and i went went to my, at the time, the general sales manager, he said, six months or a year? No, no. Well, at first I thought it was three years. It's five. It's five years. So for five years, if you keep those meters, we're not getting anything.

Not a thing. I went, are you sure about this? Five years. So now you're at the point where when numbers come out, now, of course, I go back a couple of years when the show's actually on television, and it's still Brady and Walker, where they have a good book and the thing comes out. Well, I'm sitting there, I'm almost at a seven share,

which for me, if I'm at a seven share now, two and a half years into it, with I know only a fraction of the meters on my side, I'm going to do all right. I do fine. And since that time with the tinkering, um, and then of course myself being away for the three months in the summer at almost the exact same time, I went back to see when my surgery was, when the cancer, when I have the cancer surgery, like June 5 5th the Blue Jays go on like a 13 game winning streak

or whatever it was it was the perfect storm I'm not on and you know the Blue Jays even still people thought well if you do good coverage with the Blue Jays you'll do okay I'm like oh we can do great coverage which I think we do and at the time we have Dan Schulman we have Dirk Hayhurst

we have Steve Phillips and tremendous baseball conversations, but we don't have any meters. And anyone who does is listening to the fan and they're Blue Jay fans, especially over 35, because this is where you really see where the meters haven't come back. So we get decimated and people are like, wow,

how can they keep the, how can they keep the lights on? Yeah. Well, we still, the guys do a marvelous job of selling the station. See, people get confused about ratings and actual monies that come into the building. Higher the ratings, they can charge a better rate for the commercials. But they're still selling commercials. They're still, quite honestly, meeting their budget.

And if you're meeting a budget at Bell, you're doing pretty good because you know when people say I have to make budget, they're ridiculous targets. But our guys make them. So it's not like, wow, they're really taking a beating. No, we're not getting the returns on the ratings. It might be another, at least to my thinking, it's

another year away probably. I could be another year away. Okay, I got so many questions here. Firstly, you mentioned that seven you had or whatever when Walker and Brady Walker had that big spike or whatever. Yes. Because David Schultz was on the show, and he says his insiders tell him to ignore that book.

Have you heard this from Schultz? Yeah, well, but see, yeah. But this is where guys, go ahead. I hear that in the industry where they're like, well, that book was, whether it's too high, it's too ahead. I hear that in the industry where they're like, well, that book was... Whether it's too high, it's too low. It's like an outlier,

they'll say. The reality is with the handful of people who have those things in our demographic, there's sort of that numerous fake world that goes on and then there's everybody else.

This system sucks because do you... I guess you don't know a number, but do you have a feeling as how many people in your targeted demo actually wear this PPM device? Well, in my audience, I have literally zero. Look, if I went by the numbers, then they would tell me that over the age of 35,

I don't have anybody. But when we have a contest, everybody's over the age of 35. Real quick, I got gotta say, my buddy Murray, I cannot forget to mention my buddy Murray, he listens to you every day and he's in your targeted demo, by the way, and he absolutely loves

your Victor Newman. I just want to say, on behalf of Murray, thank you. I like that, Murray. Thank you, Murray. Having him in studio was hilarious. He coaches my son's hockey team. Oh, does he? He's a good guy. Very nice. He's a good man. Eric Braden comes in studio and that was crazy. I mean, studio was hilarious. He coaches my son's hockey team. Oh, does he? He's a good guy. Very nice. He's a good man. Eric Braden comes in studio. I heard, yeah. And that was crazy.

I mean, that was unbelievable. So the PPM, that's great there, but the PPM, which all I hear from people is that the system is flawed. Is there a better way? Because forever we're going to hear about TSN Radio versus Fan 590, and forever these shares, the percentage of shares, it's going to look very bad for your station. Yes.

It looks terrible now. Correct. That's correct. And Schultz will write an article for the Globe and Mail, and it'll say something like, I don't know, Blundell's got this, but look at Richard's at, like, whatever, 0.6, whatever the heck they say. So these numbers are out there. People think no one's listening to 1050,

which obviously can't be true. But is there a better way? Like, what do we do? I mean, they've worked on it in the States, Arbitron, which is their measurement company, where they still tinker away with what they had to do. In fact, when they first come out, that's when Pittsburgh's in a Super Bowl. Pittsburgh's in a Super Bowl. And, of course, if you're in a car or anywhere else,

the legendary voice in Pittsburgh's calling the game. And when the arbitrage numbers come overnight, they scored a zero. They were saying anyone between that age group, nobody listened to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. So it's insane. There are those sort of like you have to, at the end of the day, Mike, what you have to do is decide, number one, whether you're in the right direction, whether you're getting the kinds of feedback that tell you that the show is moving in the right direction.

And you stick with that. That's it. Don't overthink it. So if you've got a show like they've compiled Leaf's Lunch, for instance, that's the right mix of everything they're supposed to be doing. That essentially is a formula that they should not mess with because it's three guys in there. They got former players.

It's kind of a free-for-all. Brian directs the traffic. And then, of course, on top of that, they got two hours of television a day, which is the thing that pisses me off. I'll honest pisses me off so why did they take away the tv like well originally it did completely made sense because there was like 12 people who worked on that show yeah it was very much a television show and if you for those that watched it realized like i looked at the camera it it wasn't radio on tv it was it was a tv. So when I did gags or bits or whatever, you saw the faces and the mouths moved. And we did that, and for the most part, since we've been on the air, that 7 to 8 o'clock

hour, for our show, still dominates. Even to the fan club. Now, it may have changed now after the Blue Jays, but for even the years, what were we doing? So poorly. Not between 7 and 8, and that was our TV hour. Now, I'm not saying that TV necessarily because my audience, quite honestly,

anyone between the ages of 18 and 65, no guys are home. There's nobody home. You can't justify 12 people doing a show like that when there really is no television return. At the same time, they lose 12 years of

NHL hockey. They lose it to Rogers. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, it's a perfect storm of stuff between the baseball and the hockey. So once again, here's Richard. Richard's stepping on a limb. Is there a stalker back there? So I'm just sort of waiting. Oh, I got cancer now? Don't worry. I can beat it. Oh, man.

We're going to get to that big C here. Let me wrap up a few more quick questions here. So the coverage... First, let's go back to the coverage of the Jays for a moment. This J, this 20, I'm a lifelong Jays fan, but you know, I gotta admit,

you know, September baseball in Toronto, I could take it, you know, if I turned down free tickets in the past to September, to games that sit in the dome in September, I tune in sometimes, but usually not at that point in the season,

like, cause we're whatever, we're out of it. We're going to finish third in the division, whatever, whatever. So in 2015, at the trade deadline, things happen, and all of a sudden, this is, I call it the hype train. You can't resist the hype train.

No, you've got to do it. So you basically at TSN, was it ever considered, maybe we toned down our Jays coverage? Because you go big on Jays, which I know why you do, you kind of can't help yourself. But you're almost feeding the beast, the Rodgers beast almost, because the spillover effect,

whether it be the Wilner stuff and then the spillover to the morning show and everything on 590, that's a rising tide because of Blue Jays' fever. They got the games, basically. We're going to lose. As good a job as we do with baseball, and I really

think that we do, you're still basically, and this is the only way I can put it, I'm talking nicely about the guy who's sleeping with my wife. Right. That's right. That's kind of how that is. So it becomes very difficult, but it's why Rogers has spent billions

of dollars on a baseball team, on owning a facility, on owning 12 years of hockey. I mean, it all counts. It all matters because at some point it's, you know, with the synergy between all those things and when you're TSN 1050, the only thing that you can do at this point, which is how I go into it every single day, is I'm going to put on a show for all those people I know that are listening. Whether they are Blue Jay fans. I mean, to me, when we get to the sports, I think we do a very good job. And I think our insiders are excellent. But beyond that, we had Regis Philbin in yesterday. Regis Philbin.

And he says, to me, you do a great job. You do a great show. Some of that stuff I heard earlier. Who's doing all that stuff? I said, well, that's me.

He goes, I don't hear that very often anymore because he's old school. Yeah, he's from Vaudeville. So, I mean,

literally, it's like a puppet show he's doing. And so, to me, it's important when people say, yeah,

I like it when you do Charles Barkley, when you do Morgan Freeman. And Victor Newman was huge. So, you know, as the leafs turn, the soap opera that we do,

I'm still going to try to put on something for those that, you know, look, if you want to hear stats and you want X's and O's and you want to hear some nerd come on and talk about it for an hour, that's up to you. But I know probably deep down you're not my kind of guy anyway. We're probably not hanging out. Because I can only do that

for so long, even at a cocktail party. At some point, I get drained by talking about the third center for the Maple Leafs. At some point, I need more than that. This is a great segue to one of my big questions, which is, okay, see, originally you were against Brady and Walker, which is more

of a sports show. Well, it was Brady and Lang when I first met him. Right, yeah, right, right. With Jimmy. Brady and Lang, and then Lang's turfed, and then they bring in Walker from Calgary.

Yeah. And that's more of a sports show, I'd say. Absolutely. More of a sports show. Yeah. But, and you're not, so you're more of a fun

kind of a show, less, like you said, less like, let's talk about the Leafs power play for 20 minutes or whatever. But then they replace Brady and Walker with Dean Bl blundell yeah uh who's best known as the 102 guy for over a decade and i guess he's more like you i'd say in the sense that in the sense that he's not going too deep on sports whereas you said you could coach any sport

except cricket or maybe baseball yeah uh blundell couldn't coach any sport, that's safe to say. I don't think he's got a very deep sports knowledge. And, you know, the Blundell shtick is well known to those new from 102, but it kind of is what it is. What would you have rather been pinned, would you have rather be against Brady and Walker or Blundell?

Like, which would have been your preference to have on the other station? To me, I don't care. It's sort of like when you talk sports and say, okay, you're going to the semifinals. Would you rather be matched up against this team or that team? And they go, no, but really though, who's the easier beat? The thing with me, and this is the philosophy I took from Calgary because I had to prove it in a city that I'm not from,

is that I believe even for the hardcore sports guy, if you actually listen to the conversations I have with those that are insiders, those that actually cover the games, those that talk to general managers and coaches and players, if you hear me talk to any athlete that's on that show, the one thing that a lot of guys will say about me that have played in the sport, as much as I might goof around, that I still have the stink of the locker room on me.

It's still pretty evident. Either you played at a certain level or you've coached at a certain level. Right, and you can't fake that. Because you can't. I'm not a trivia guy. I'm not going to tell you who won something in 1977 necessarily. But if you come on my show,

for instance, we had assistant coach Nick Nurse on for the raps. First time I ever talked to him. We had a great guy. I found him very interesting simply because it's the first time I've met him. So it's like meeting someone for the first time i ever talked to him we had a great guy i found him very interesting simply because it's the first time i've met him so it's like meeting someone for the first time at a dinner party you don't just have these preconceived questions because i don't know the sport and go so do you think that no let me if you had your choice in the second quarter, would you play Kyle Lowry or Corey Joseph?

It drives me nuts. I don't want to talk about that. Robert Ori was in the other day, and I talked about the issue of being able to blend in with a team where you become a function within a framework that you've never previously never because a lot of players can go from one team to another and they're terrible because it's not done their way that's how they look at it so the the privileged athlete goes in there going they're not doing that they don't do it how michael richard mike richard says that's not the mike richard's way right robert ory wouldn't have seven championship rings if he wasn't the kind of guy that figured

a way on how to get. And I said, most of it to me, especially if we're talking about the association, comes from the fact that they're too immature. The one and done is a horrific decision to go to school for one year where number one, you don't have the maturity after that. I don't care if you work coach or you work for Coach Calipari or some of the great coaches, even Mike Jacewski. That's one year and you're what, 19? Do you remember

when we were 19? We're idiots. Yeah, yeah. Without a doubt. There's very few sort of men at that point. LeBron James is one of them. LeBron James is a bona fide, crazy entity, which I think I've never seen before. I'll go on record as saying that. The other thing is physical maturity.

These guys are going in, they're 6'7", 6'8". They're 190 pounds. But they're going up against a guy who's 260, who's a man, who's got kids, who gets yelled at by his wife every night. You're not moving him out of the paint. So we have to work extra years with these guys. And I think, overall, that's sometimes what

brings product down. That you have to be almost your own mini D league to develop these guys while the season is going on. So I mean, these are the kinds of conversations that I like to have. Right. And you can't fake those.

You either know it or you don't. Right. So do you think you're a better broadcaster than Dean Blundell? I don't know. Look, I've heard Dean probably more just from clips when he was on The Edge. Sure. Because when national, you know, they want to give away a prize.

So it's Guinness or Jameson or whoever it happens to be. At that time in Calgary, they said, well, it's between, we have to decide who gets to go over to Ireland or something or who wins the car. Well, it was never us, but it was always Dean Blundell. So I assumed that we were similar. So in some ways, I do understand why people would make that comparison, certainly back then,

because I was a lot rougher when I was in Calgary. This is almost kid gloves that I used to wear. Is this the kinder, gentler Mike Richards? Absolutely it is. Excuse me, I'm just going to have a drink of beer over here. The kind of Mike Richards who would go to a stranger's basement and... And drink his beer that he's never heard of.

Yeah, no. So for Dean, getting back to your original question, I don't care who they put on. Yeah, I guess so. When they make the change, though, from Brady and Walker to Blundell, it sounds like you're indifferent. You weren't... I was wondering, were you happy with the change or unhappy with that change? You were just indifferent. Here's what I know.

Yeah. That based on the information in terms of numbers and ratings, that there's going to be a pillow of five or six shares sitting there. It could be Hitler and friends. It could be Eva Braun and the breakfast flakes. It really wouldn't matter who's in there. They're getting that five or six. I could be in there. You could wouldn't matter who's in there. They're getting that five or six. I could be in there.

You could, well. Let's not push it. Ava Braun's better broadcaster than I am. I'm going to immediately be behind by five or six. At this point, historically,

in Toronto radio. Right. That's when I'm going to be behind. That's what I've come to understand. So that's built into the fact that 590's on presets

and people are creatures of habit and they've been there since whatever the early 90s or whatever. It's the Blue Jay, it's all heritage. And of course, the Signal, which is a 1 billion times better than ours. Right. But I worked at... So they sort of get that headstart and then you're sort of, then you compete for beyond, I guess. Now, under 35, which has been up until a certain point, it'd be like a bloodbath for me.

That was never close. That was my... Which in Calgary, I was always interested in 2534. Okay. Because those people at some point are going to have birthdays. And so if you rule the younger demo, once you get into years down the road, they're yours. Right.

Because for us, we had to start from zero. And so at this point, as I said beforehand, I don't think that I'm expecting really anything for probably another year, at least. Because April, in April, that would be the five years. So that's five years. So at some point collectively over the next year and change, those that have held onto them, and those guys over 40 do because it's shiny, it's electronics, where the 35-year-old guy, he has them for what?

A couple of months? That's enough. He doesn't need it anymore. What do they give you, a toonie or whatever it is when you keep those things? Where if you're a 45-year-old, they think it's a pretty cool thing. 35-year-olds, 25-year-olds don't care. No. So that's why the more turnover there is,

the better it is for me because they're refreshed all the time. Those other ones have cobwebs on them and they're not my people. They're just not. It's not that it's wrong.

People are allowed to like what they like. Right. But if I'm looking and saying, oh, they got great ratings, we have terrible ratings. Well, yeah,

and that's going to continue until it gets refreshed. And so we don't worry. And so we don't worry. I know we don't worry about it. This refreshing concept is new to me. Like, I just didn't even know. Look, Mike, if someone said, by the way, it'll take you five years before you get anything.

Five years? Okay, well, just don't change anything. Well, Bell wasn't even a conversation back when I signed on. I don't know who Bell is. I don't talk to Mr. Bell after a show. Bell doesn't tell me how to do a show. Alexander Graham Bell, I believe.

Well, you know, at some point, is it Kraft? Is it the Great Lakes Brewing Company that owns this? Actually, I kind of wish it was the latter, but I don't really have a... Like, in the day, you were owned by the Waters family,

which was all chump, or the Slates, which was standard broadcasting. We see the Shaws. We saw the, you know, there were like 30 companies that you could work for. Right. And they all had, you know, Allen's upstairs or, you know, whoever it happens to be. Someone who loved radio and had the purse strings.

Well, he built it from the ground up. It was his baby. And he is in the radio business because he loves radio. Those people are gone. Yeah, now shareholders and all that crap. Now shareholders. I'm dealing with human resources people. And you're okay. Here's the story. So when I have to give

my notice about what's going on with me, it's very awkward. I go to human resources. I have to give them a reason why I'm probably not going to be on the air. It's like a short-term disability thing. Yes. And why will you be off? And it was hard for me to say because it sounds weird coming out of your mouth.

I said, well, I'll be fighting cancer. And as soon as you say the C word, it all changes. And so the girl goes on. She said, well, Jim, if you could just sign this here. And Jim, if you could do this. I said, Jim Richards has cancer too? And it just sounded in their faces all random. Actually, I've never told you that story.

That's funny because I asked you earlier if we get confused. I had no idea it was the HR person. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jim Richards. Tell me then. Let's change gears here. Well, let me get a Twitter question from David Tindall, one of my new Patreons. I have to be nice to him

because he's paying real money for this. Good. Good for him. He wants to know how you measure success. This is like multiple choice. He's got four options here. Number one. Does he know I'm drinking beer? He's hoping you're drinking beer.

Number one, versus Dean Blundell? Number two, ratings. Number three, personal judgment. Or number four, leaders' comments. I guess that's like your boss and stuff. He wants to know, basically, this is a multiple choice question. Well, you know what?

It's not far off, because it's probably a little bit of all of them. You know, there's going to be an obsession with the other and the new sports station against the show that you're competing against. My biggest problem has always been, because we didn't do that in Calgary, obviously there wasn't another sports station, but there certainly was talk and there were some big stations there, that I said, it's about being and leading in the males 25, 54. So that's all stations.

That's everybody. And so at this point with where we're at now, understanding how numbers are gathered, you can't live in, like I used to every 30 days, if it didn't go well, usually, you know, there's some chair throwing, there's some anger. And, you know, honestly, I have let that go. I have to. Like if a new book comes out now, let's say the next book that comes out, like basically your expectations have been altered. You, you've got sort of, you,

you, you know what to expect now. So you're not going to freak out if the numbers are where they've been lately. Yeah. I mean, to me, I look for that progression and, and here's the other thing.

I don't see the details in the numbers that I used to since there's been a changeover. I mean, when, when, when, uh, it was,

I felt like I was working for TSN slash CTV, uh, and Rob Gray was here. I mean, when I felt like I was working for TSN slash CTV and Rob Gray was here, I mean, I'd get the numbers immediately. Like they'd give you the data dump and you could just, yeah, you could see it all. And now it's like my boss has to go look. Jeff McDonald has to go looking for them, which is insane, which is nuts. And you get some cherry picked. This is my little thing is I'll have a friend at Bell Media send me sort of, hey, the book's out. Hey, look at these numbers.

I'll have a different friend at Rogers will send me, hey, look at the numbers. They cherry-pick and spin to a point where you can make a claim. Every station is number one in this city. Hey, do you see what's happening with immigrant students between 15 and 17? We're number one. And there's one meter in that category.

So we have like 100 share. Ratings have always been something that you bicker and kind of fight about. Ultimately, you have to bow down to what that's going to be. So what I have to hope for is that Bell has, whoever these Bell people are, have an understanding that it will literally take. I've had this conversation with Dave Schultz. He's got an article coming out on me very shortly. Cool. That in order for me to make someone change the dial,

which I don't think really happens all that often. I think if you're a fan person, you will die as a fan person. You're loyal. You're loyal, and it's also the station of the Blue Jays. That is of significance. If that gets out of that guy's hand and goes into his next-door neighbor,

then now I got a chance. I got a real chance. In fact, I like my chances if that happens. But I have to be patient with that. In terms of self-satisfaction and sort of, that is key to me. Is it Dave we're addressing. So Dave, when I go to like the ACC, when I'm in a restaurant, when I'm walking down the street,

if I see tons of guys coming up to me and more, more when it was on television, obviously, which I still think is a big part of it that I'm going, okay, so if I truly am the, a two share or whatever they say that I am, whatever that number happens to be, that means of all these people walking by, then that's amazing because I am meeting only these. And the guys, if they're older than 35, it's a miracle. No one should know who I am. Right. And so, and obviously that's not the case. It's all the guys taking a piss at the ACC.

Well, it's a lot of peers, a lot of pooers. Very popular in that world. And so I'm never really, I don't overthink it that much. So I think it's a lot of peers, a lot of pooers. Very popular in that world. And so I'm never really, I don't overthink it that much. So I think it's a little bit of those things. The last thing I worry about is whether it's a Dean Blundell thing because at some point Derringer has the biggest number in that category.

So it's John. John is the one that's the king of that domain. In this demographic. In 2554. That's the guy you have to eventually, if you want to do what you're going to do, at least get closer to him. So in the meantime, when you're dwelling in the minutia that we have right now. The subset of subset here. I can't, you know, to say that you're going to take him on.

When? When's that going to happen? Well, in my mind, it's still years down the road. As I said to Dave Schultz, and he agreed, I don't think a lot of people change and go back and forth necessarily. But of those that are doing that, they don't have meters. They don't have the meters. So I can't control that, so I don't worry about it.

This whole refresh meters thing, I've got to dig deeper into that at some point. That's a whole separate issue because I had no idea that existed. You'd think that it would be in their best interest to have more meters? Well, more meters, and you can't have years, someone having it for years. That makes no sense to me. I even thought that, in my mind, I've done nothing but radio since I was, what, 22, 23, when I started 1050 Chum. But it never dawned on me that at some point 27 guys yeah yeah put in these would have these little boxes and they would predetermine i mean determine how popular i am it's got and it's it's so ripe like there'll be make a movie about the corruption like let's say 27 guys right

one of those guys just it's revealed this guy's got a meter, you know, some kind of back alley. Here's a wad of unmarked bills, okay? You're just going to park that next to, I'll make up a statement, park it next to Zoomer 740 AM. Just let it sit there. Next thing you know, there's a big spike, and, you know, the Zoomer's taken off.

With the young men, that's the big irony here, yeah. Well, as I said, you know, so Numeris has their way of gauging. It's the system that we all have to work with, so I can't just complain that things aren't going well for me. So what? So when things go well,

then I turn around and say to you, what? Mike, you won't believe the numbers I had. You have to balance it, both the high and the low, and at the end of the day, as Dave's asking, it's got to be that personal satisfaction that you're doing a good job. Personal judgment. So you're picking number three. Yeah.

Hey, let's get serious here for a moment. So you've alluded to it a couple of times. So right off the bat, right now, we're an hour and 30 minutes in. I'm going to ask you, how are you feeling these days health-wise? How are you feeling? Oh, no, I feel fine. I'm a little tired. And that probably

has more to do with... Drinking in the morning will do that to you. And a one-man show for three and a half hours. Which sometimes I don't know if they realize what that's like, because I'm the only guy doing it. Literally, I don't know who else sits by themselves for three and a half hours. Yeah, because all the other guys who are doing that are playing music

for most of the hour. It's music. That would be a dream. Maybe I'll start doing that. Because Stu Jeffries, he says, he talks for like whatever, 30 seconds and then you play three songs. It's not a bad living. It's not a bad living. I think I really last, I guess probably February, January, February, March, when I'm taking chemo and radiation every day.

But I never missed an hour of my show. I didn't miss... There might have been one time where I had to get down to Sunnybrook early. And, you know, so I kind of slowed down a little bit, but not as much as after having the surgery in June. And June and July were really ruthless. I mean, I didn't realize how difficult that would be.

And actually sort of cutting the tumor out. Right. And then I've taken chemo from the end of August all the way up to Grey Cop, Grey Cop Day. Right. That was done. And that's the time I really felt some huge fatigue. It does, it's not nausea, but it just makes you feel really kind of awful.

And so those were hard. So, of course, that was everything. I didn't miss a day. I haven't missed a day since. And then, of course, on top of that, then doing the show alone for three and a half hours, a little bit of a challenge. So now I'm just waiting.

I have an ostomy bag. So there is, instead of, it's all plumbing now. We're just talking plumbing. So they've made a little bypass that comes out into what they call the pouch. Just kind of to the right of your navel and a little down below. That's where that exists. It bypasses going out the main chute that we're all used to. Right.

So now that they have eliminated all cancer, so that's all gone, and they've got rid of the tumor, now they have to reattach the plumbing. And so I go from outdoor plumbing back to indoor plumbing. And so I have something this, it is January the 29th on a Friday. And so they have to essentially go in because the colon kind of closed over a little bit. But to reattach these pipes, there's got to be enough room where your solids are going to go through it. So I said, what does that mean? Well, Shadi Ashermala, who is my surgeon, said they put a line in there,

and then it inflates like a balloon. You're going to put a balloon up my ass. What, did you go to clown school? Is this a circus hospital? Who does that? In fact, but that's what's happening. So it has started to open up again. And so, you know, you can only do it once a month.

So I'm hoping at some point it's open enough where they can make everything reattach because I still don't want to miss any days. Every day that I miss is difficult on my radio station. And every day that I'm not on, it gets a little closer to the Blue Jays throwing another first pitch. So your only hope is that they have a terrible start to the season and they're sellers at the deadline.

Goodbye, Edwin. Goodbye, Bautista. And hello, Mike Richards Show. But see, it would still have to be people's interest. Let's say they lose every game for a month. Yeah. They're still Blue Jay fans. I'll tell you as a guy, I'll tell you right now, because I remember the 2013

season, my brother told me, we're going to the World Series, because we had just done a bunch of big moves and stuff going into 2013. I can't remember the exact record, but it was an underwhelming start. And I could hear my neighbors jumping off the old bandwagon and stuff and just trust me when I tell you that Blue Jays fever of 2015 that was a special thing

and if we get off to a terrible start in 2016 I suspect it'll go back to the the way it was that for interest like it doesn't just jump off the cliff it will still in my personal opinion it will be that's why I'm saying, the better part of a year before I see probably what are a little more realistic. And I think, you know, when people ask me about, you know, the fan, at the end of the day, you either like one style over the other. So I look at TSN, it's definitely

a younger sounding station. You know, if I look at sort of guys' guys, I look at Leafs Lunch, I look at what my show is. You know, if you like that style I look at what my show is. If you like that style, that's where you end up. If you want more X's and O's, if you want more straight kind of sports talk, then it's probably the fan for you.

So when the wash comes out, it might even be down the road a 50-50 proposition. You get this style on one side, you get this style on the other, and it may not be that different. It may not be that different. Yeah. I'm like when the squirrel goes by the dog and up or whatever,

with my ADD here or whatever. But, yeah, I'm trying to get – okay, so back to the plumbing. So in the – by the way, it's a lot like plumbing. And the fun fact is Murray, the aforementioned Murray hockey coach, he's a plumber. There you go. There he all comes from. Maybe I need Murray.

He'd do it. He'd love to do it. Hey, so you're going to do the surgery on the 29th of January. Well, it'll be a procedure. A procedure. And then waiting for... So you're not going to miss any time. It's a Friday and you're going to be back at work on the Monday?

Yes. Wow. Yeah. And when we do have the surgery and the actual reversal, that will probably want me to take some time off. Okay. Because at that point, the way it's going to work is for the first time in almost a year

the exit is now open and everybody's welcome. That'll be exciting. You've got to film that. No waiting. No waiting. And so we'll see how long it takes me to actually work the plumbing to make sure that it's contained. A live to air

event. You've got to make some noise about that one. So when you first found out you had cancer, though, take me back to that. Is it a doctor who tells you? I've heard some horror stories with how close friends of mine

have learned they had cancer. Okay, here's the oddest thing. Because I hadn't been to a doctor in forever. And so a good friend of mine, Tony Luchisano, was at the time working at TSN. He goes, when's the last time you went to a doctor? I went, well, likeasano, at the time working at TSN, he goes,

when's the last time you went to a doctor? I went, oh, like junior hockey camp. It's been a long time. Wow. And so we go and we see Dr. Bernie Gossowitz, who's sort of the doctor for both Rogers. He's at the Rogers campus. He's kind of a famous doctor. He is the doctor for the Rogers family, including Ted all those years. He's a very well known physician. So we're talking and I'm joking around and then he looks at me and said, why do you think you're here? Like if you really didn't want to come,

you wouldn't have come. I'm like, well, and then the joke stopped and then the fun's over. And I said, well, sometimes, I can be as graphic as you want. Yeah, be graphic. Okay, so when any sort of bowel movement, it comes with a lot of mucus, and a lot of it was a pinky color. He goes, okay, and says, Sandra, you know, he books me at a colonoscopy clinic.

Okay. Here's the crazy thing about this. Yeah. It's at 40 Holly Street. Oh, wow. I go, what? it's at 40 Holly Street. Oh, wow.

I go, what? I said, that location has been up my ass more times in my lifetime than I'd like to admit. That's perfect. And so the guy who does it, the doctor who does this particular, the colonoscopy, brings me in. But this is after a while. I've been there like a long time,

and he's avoiding me. He's not looking at me in the eye. Right. I'm like, okay, well. And then he said, please come into my office. He looks at me and goes, I have some very, very bad news for you. That's how he says it. You do?

I think it's more than likely you have cancer. And then he sits there and he stares at me. it's more than likely you have cancer. And then he sits there and he stares at me. And, and, and, well,

like what things? What are we going to, and that's what it was. And I felt like saying, I'm going to go back and say, look, in terms of communication, the reason I'm there in the first place is because my doctor believes

there is something there. What you need to say is, here's what we found. That's your first sentence. Right. Not, I have some very, very bad news. This is four days before Christmas.

So I have to go down in the lobby, and I'm hearing Paul McCartney's Simply Having a Lovely Christmas. And my son comes in, who's, you know, we're very close. And he goes, so? And now I've got to tell him. Yeah. That was the hardest moment of my life. That was the hardest moment of my life that was the hardest moment of my life and then two days later my sister-in-law who's fighting cancer will sit in

our living room and tell us that she's not going to make it that she's gonna die yeah yeah that was my Christmas a year ago and at the same time when this was book that I had to write had to come out so I had to write during all this stuff it was was not an easy time. It was not an easy time. Man, I mean, I've heard, like I said, that at least you heard it from a doctor. This is a doctor. I mean, I've just heard some stories about the diagnosis as an answering machine message, by the way.

Terrible. Two episodes ago, there were a lot of tears shed on this show. We were talking about my buddy who died of esophageal cancer at 32. He gets a phone call to say, I don't remember, some receptionist type lady saying, sir, the results of your tumor have come back and it's malignant. And my stupid friend confuses the word benign with malignant. So you can imagine basically he's happy to hear this news and he phones his wife with the good

news and she's like, you need to call them back it's like and then there's that moment like even telling the story it's like that moment so at least you got to hear it you know he's got terrible bedside manner your doc over there you gotta shake him a little bit you know but at least you didn't you know get a phone call in 24 hours less than 24 hours before i'm off so that was a thursday on the friday so i'm back on the air uh get a call from bernieett. She goes, so what did he say? He goes, no, no, no. He goes, okay, yeah, you do. You do. But it's where I thought it was. It's in the lower rectum. It's this, it's that. He goes, I'm pretty sure we have it in time. Then fast forward about a month, in fact, January

20th, because in the wee hours of that morning as I'm going in, my sister-in-law, Sharon, passes away. Oh, no. So now I'm sitting in the same chair that I used to go with her in Sunnybrook waiting for this surgeon that I've never met before. His name is Shadi Ashamal, and he talked to me. This is as clear as you can imagine he did it. He shows me a piece of paper. He showed me a piece of paper.

He said, do you see this? On one side it says palliative. On this side it says curative. Trust me, you don't want to be on this side where it says palliative. You don't want to be on that side. Do you see what I've written over your name? He goes, 100% curable. Beautiful. And you can only imagine

the emotion at that point. And I literally don't ask any more questions after that. And as I'm talking to him, because he really is quite an awesome guy, he's at what he does with laparoscopic, so the minimally invasive surgeries. So as I'm listening to this, I'm going, I'm going to start a foundation. He goes, yeah, yeah, fine. No, no, no, I'm going to start a foundation.

We're going to have all these celebrities will show up. He's like, you right now, we have to cure you of cancer. I don't want to hear about your golf tournaments and your swank parties or whatever it's going to be. Now, of course, at the end of it, that's exactly what's happening. So I have started a foundation. The paperwork is endless. Revenue Canada, because of Transparent.

I thought it would be done way before Christmas. It's still going. Wow. It's still going. What's easier, buying a radio station in Calgary or starting this foundation? It might be the radio station. I don't know. And so it's called The Decision Is

Yours. And so the website will be The Decision Is Yours. So is it live now or is it coming soon? It's coming soon because we have to make sure everything's done. And so there's myself, my business partner, Scott Sutherland, Shadi Ashamala, who is the leader of this. He has a great name, by the way. That's a great name. He's fantastic. And a huge Blue Jay fan, who is the leader of this. He has a great name, by the way. He's fantastic.

And a huge Blue Jay fan, so it's a little irritating. And we've got some huge names that are also going to join on the board of directors, which I'm just thrilled about. And then any one of these guests that have come on the show lately, including Eric Braden and Regis Philbin, the first Black Tie Dinner, they want to be there. Wow, that's big names. Yeah. Do I get antie dinner, they want to be there. Wow. That's big names. Yeah.

Oh, it's going to... Do I get an invitation? You can, absolutely. You can broadcast from there. Can I expense my rented tuxedo? You can do whatever you want. You send me the bill, I'll pay it.

That's funny. How old were you when you... So you get symptoms first, as you explained, and then you go in and you do your colonoscopy. How old are you at this point? I'm 52 now.

So I was 51 last year. How old are you supposed to be when you get... now. So I was 51 last year. How old are you supposed to be when you get... I'm 41. And I do see, unlike yourself who ignore doctors for decades, I actually pretty regularly, almost once a year, I go to my doctor just to get a checkup and he does the blood work or whatever. But I've never had a colonoscopy. When does that start? If it's not in your family, I would say 45 is probably a good number. So you got this. The good news, the bad news is you got cancer.

The good news is it's 100% curable. Correct. Like a lot of times, you catch it in time. A lot of times, it is. That's the catch it in time is the question. But you caught it after a symptom appeared. Which I ignored because I thought, maybe my diet's not that great.

Sure, it's the beer you're drinking every morning. Whatever it happens to be. Maybe too much wine. Whatever it is, the meat. Who knows? And then at some point, it just can't be ignored. And of course, my sister-in-law is going through it. And the worst fact of all, which is completely my fault, is how my Aunt Betty died. You know, those people who know this name,

Gunnar Kinnear, Guy Kinnear, who was the Leaf trainer for I don't know how many years with Harold. Probably about 30- some odd years. That's his wife. She passed away from that. It's been in my dad's side of the family, my Uncle Bob, prostate. And yet I just was living my life, going on, thinking everything's okay. It was close.

When I said to Shadi, so we got it in time? He goes, yeah, we got it in time. He goes, so you got it early? He goes, oh, no, we did not get it early. Well, how long has it been in me? Probably six to eight years. Wow. Six to eight years.

I had just gone to Calgary. Yeah? It was in me. So if you had, let's say you had got a colonoscopy eight years prior, let's say at 45 you get a colonoscopy, they would detect it then? They would have been able to detect this then? Yeah, sure.

Oh, yeah. Probably was a polyp. I'm just thinking how many guys are listening right now who just don't, like, I can see this as a guy thing, like, not to see a doctor. Of course it is. Women will address their problems

where guys will go, I can take it, and that's me. I mean, I am very typical of almost every single guy that you'll ever know. Yeah, you play in pain and all that stuff. Yeah, it's like, that's okay, it will clear am very typical of almost every single guy that you'll ever know yeah you play in pain and all that stuff yeah it's like that's okay we'll clear up and look it's not blood it's not blood and i have no pain and i haven't lost any weight and all these other things that i assumed but you don't know in fact this would have gone on to kill me probably within

i don't know what period of time but i was playing with that kind of time frame when he said six to eight years i just i i couldn't believe because I would have just been going to Calgary. It would have been appallant. They just would have gone boink, and that would have been it. So there's a great, if we're going to learn something from you, by the way,

you look great. Oh, thank you. You know, you look, yeah, my only fear is if after I stop recording, you're going to rough me up a little bit,

you know, so hope everything went okay. But if anybody's going to take anything out of this episode, it's that if you're, what you said, 45, talk to your doctor. First of all, talk to your freaking doctor. I always say to some people, I don't like my doctor. Get another doctor. Get a doctor you trust and like. Now, here's the other thing, Mike, I would

say is a difficulty is if you're new to an area, try finding one. Because that was my thing because I was out, I live out in Curtis. So I'm out in the Durham slash almost Clarington area. No one was going to take me on. Of course, I look once and then I'm done, I live out in Curtis, so I'm out in the Durham slash almost Clarington area. No one was going to take me on. Of course, I look once and then I'm done. I'm done with this. My wife would sort of try to

find them, but... That's a problem. It's a huge problem. And if it wasn't for me probably working at TSN because originally when I called, they weren't going to take me either. I said, no, no, I work at TSN. They're like, oh. Then it got done. But I'm telling you, it was very, very close. Very close. So if you may, even, no, I work at TSN. They're like, oh. Then it got done. But I'm telling you, that was very, very close.

Very close. It might require a little commute to your doctor. If you find a doctor, I like a guy. He's in Thornhill of all places. Look where I am. I'm by the lake here. My guy's in Thornhill. You're right. This doctor thing is an issue we're going to have to address. But you trust your doctor. Know your doctor. If he recommends

his colonoscopy at 45, get the damn thing done. Get it done. And if anything, it's peace of mind. If it's not in your family, you probably won't need another one for five years. So good. In four years when I get mine, I'll document the process for everybody so they can hear how simple it is. I'll go with you. We'll bring beer.

That's beautiful. We just won't go to the guy that I went to. Sponsored by Great Lakes Brew. Yeah, we'll go somewhere else. Hey, man, in that book you were writing here, that's beautiful. We just won't go to the guy that I went to. Sponsored by Great Lakes Brewing. Yeah, we'll go somewhere else. Hey, man, in that book you were writing here, that book you were writing is called A Hundred Things Everyone Else Is Wrong About. Yes. Yeah, that was something that was proposed to me by Penguin Publishing.

So it was more of almost like an assignment. It certainly was not my idea, and I'm way too lazy to think that, oh, yeah, people need to read a book that I've written. People are like, you're writing a book, you haven't read one. Yeah, you shouldn't read. How is that even possible? Yeah.

So it was a challenge. It was tough. It was tough, but it was a, you know me, I do like a challenge, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Wicked, man. Yeah. Any final parting words of wisdom?

This was amazing. Great to meet you and just you're very open and honest, which I love in a guest. Sometimes they come in and toe, sometimes you're very open and honest, which I love in a guest. Sometimes they come in and toe. Sometimes they're very careful not to burn a bridge, or they're very careful not to say anything wrong about anybody, and it comes off kind of bland and milquetoast or whatever, but you were like raw and authentic.

Well, I hope so. I mean, it's a great medium. It's a great, you know, the fact that people podcast. You know, there's a communication with people who are like-minded. So, you know, they get to hear things that a lot of it I will say on the air, but there's been stuff

this morning that I don't think I've ever said. So credit to you for bringing that out. Credit the beer. Yeah, and Great Lakes. Pompous ass.

Yeah, pompous ass. Great Lakes Brewing. And that brings us to the end of our 156th show. I was 156th? You were 156th. Like I said, those fuckers at TSN.

That's sad. Where'd you finish, Richards? Oh, I was behind Toto the Miracle Dog. Barry Taylor's 420 thought, then, of course, Mick Richards. Hey, listen, still ahead of Blundell here. There we go. Hey. All righty, that's a win.

So you can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike. And Mike is at Mike Richards TSN. See you all next week. Bye. And I don't know what the future can hold or do for me and you But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because