Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Quarterly Sports Media Roundtable: Toronto Mike'd #981

Episode Date: January 7, 2022

Mike is joined by Hebsy on Sports's Mark Hebscher and Fast Time Milon as they discuss all the changes in the Canadian sports media landscape over the past three months. They discuss the New York Times purchasing The Athletic, the Lou Marsh Award name change, Brian Williams, Rod Black, Leo Rautins, Michael Landsberg, Jim Hughson, the Fan 590 overhaul, the new 1050 morning show, gambling in sports media and so much more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Patrons like you.

Welcome to episode 981 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels,

tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma pasta in Mississauga and Oakville Ridley funeral home pillars of the community since 1921 and patrons like you become a toronto mic patron today at patreon.com slash toronto mic i'm mike from toronto mic.com and joining me for our quarterly sports media roundtable is the host of hebsey on Sports, Mark Hebbshire.

Hello. And Fast Time Milan. Hey, guys. Happy New Year, everyone. Happy New Year. Hebzy, nice to see you again. Long time no see, buddy. You just love talking sports, don't you?

Let's tell the people that we literally just wrapped another excellent episode of Hebzy on sports with a fantastic guest today. I'm like, I just fell in love with the guy during our chat and Ann Burke joined us today. You didn't, you weren't aware of his, not his presence,

but how popular he was. No, I guess not on my radar. Like he is on most sports fanatics radar, but just that taste of him today. I'm like, this is the kind of guy I want to hang out with. Yeah, he's a cool guy. Yeah, very good guy.

And it was an interesting discussion. And what can I tell you? You know, we, us Canadians, you know, we do pretty, pretty good when we go down to the U.S. when it comes to performing, I guess. And Adnan was, he was a natural. He was on ESPN for nine years. And then they, you know, bizarrely let him go

for what seemed to be just like a very insignificant mistake. You know, something that could easily be corrected. And anyway. Well, he explained. Listen to the podcast. Listen to the podcast. He tells the story better than me. Well, let's, yeah,

people can hear that story, but I think listening to him tell the story, it sounds like Adnan got fucked over pretty good. Like, I feel like he got, that's a screw job. What do you think, Milan? Do you agree with me? Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. You know, he's a former wrestling guy, so it's the same realm as the Bret Hart screw jobs. Oh, we talked about that. Yeah, yeah. So the same realm as the Bret Hart screw jobs in this situation. Oh, we talked about that. Yeah, yeah. So our last episode with all three of us

was In My Backyard, and that was back on September 10th, 2021. And just to let the listeners know, Milan, who is triple vaxxed, like myself, and showing no symptoms, I felt his forehead,

there was no fever, and Milan is in my basement, but we got the great Hebsey live from your home studio in Little Italy. Thanks for joining us, Hebsey. Sure. I'm also triple vaxxed. And that's good because this thing's so contagious. It can travel through the Zoom, I heard.

It's that contagious. All I know is I've been wearing the N95 or the KN95, like in the presence of anybody, like anyone that comes within, you know, 20 feet of me, I guess. And I feel better that way.

I like these masks and I wish, I really wish when this all started, someone's voice above everyone else's said, look, these cloth masks, you know, think about it. No layer of filter covers your mouth. Someone's voice above everyone else's said, look, these cloth masks, think about it. No layer of filter covers your mouth.

Come on. Because at the time, we thought it was droplets. But I think it was until Omicron. I think it was droplets and then Omicron is airborne. Well, remember the big craze back in March of 2020 was all about the gloves. Masks didn't even come into play until the summertime.

Look, my wife was washing down the food when it arrived from No Frills or Walmart or wherever the heck. And that didn't last very long. I think by April 2020, we were done with that. We were trying everything. We were trying everything. Who knew? The mail? Remember the mail?

Oh, yeah. No, it was scary times, Marchnd. And then I broke my wrist, but we won't get into that. So guys, this is essentially a lot of the changes that have happened in the Canadian, we'll focus on Canadian sports media since September 10th, 2021. There's a lot of stories, but because we just talked about Adnan

getting kind of screwed over at ESPN, I just want to point out, I only just learned this. Maybe you knew this, Hebsey, but it was mentioned actually by Adnan on your show this morning. Nabil Karim has hosted his last show with ESPN. Does anyone know anything about the fact that he's no longer at ESPN? Do I know anything? Yeah, like did you hear that?

Oh, I know. It's a fact. It's on his, yeah, it was on his Twitter feed. His last show was, you know, New Year's Eve, I guess it was. And it's on his yeah it's on it was on his twitter feed his last show was uh you know new year's eve I guess it was and uh you know coming soon he hasn't revealed anything but obviously he's got a project that he's involved in in some way shape or form and he'll make that announcement when the time comes but there didn't seem to me to be any you know um that he was fired or he had done something wrong or that type of thing. I just, I don't know what opportunity, I don't get ESPN as most Canadians don't.

Right. So I don't know to what degree he was anchoring, what, you know, gigs he was doing. And there's many ESPN channels. There's ESPN Plus, there's ESPN 2, ESPN 5. You know, there's just so many different shows that they do that I'm not sure. I know he was doing some anchoring on SportsC that they do that i i'm not sure i know he was doing some anchoring on sports center but again uh i'm not sure of what happening and i guess we're going to find out soon but it is interesting that you know and and actually

referenced this as well but there was a time not that long ago when uh you get that gig at espn and that's top of the food chain like for any uh sports media person that's sort of the the goal to get yourself on espn. And he did that. And now it appears after only a few years at the network, he's going to do something else. And I think that's a quick turnaround there. Yep, it is. But that's the nature of the business, especially nowadays.

And, you know, I'm so far removed from it. I really am glad because I don't think I could handle the day-to-day, um, operations in a, in a TV station that I used to work at, let's say global or sports net or whatever, right. With all this doom and gloom, people getting fired people. And for, you know, different reasons too, right. Like talented people getting let go, people making good salaries that had been there a long time, let go in, you know, in, in previous generations

would have been in the prime of their career where that knowledge and experience and, and what do they call it? Curating. Right. Curating like, oh, I know who that person is. Oh, I've seen that person. I know that person. That's all gone out the window now. It's all about the bottom line now. And it doesn't matter. You know, oh, you know, there's not enough of a hue and cry from people going, hey, we like that person. Bring them back.

Right. Those days are the Ron McLean days. Ron McLean's a great example. He was the last one. If you leave sports media, of course, there's the infamous Aaron Davis situation where they fire her from CHFI and then there's such outcry that Julie Adam realizes she has to bring back Aaron.

Shout out to FOTN. It's called misreading the room. Right. And so that's when a smart company realizes that it had made a mistake and quickly reverses its decision, which in the eyes of the public. OK. Right. But the individual is responsible or the corporation goes, oh, we don't public more to the point where now, you know, like Rogers, for example, there's a lot of people that are really upset at Rogers for, and Bell, I guess, for firing people, for not being upfront, for making all those millions of dollars for their, you know,

shareholders and still cutting back. And it didn't used to be like that. Like you didn't hate, you might've hated an organization because they, they didn't get the players you wanted to win the championship. That's natural for sports fans. But you know, when you're going after the broadcasting company, the people that like, you know, pay the bills and do the hiring and firing, you know, a lot of that has become just a daily discussion. You know, why is that person on the air? Where did that person come from? Why are those people on that panel? What happened to so-and-so? How did that person get that job? You know, all that stuff. You know, I tell you, I liken it to, they made a big deal about the all-female broadcast last year. And I can't remember if it was the basketball game or the

hockey game, but it was a big, big deal. And a lot of the females did a lot of tweeting about it. Hey, this is like, you know, this is a history being made. I thought about it. It was a one-off game. The next game, it was all the regular announcers, the male announcers for the most part. But the thing is, is that had they really wanted to make a big deal out of it and show. Instead of showing the three or four or five or six female commentators, was the rest of the crew and everyone else involved also female? The answer is no. No, it wasn't an all-female.

It was a female, all-female broadcast for those who were on camera. But the director wasn't a female, and the technical director wasn't a female and the switcher wasn't a female. You know what I mean? Is there anyone Hebs here and Mike, do you guys see anyone in the current either sports media or media scene in Canada? Who's an untouchable?

Like I thought when Don Cherry was let go, I thought there'd be more of a Havalu and there was really nothing. Well, no, because what happened was the, you know, it was a perfect, that it was a perfect storm that Don's timing could not have been worse. Right. It just, you know, and it was at the time, think about,

think about Harvey Weinstein, think about Me Too, think about everybody, you know, coming out and saying, look, this is wrong in so many ways. Just the awareness. Milan, you know this as much as anyone too. You know, people are perceived a certain way. You have to change those stereotypes and you're either part of the problem or you're part of the solution. And Don Cherry was not part of the solution. He wasn't part of the let's open our eyes

and look at people as they are as human beings. And because of that, you know, he was an easy target. But 10 years ago, does that happen? He's probably protected still. No, no, no. Of course it doesn't. No, not 10 years ago. Not five years ago.

Right, right. Not five years ago. Not in 2017. Probably not. But is there an Aaron Davis or Ron McLean equivalent today? No, no, no, no. Because it's a different business now. People can wake up to, they can have their favorite YouTube show on in the morning. They can be listening to the local radio station on their way to work or dropping the kids off at school.

But there's less and less of that because there's less people driving to work and dropping their kids off at school. People are finding other alternatives uh and it's not a time specific thing you know once that's out of your system and it's like i need to know the traffic i need to know the weather i need to know you know the news updates and the sports updates and or i need to listen to my favorite uh radio show for you know five in five or whatever the contest they play and i love when they talk about their kids and cooking you You know, a lot of that, a lot of people are finding different ways to listen or watch their favorite people. Right. And not just, no, I got nine 30 in the morning. So-and-so's on, Hey, whenever you want on demand, go ahead and watch it when you want to. So I think

our habits have changed a lot of cord cutters. The only thing people really watch live on television, with the exception of, I don't know, Survivor or whatever, is live news and live sports. Right. Everything else you can stream, watch when you want to, on demand. All right, my friend, there's so much ground to cover here, but I'm going to start with what might be the biggest story in sports media, which actually broke yesterday. So it's very timely. But the New York Times has purchased the Athletic for 550 million bucks. I was going to ask you on Hebsey on Sports, but we had so much else on the docket there. But I'm curious for your take, Hebsey,

and then you, Fast Time Milan. But what does that mean for us here in Toronto? What does it mean, New York Times buying the Athletic? It means even less coverage of the Toronto teams. Which is why I gave up my subscription because I wanted to read John Lott, Andrew Stoughton. There's a few others I can't think of.

But I mean, this is the reason that I subscribe to the Athletic. Do I need all these stories from Seattle? Yeah, I like Ken Rosenthal's stuff, of course, but I'm not sure they even have a great national, you know, they're that great, a bunch of national writers. And that's national meaning the U.S. writers too.

So it just didn't do it for me. There are certain guys that I liked, you know, and again, baseball season, I wanted John Law. I loved his articles and his photography as well. Very knowledgeable guy right so um i think there's going to be less i think you know because their idea of you know being in every local city that was the athletics um idea new york times now they probably have a totally different vision of it and isn't it ironic that when the athletics started their two owners basically said we're going to suck all the newspapers dry of all their talent different vision of it. And isn't it ironic that when the athletic started,

their two owners basically said, we're going to suck all the newspapers dry of all their talent. We're going to bleed them dry. Isn't it ironic that the whale now has been swallowed up by the, has swallowed up the little fish that was trying to cut up the whale. It's just, they wanted it. You know, they basically were like, no, no, we'll, we'll get all the great New York Times writers come and work for The Athletic. I don't think so.

Didn't quite happen that way. So I don't know what's going to happen there, man. Yeah, it's interesting to see what will happen next now. What does the New York Times do? They've been one of the few successful publications, right, that have transformed to a digital, you know. They've got 8 a half million subscribers. They want to have 10 million by 2025. So that's very achievable.

And now that you've, you know, acquired the athletic, which they say is going to lose money for the first three years or four years. It makes sense. You know, the owners are going to walk away with a nice chunk of change. Sure. Nice chunk of change, which was the plan all along, I'm sure. Well, there's been a lot of collateral damage too. Again, people left their jobs or maybe not left great jobs, but some people came to the athletic thinking,

hey, this looks fantastic, great business model, and I'll be following the teams and doing all that. And then I don't know how many years John Lott and Stoke were, three years, Whatever it was. So, who knows what's going to happen with this incarnation, you know, under the New York Times banner. So I've been reading as much analysis as I could

find on this, which again is a very new story. This only broke yesterday. First of all, the money, the $550 million, nobody knows. It's a total speculation. But, okay, regardless, it sounds like new york times is going to basically utilize this the athletic subscriber base to bundle in their news coverage so right again this will sound like sort of the same reason i you know we don't have an nfl

franchise in this city it's because we're in the wrong country right so new york times like are are they do they really care about the canadians, I know there's a great deal of Canadians amongst the athletic subscribers, but I think you touched on this, Hebsey, that I think the American markets will be well served by this maneuver. I just worry for us who love to read the Toronto analysis.

You'll get it in the Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail is the official carrier of the New York Times in Canada, right? Will the New York Times in Canada, right? Yeah, but will the New York Times care about this market considering it's not

in the USA? Probably not. I don't think they're going, geez, you know, we got to get more subscribers in Canada. Although, I mean, I'm a subscriber. I think their stuff is fantastic. They have the greatest archives in the world, the history of English-speaking newspapers, as far as I can tell.

The New York Times you're speaking of. Yeah, absolutely. 100%. Who's left from a Toronto perspective, Ibsy? What do you mean? On The Athletic. I'm not a subscriber, so. See, I'm not either.

Oh, okay. And the reason is, I told you, no John Lott, no Andrew Stone. I know they love their baseball coverage, but not just during baseball season. Right now in the athletic, Lott would have a fantastic article, and Stoughton, on the way they're sending out the information on the ballots, the real-time ballots being turned in to see whether Clemens and Bonds are going to make it.

I find that to be fascinating. You used to have to wait to find out. But now there's a couple of guys that in real time will present the ballots that were just handed in and show you the ballots of these guys. I think it's fascinating. He's straight up retired, right? Like Lott just retired, as I understand it,

and then Stoughton is a whole different story. It sounds like he was just let go for for reasons unknown but uh okay whatever the case is is that you know I subscribed uh I subscribed hoping that I could read my favorite baseball writers and that wasn't the case so it's a good enough reason for me not to and then at the same time they went from like I was paying I think it was six bucks a month or whatever it was and then then it was like, oh, you can have it for three bucks a month. Oh, you can have it for a dollar a month. I was like, wait a minute. I'm locked into my six bucks a month, which is not a lot of money, but at the same time,

you're devaluing your product by telling me that it's worth $72 a year. And then three months later saying it's only worth $50 a year. And then three months later saying it's worth $22 a year. I mean, come on. Yeah, I'm holding a small Tim Hortons coffee. Thank you, Milan, for bringing this. I love my black coffee. But this cost more than that sweetheart deal

I saw floating around recently. And it was like, I don't know, $15 a year or whatever it was. This coffee is more expensive than that athletic subscription, which is interesting. Quick question from a listener, Scott. So Scott says, with the athletic being sold, will there be any job losses? I know you guys don't have a crystal ball.

Yes, there will. Yeah, of course there is. There always is. There always is. When you take over a company, you've just been bought by the big boys. What's the first thing they do? The first thing they do.

They start cutting. They cut the fat. They cut the fat. However that is, they walk in and say, all right, here's their operating budget, right? Here was their profits. This has got to go. I mean, any bean counter is going to go.

That's got to cut there. Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. However, you know, many, I hate to say this, but however many correspondents are in Toronto now, they've got to be worried. I would be if I'm a correspondent for The Athletic because when a new owner comes along, you don't know. Trust me, I worked for companies, many of them,

where new owners came in. I worked at Global when new owners came in. I worked at that station in Hamilton when new owners came in. I worked at stations where they changed the format when new owners came in. I worked at that station in Hamilton when new owners came in. I worked at stations where they changed the format when new owners came in, at CKFH, CJCL. And when new owners come in, they want to bring their own people. They want to, you know what I mean? So there's going to be changes.

And the Times has a bit of a mixed history too with success. Didn't they buy the Boston Globe? Yes, they did. Sold it at a loss and then about.com was the same thing. Sold it at a big loss. Right. Yeah, they have not been ahead of the curve. So I agree with Hebsey.

You got to be, if you're working for the athletic right now, they may focus on more national stories. Like, you know, like the one Katie Strang broke about and Ken Rosenthal broke about the Astros. And, you know, but sports is such a regional thing.

I know we're going to get into it a little bit later that I don't know. Yeah, I'm not sure. I'll tell you going to get into a little bit later that I don't know. Yeah. I'm not sure. I'll tell you what's really good. Axios sports is excellent. Excellent. Is that an HBO affiliation?

I'm not sure, but I tell you what, the guy that I read his name is a Kendall Baker. Really, really good. And he's does this thing called Axios and I subscribed to it. I don't know what six months ago and he's got some really good stuff. Yeah. Axios Sports. Good tip there. Now I got another really interesting question, and I can't wait to get Hebsey's take on this. It's from HeyRef88. But really quickly here,

before we get too far along, I just want to ask my good friend, Fast Time Milan, how are things going at Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair. Yeah, things are going well. We've just introduced our new and improved upgraded website, FastTimeWatchAndJewelryRepair.ca. Bit of a mouthful, but again, FastTimeWatchAndJewelryRepair.ca. So you can even purchase now online your watch bands and accessories and things like that. You can buy it right off the site now.

And of course, we've got the 11 locations across Ontario, including Richmond Hill, which we've had some wonderful listeners of Toronto Mike come visit. So FOTMs have been to Richmond Hill. Did they say hi to you or they just brought in their watches? Yeah, absolutely. No, they're always sure to mention your name. Can you name drop?

Yeah, absolutely. We've got a gentleman by the name of Mr. David. Mr. David? Yeah, Mr. David McQuiston, who recently brought in, yeah, his beautiful pocket watch. I don't know that name. Yeah, it belonged to his late grandfather who fought in World War I. And it was an honor, really, to restore his pocket watch and get it back in working condition. This watch.

I feel like it's a Pulp Fiction. This watch. My Christopher Walken needs a bit of work. Yeah, but he's a long-time listener of yours and very loyal to Toronto Mike. Oh, that's exciting.

So it was terrific. He recently came by and I thought I'd give him a shout out. So you're at the Richmond Hill location. Yes. Is that fair to say

that's the closest location to where we're chatting right now? Yes. There's no actual Toronto. So Richmond Hill. Okay. So if you are at

the Richmond Hill location, you can say, is fast time Milan here and possibly get a, you know, a socially distanced meeting. Yeah. Absolutely.

I'll be there. Okay. My own little bubble within Richmond Hill. All right. Well, Milan, buckle up because I got a taste of this on Hebsey on Sports.

Again, if you haven't subscribed to Hebsey on Sports and you like anything you're hearing in this episode, you're crazy, man. It's not even, uh, the six bucks a month or whatever Hebsey was paying for the athletic.

You can subscribe for free. Subscribe to Hebsey on sports right now. It's, it's all Hebsey all the time. And Hebsey, uh, Hey ref 88 would love you and me. And maybe,

uh, the odd day you'll get a Joe Sittle or, uh, which we'll speak of later or Adnan Burke and, uh, or Rob Baker from the Tragically Hip. It's pretty cool. Fred Patterson.

He's coming up. Humble Howard was on Talking Golf. Awesome. Ivanka Osmak and Ken Reed. And Milan loves a new format. He was telling me. Yeah, absolutely. You're killing it, Hebsey.

That's awesome. You made him happy. Okay. HeyRef88 wants to know Hebsey's opinion, but we'll actually also throw in Milan's here because I love his opinion in that golden voice. But Novak's Joker. Novak's Joker.

You know this name, Novak's Joker? Yeah. What's your opinion, Hebsey, on Novak's Joker and his attempt to play the Australian Open? I never liked this guy. I mean, fabulous tennis player. Tremendous. Absolutely. The greatest on the continent right but

that's it that's all he's got he had nothing else he's got no social skills he's got no feelings for other people he's inconsiderate he's disrespectful he tried to rub australia's nose in it by, oh, I'm coming anyway. I'm not because I've got an exemption. You're talking about the fit, one of the most fit people. I might say the fittest human being in the world. And I don't think it's a stretch. You're talking about a guy that can play

six hours of freaking tennis. All day, all day he can go. So he's the fittest man in the world. He needs a medical exemption, and he won't reveal what the exemption is? Come on. Like, come on. What is it?

Tell us something. But he won't. So that arrogance. And if he had just kept his mouth shut and not posted this on Instagram, he's probably in the country right now and ready to play. But he was just so arrogant about it. You've got to be able to read the room. You're going to a country that's 90% vaccinated.

I mean, come on. You've got to know. Someone in his entourage had to have said something like, are you sure you want to do this? It's Australian, man. Like, you know, they did their research or they're like, you know, you don't want to piss people off. Plus, you're going to go in an attempt to win your 10th Australian Open

and set the record passing Federer and Nadal. Okay? It can't be done this way. Because if you do, even if you go and you fight them and you win and you win the tournament, you're going to be a piece of shit. And especially with the super spreader event that he had last year. Especially with a ton of, and he's an asshole. He's not a likable guy.

And again, I mentioned this on Heavy End Sports. The most dislikable, he might be seriously, you know what? Yeah. He might be the most dislikable athlete in the world. Wow. Wow. Since Muhammad Ali, when he refused induction into the U.S. Army. Because at that time, there was a lot of,

a lot of people. Okay. Right. That were like, wait a minute. I mean, how can he claim conscientious objector on religious? Do you know what I mean?

Yeah. So at the time people thought that Muhammad Ali's reason for not going into the army and willing to go to jail for it, by the way, all right. Was, was in some ways the same, in other ways different. When we look back at it now, we go, man, this guy was, you know, he was ahead of his time. He decided to do something that no one had ever really done before.

A man at his peak, at the peak of his popularity to do this, right? For a statement. But now if you look at Djokovic, he's not even making a statement for like the anti-vax community. It's not even saying, look, there's many of, and blah, blah, blah. And this and I, he's being so selfish that it's only about him. And he's chasing a record that may never be broken. And even if he breaks it, people are still going to say,

I'm sorry, you're not the greatest. Worse than the Aaron Rodgers situation? Oh, yeah. We're talking worldwide here. You've got an entire country. Right. You've got an entire country saying, who does this guy think he is? Right.

You've got other tennis players biting their tongues. You don't think Denis Shapovalov and felix oj alias sim and all and john isner and all you are going good let him not play i don't want to freaking be his victim and i don't want to be playing against him he's on back he's a heel right in the wrestling terms he'd be completely he's the number one heel in the world in sports there is nobody that's more disliked vilified not john john mackinrow at his worst at his worst right okay was not as bad flout and and flouting the rules basically like to me it's like coming up with a cheap excuse ali at the time people went well what kind of an excuse is that and now you

realize that there was some a lot of merit to it but for this guy to sort of say yeah i got myself a medical exemption after already having covet after the super spreader after saying he was after posting a picture i'm on my way to australia as if he was just going to breeze on in how do you do win the australian open become the greatest of all time and they would love him instead nobody loves this guy nobody and i said this this morning to you hebsey but i will say it again here for the Toronto Mike FOTMs here. But I think it does not serve him well, the fact that in his career he's been so compared

and contrasted with the great Roger Federer. That's right. I don't think there's a more likable athlete on the planet than Roger Federer. There is not. There is not. So that's, it just makes it. Class and style all the way.

Well past his prime. But yeah, look, Mario Lemieux compared to Wayne Gretzky. I mean, he couldn't win. And if Mario ever did something that was, I don't know, petulant or complained, people would say, oh, well, you're not like Gretzky. Gretzky never does that. You know, it's the same thing.

You know, when he called the NHL a garage league or a garbage league or whatever it was, people would go, Gretzky. Gretzky never does that. It's the same thing. When he called the NHL a garage league or a garbage league or whatever it was, people thought, Gretzky would never do that. Mind you, Gretzky called the New Jersey Devils a Mickey Mouse organization, but still. You're going to have the anti-hero. You're going to have, there's Federer, and Nadal, who's not Federer,

but not far away. Right, right. Good point. There was some breaking news this morning, sorry, about the, with Novak, about his father's getting involved. Oh, they were going to fight him on the streets or something. Well, something,

and now there's people petitioning outside the hotel to let him play, Serbian fans or fans from Serbia. Well, that's it. I think that's like, if you're, you know, it's like, if you're, it's sort of like Barry Bonds, I feel like. I feel like Barry Bonds became this villain,

but if you were a Giants fan or living in San Francisco, he remained a great hero. And that's sort of like Barry Bonds, I feel like. I feel like Barry Bonds became this villain, but if you were a Giants fan or living in San Francisco, he remained a great hero. And that's sort of what's happening here, where Joker is still idolized by those Serbians. Oh, he'll never not be in Serbia. He's a national hero already in Serbia. Already. Right.

So, yeah, you're taking down the king. You're not allowing the king to go on to his court to win the... It's a conspiracy against Serbians, against Djokovic. And I don't know how against Serbians, against Djokovic. But, you know, and I don't know how many Serbians are vaccinated or I don't know how many, I don't know that, but obviously you're going to give your hero the benefit of the doubt.

Well, speaking of Kings and you mentioned Muhammad Ali a couple of times there, I just want a quick tangent aside before we get back to my agenda here to say, I thought Will Smith, you're going to wonder where I'm going with this, but I thought Will Smith was great portraying Muhammad wonder where I'm going with this, but I thought Will Smith was great portraying Muhammad Ali. Like I said, what a great performance.

Oh yeah, he was very good. Yeah, and I just want to say that if you haven't seen King Richard yet because it's sort of... Where did you see it? A Secret Service. I won't disclose anything more except it was a wonderful performance by Will Smith as Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus. And I thoroughly like it was a wonderful performance by Will Smith as Richard Williams, father of Serena

and Venus. And I thoroughly like, it was a great movie. I don't know how much of it, I have to go find out what they glossed over and sanitized for movie purposes as they always do. But in terms of a film, it was great. So I'm just here to recommend King Richard if anybody wants to see a good

movie. And Will Smith was great as Richard Williams. I'm looking forward to seeing it, but the movie tanked at the box office. Well, you know what? I think that's fine and dandy. I'm sure that Ali also didn't do particularly well at the box office, if I remember correctly. But again, great movie, great performance by Will Smith.

So, okay, here's the big topic. I want to ask an update. I'm hoping Hebsey will just let it all out as he typically does. But bring us up to speed. We haven't talked on this program since September 10th. The Lou Marsh Award. You've been vocal for years about Lou Marsh having anti-Indigenous rhetoric

and racist rhetoric in his writings for the Toronto Star, and you said he was not supportive of a boycott of the berlin olympics in what was that 36 can you please uh just bring us up to speed hebsey man on the need to rename that award i know you don't like to say the name lumar so i said it so you don't have to but to change the name of that award uh and then maybe we'll also speak about damian cox's role in all this sure um what what's happened here is um um i guess ever since i don't know when i started mentioning it five six seven years ago whatever it was about lou marsh i mean he had some people going oh i didn't know that about him and stuff and then eventually and we got a lot of help from

gordon miller last month who um you know sort of on his own said you know i'm reading this stuff about lou marsh and why are we naming an award after this guy? And he cited a couple of examples of this anti-Semitism, racism with regards to boxer Sammy Lufspring, with regards to Tom Longboat, the indigenous runner. And I think Gordon Miller with his, you know, couple hundred thousand or whatever it is followers, you know, a lot of people are like, oh, I didn't know this. I didn't know this. I didn't't know and they want to know more and now more and more people are becoming interested in okay how come the name hasn't been changed and like what is going on exactly and so there's a i guess not a committee so much but dr janice forsyth of western university is leading this um i guess investigation I don't know what the right word

is for it. But essentially, what she's doing is she is gathering the information and she has a grant. So she's utilizing that by hiring a couple of students, researchers at McMaster University, to go over all the information with regards to Lou Marsh and make a determination if, in fact, his writings were racist and that his name should not be on the trophy that's awarded to Canada's top athlete of the year. I think it's already a slam dunk, but what happened though was Damien Cox, I guess in his interview with you, Mike, or not an interview, but you had discussed with him,

had said something to the effect of that the star had commissioned Dr. Janice Forsyth, who, by the way, had already written an article pretty much condemning Lou Marsh in the National Post, Post Media. But Damien Cox seemed to indicate that the star and the Lou Marsh committee were commissioning Dr. Janice Forsyth. I believe he tweeted this. To investigate and come up with in the new year, which is now a decision. Right. On what should be done.

And Dr. Forsythe essentially is, well, she's upset that this was laid out this way because this wasn't the case at all. This investigation was going to go on. This research was going to go on with or without the help of the aid of the Toronto Star. And the Toronto Star, trust me, is very, very loathe to admit that, you know, Lou Marsh was a bad guy and his name shouldn't be on the award because for the last how many years? 80 some odd years, Lou Marsh, you know, someone has handed an award to an athlete and they've taken a picture of this Lou Marsh award, another winner, another winner, another winner. Right.

And the star doesn't want to get rid of that. The star doesn't want to give that up. And are kind of turning a blind eye to it. And so there are a lot of people including, well, I don't know how many names I can mention, but at the federal level, some very significant names. I think I can probably mention the former justice minister erwin kotler who by the way was just um just what's the word that trudeau has just not commissioned him but anyway he he has um um put um erwin kotler in a

position where he now represents he he wants to investigate an appointment, anti-Semitism in Canada, which is a, you know, a real, and he's on his way to Israel actually right now. But besides all that, there are a number of people that want to know where this is at.

And essentially what's happening is Dr. Forsythe is just now putting her group together, her group of investigators, researchers, however you want to know where this is at. And essentially what's happening is Dr. Forsyth is just now putting her group together, her group of investigators, researchers, however you want to put it, and also a committee of several people of which I might be a part of, I don't know, advisory committee, let's say, whatever that is, in gathering as much information, getting as much testimonials, getting the facts straight, and then coming up with a determination as to what to do with this name. But did, yeah, go ahead.

I was going to say, you used the word slam dunk like about two minutes ago. It's like in 2022 when they hand out the formerly known as Lou Marsh Award, it's going to have a new name. Yeah. The Jean Beliveau Award or the Terry Fox Award. I think it might be the Jean Beliveau Award. Well, the star owns this thing, right?

They might want to, maybe the Alison Gordon Award. I know that's what Bruce did over again. Jim Proudfoot Award or something, right? Well, I don't know. I don't know about that. I mean, do you have to name it after a human being?

Is it necessary? Whose award is this? Isn't this a Toronto Star thing? Like, I feel like. It is. Absolutely. It's exactly what it is. It was, you know.

Terry Fox is a no-brainer. The Damien Cox Award? Listen, what can I tell? All I know is that the star is trying to protect its image. Right. Here. Because people are going, wait a minute. How come for all those years this guy was a racist, anti-Semite?

You allowed that to happen, right? Don't you have any shame? And what kind of a place are you? This is the reason that my grandfather canceled his subscription, never bought the Toronto star. He was convinced they were anti-Israel. And in the same time that they were, you know, anti-anti-Semitic, you know, that they were racist, the newspaper and, and he didn't like that at all. And so, you know, the Lou were racist, the newspaper. And he didn't like that at all. And so, you know, the Lou Marsh situation was quite simply, he knew what was going on in Nazi Germany.

And yet still, he didn't support a boycott of the Hitler Games for Canada. He was more concerned with Canada winning gold medals and getting in good with the Canadian Olympic Committee. Is that anti-Semitism? No, not directly. But there were a lot of other sports writers um besides him influential ones who weren't jewish who knew what was going on in nazi germany from all the reports that had come from matthew halton of cbc or of the toronto star by the way and other reporters

um and lou marsh chose you know to say no don't care. It's a no-brainer you think, especially for a liberal based paper like the Star. And then, of course, there's the famous one. I know people, oh, it was 1909, but the man used the word... The C word, right?

The equivalent of the N word. Really a horrible, horrible word in an article about Longboat, you know, and, you know, and referenced him being in a, in a watermelon patch. Right. That's about as racist. I mean, there's your, there's your stereotypical from that time, racism that Lou Marsh, instead of advancing the cause, being progressive, you know, telling people they shouldn't be this way that, you know, instead he made fun of whatever minority there was. He always had a Scottish joke or a Chinese joke or a Jewish joke. Stereotypes, right. At the end of

all of his columns, not all of them, but many of them. And, you know, you look at that and say, boy, I bet you a lot of people were influenced negatively by lou marsh only russell peters can get away with that milan's a big russell peters fan i love russell peters i saw him one of the front i saw him at a bruce barker um charity golf tournament wow when nobody had heard of him i had seen him before that yuck yucks and he came and i, in front of like Jesse Barfield, Lloyd Mosby, a bunch, and he killed. Wow. There was about 200 people that night at the banquet.

I'm trying to think where it was, the golf tournament. Barker got him. Yeah. And he killed. He was so funny. I was sitting next to Jesse Barfield. We were howling. It was so funny.

And this is many, many, many years. Shout out to Jesse Barfield, man. That cannon from right field, I'll never forget it, man. That was the highlight when he'd throw that strike to home plate and gun somebody down. There's nobody, just amazing. Greatest era. Greatest era of Blue Geese.

The best. Shout out to George Bell. I should insert that clip that Hebsey got of George Bell shouting me out. Okay, so much to cover. I want to ask you guys about about I think that there's some insight that Hebsey can add to this one for sure. The World Juniors were cancelled, of course, very suddenly. I was

ramping up to watch the third game with my boy and then it's like, oh, we're done. This tournament's over. I wonder, how does that affect TSN? That's their big showcase, right? That's a huge television event for TSN. Speak to that. That's a huge television event for TSN. Speak to that.

That's got to be devastating for that sports media company. Well, there's a thing called make goods in television, right? And that is that you charge a certain advertising rate for a show that has, let's say, a million viewers, right? That's a pretty, that's a nice number. Sure. So you can charge whatever that number is for your spots. The only thing is that you have to guarantee the sponsor that you're going to

reach that number. That's why they're paying that amount for advertising. If you don't reach that number, you got to do what's called a make good. It means you got to take that same commercial and you got to put it on another show that you have that has that many viewers not easy to do when you're looking at a million right so there is no show that tsn can do make goods for all the lost games in the world junior hockey championship that they pre-sold at certain rates there are they don't have any uh the super bowl i guess yeah they don't have any other programming that draws that kind of numbers which means that what happens to that revenue they have to give it back to the they either have to give it back to the sponsor right

that money was like spent i guess or they've got to wait until another event comes along that draws a million and put those old commercials the ones that that didn't air, into this game, which means they can't sell this new game that's going to draw a million people because they've got all make-goods. Right, because this is not postponed. This is cancelled, so that's a completely different animal. And yeah, I guess the next big thing on the calendar for TSN is

that Super Bowl, which will get millions of Canadians viewing. And I'll point out the obvious, which is that, you know, should Canada make the final of the World Juniors, which, by the way, is is 50 50 always chance of that it may be greater than 50 50 because you know there's only four good teams in the tournament so Canada making that final forget a million right that you I think they'd claim something like three to four to five million eyeballs would tune into like a Canada versus Russia gold medal game or something like that I would think that uh you know I don't know the exact numbers, but I would say probably around

3 million, but certainly I would say well over 2 million. Those are the numbers that again, you can put those numbers on, you can charge a fortune. Look, if I'm running a company and I got dough, I got to get on the World Junior. I got to. We got to get in there.

I can tell you what else they're doing too, looking at my cable bill for Rodgers and Bell, is that they're also making good on the actual bills too, in their favor. We're fucked in this country because I just changed from my cell phone went from Rogers to Bell and it's pretty much, your options are so

few. It's like getting shot in the head or shot in the nards. Either way, you're... You cut the cord and then you realize, oh, now my internet's $125. Fuck. I have to tell you, when I'm watching the shows on TSN or Sportsnet, I find, especially, I've noticed it more on Sportsnet,

is before they come back to the Sports Central or whatever the show is, they run at least 30 seconds and sometimes a minute of promos. It's an NHL promo for the game that week and then it's that sports net now promo with that guy yeah right but you know what i mean and so like and they run them constantly so they're running some paid spots and then they're running promos which of course

aren't paid for you're just you know you got people there it's like okay well you're here watch us you know and then you've got again mike it's that woman have you heard this milan raptors leafs yes saturday yeah you know it's like it's it's my 70 year old son is now reciting that uh that commercial now i mean it's different it just it's like you know canucks sharks right it's itkenny style, maybe. I don't know. But why don't they promote their own, like radio properties? You see nothing about promoting their own. No, no.

Nothing, nothing. Except they promote overdrive. Yeah, they promote overdrive, right? Well, I'm talking more Sportsnet, I guess. Well, here, we're going to get into all that. Let's cover all the big personnel changes. So this segment, the personnel changes, I always love your takes on all this,

brought to you by Great Lakes Beer, of course. Fresh craft beer brewed right here in Southern Ontario. Southern Etobicoke. Southern. Southern Etobicoke, but you can find it in LCBO. So shout out to Great Lakes Beer. Shout out to Palma Pasta. That's a great family-run business as well

and delicious, authentic Italian food. And my good friend, Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home. They've been great supporters of this program for years now. And just like, is it fasttimewatchandjewelryrepair.com? Is that the full URL, Milan? Dot CA. Dot CA. Okay, so what dot com you don't have?

No. Don't go, thank you for clarifying. So much like the e-commerce you find there, stickeru.com, so stickeru.com, fasttimers.ca, you got to keep track of all this. But get your stickers, your decals, and your badges and everything from stickeru.com. They're in Liberty Village, but if you have an internet connection,

maybe it costs you 125 bucks a month, who knows? You can go to stickeru.com after you've got your watches repaired and your accessories from Fast Time. Okay, so let's get to these personnel changes. The first one I want to speak of is Brian Williams. Brian Williams announced his retirement

and I think his last gig he worked was the Grey Cup. So we'll start with you, Hebsey. What thoughts do you have on the great Brian Williams? Fantastic career. I mean, I knew Brian back in the 70s. I used to cut videotape for his sportscast on CBLT in Toronto.

And so nothing but respect for the guy. Probably the ultimate host, the ultimate TV host. Could anchor, could interview, could play traffic cop on the fly. Could, you know, tell you what time it was in like 142 countries. Right. And asked, you know, I always thought he was a good interviewer, asked good questions, interesting questions. And, and Brian to me was what you see was what you, what you got. He, there was not a phony body in a bone in his body, except for one thing,

and they used to make fun of Brian. Apparently, what Brian did was there were many occasions during his broadcast where he claimed that he had either been born there or he was from there. It was kind of a running joke for a while, and I don't know how much truth there was. Brian went to the University of Michigan. He spent time in Windsor. He spent time in Winnipeg there are a few other vancouver you know what i mean and so but there were times where and i think oh i'm trying to think one of our

producers and i don't know if i should mention his name he he found all these little tidbits of brian hi there i'm brian well i'm from winnipeg or i was born and i'm from michigan or i'm born and there was a three or four of them that they kind of stuck together saying, well, where exactly was Brian from? It was pretty funny. It sort of sounds like the other Brian Williams. He had a miss... I will shout out Malcolm Gladwell.

He's got a podcast called Revisionist History. Tremendous podcast. Yeah, and there was an episode. Did you hear the episode about the other, the American Brian Williams? Sure did, yeah. What an episode. And it completely reframes that whole scandal, if you will, where he talked about being on a helicopter, but he couldn't have been on that helicopter. And basically, it sounds to some people like, oh, he made up that story.

But, you know, like with many things, the devil's in the details. And it's Brian, maybe ours uh thinks he was from all these places i don't know what to say about that one but it is a i will say that in my experience with our brian williams it's funny how they both kind of wrapped up their careers on the same weekend or whatever the brian williams but our brian williams uh in my experience and i literally got i was on a bike ride two days ago and my phone rings and i can't see the phone because i'm on a bike ride and i tap my bluetooth headset and say hello. And Mike, it's Brian Williams. Like he called me two days ago. This guy is so thorough with his follow-ups and his, uh, his, his phone calls and stuff. I've never experienced anything

like it. Uh, Milan, what did you think of the great Brian Williams? Uh, true legend over 50 years, I think in the industry, like you're never going to see that again, maybe. Right. So, uh, you know, and he was my sort of introduction to sports growing up with Peter Puck. I don't know if you remember Peter Puck. No, that was Brian McFarlane, wasn't it? Was that Brian McFarlane? Okay, okay, my bad.

FOTM Brian McFarlane, don't confuse him. He's still with us, by the way, 90 years old. Okay, my bad, my bad. But he was really the soundtrack of my youth when it came to sports. Like I remember he was Elizabeth Manley call in the 88 Olympics, the Battle of the Bryans, right? Brian Boitano and Brian Orser. Like I remember, he was Elizabeth Manley call in the 88 Olympics, the Battle of the Bryans, right?

Brian Boitano and Brian Orser. Brian Orser, right, right, right. And then the Alex Bilodeau, I think that was him as well, in 2010. But wasn't he the host? He wasn't calling these things, right? Wasn't he the guy,

he was the guy telling you the time in... I don't know if he hosted that though. He was the host, right? That's when the Sportsnet TSN conglomerate came in, right? But that's when he switched to TSN. Who's that?

So Brian Williams, because he is the Olympic guy until he couldn't be because he was with the wrong company. But he left CBC for TSN because TSN was getting the Olympics. And he was always the host of the most. He was the guy. He was always the host of the Great Cup. He was always the host of the most. He was the guy. Yeah. He was always the host of the Great Cup. Yeah. He was always the host of the big, long events.

He was the go-to guy, right, for any national broadcast, whether it was hockey, even when he did the World Juniors before TSN had them. Right. The Pustani punch-up. Pustani. Pustani. Him and Don Cherry.

Him and Don Cherry. And let's not forget, he did that radio show with Don Cherry, Great Bunt, for how many years? Yeah show with Don Cherry. For how many years? Forever. Every week for how many years? We mentioned it earlier that there was a Ron McLean. Ron McLean was not going to be re-upped by CBC for Hockey Night. It was a huge national outrage and we touched on it earlier.

And when that was going down, my thoughts were slide Brian Williams in there. He already has the rapport with Don Cherry. He can do that. I just thought that was a natural to slide Brian Williams in coach's corner in the other chair. They re-upped.

Obviously, they re-upped. He did Blue Jays baseball as well, right? Yep, sure did. What a career. Shout out to Brian Williams. Leo Roudens is no longer with Sportsnet, but you'll still see him on TSN, Raptor, Telecast. What do you think of that, Hebsey? They replaced him with Alvin Williams took the Leo spot.

Well, here's the thing. Alvin Williams was supposed to replace Leo as the color analyst with Matt Devlin. But Alvin Williams has got some medical issues and can't do the games. So it's been Amy Audebert the last few games with Matt Devlin, and she has been fantastic. What energy and so much better than Alvin Williams, who was no replacement at all for Leo Routens.

He does not have the energy. I don't find him to be particularly articulate or a great storyteller or have a great sense of humor. He doesn't really add that much to the game. How did he get the gig? You're asking the wrong guy. You tell me. How did he get the gig? I mean, somebody loves him

at the top there because he's always been around. He's a former Raptor. He's always been a Raptor. He's got a Raptor tattooed on him. I'm sure he's a great guy, but I mean... Why are you sure he's a great guy? He's one of the most overrated Raptors, though. I mean, I'm going to come up to you, why are you sure that he's a great guy? Maybe he's not a great guy. I've never met him. He's a great guy to the right people.

Maybe at the top. Yeah, maybe so. I don't know. But I mean, yeah, the decision to, I can't even answer that. I don't have an answer. He's got a great reputation. I agree with you. I think his analysis, I think is bland at best.

Yeah. Bland. Yeah. It doesn't have anything to think his analysis, I think, is bland at best. Yeah, bland. Yeah, it doesn't offer anything to it. Part of my ignorance. Nikki Auderbeer is terrific. She's got all kinds of energy. Yeah. Really good.

I enjoy watching. But was replacing Leo, was that strictly a money thing? Or is this trying to introduce more diversity to, like, which one is it? Both? Maybe a bit of both. That's a good question. It's a really good question. Yeah, I don't have the answers.

And I'm not sure that whoever made the decision at Rogers Sportsnet has the answer, you know, either. Maybe it was just time. I don't know. But certainly if I'm Leo, look,

if I'm Leo, when I get replaced, you know, is it going to make me feel any better if my replacement's really, really good? Sure. It was like, okay,

I got replaced by like a legendary, like, you know, Mike Fratello or whatever but if my replacement is Alvin Williams you're like Alvin Williams? really? Leo was a day one-er

he's still on the TSN broadcast Rod Black I'm about to go to Rod Black about the medical condition is it Buck Martinez-itis? I don't know I'm going to close I don't know. Okay.

I'm going to close it. I don't know if he's in COVID protocol. I have no idea. No one's revealing that. All I know is, I mean, he's home, and I've seen him do some hits from home, but he's not calling the games with Matt. And remember, Matt and Amy aren't on the road or anything. They're in a studio when they're on the road.

Right. They're not even, I mean, I guess they're courtside. I don't know. I don't even know when they're on the road. They're not even I mean, I guess they're courtside. I don't know. I don't even know if they're in the same room together. Well, you brought it up with Joe Settle. I watched Ken and Ivanka the other night. They weren't in the same, they weren't sitting at the same desk. They were

in different rooms. And then the next night they're sitting at the same desk, but you know, they're 12 feet apart. Right? Either end of the anchor desk. So I don't know. I don't know. And as I said before, as long as the commentary is good, as long as I'm, why should I be thinking, do I care if they're sitting in the same room at the game, not at the game?

These announcers are doing such a good job, such an incredibly good job at calling the game off a monitor, you know, with what limited, you know, access they have to seeing the entire arena or whatever, that they're doing a fantastic job, and I can't tell. More money to save for the cable company.

No, but I agree on Alvin Williams. I know he played with the bad knees and everything, but he's dull as dishwater. Yeah. That's all you ask. Be interesting. That's all we ask. Where's Charles Oakley? I would love Charles Oakley as a player. That's all you ask. Be interesting. That's all we ask. Where's Charles Oakley? I would love Charles Oakley as a player. Yeah.

There you go, Charles Oakley. But yeah, I'm sorry. Whoever made the decision. I mean, I don't know what tape did they give. Did Alvin Williams say, here's my play-by-play tape? Here's my audition tape? And they went, oh, that's fantastic. Wow.

You're really. No. Big ups to Leo, though, because right after the Sportsnet decision was made, he made his way... He didn't hit his head either. He never hits his head down here, but he did make his way back to Toronto. Mike sat in the Milan seat here

and was very... I hit him with all the questions. And he came after the Kawhi shot, too. No, not after the shot. He came after the Game 3 overtime win against the Bucs. Oh, I remember. So it was post-Kawhi because that was game seven, round two.

This was game three. Well, that third game, that was the key. Yeah. And that was double overtime. Double overtime. And if they blow that, they're down 3-0. They're dead, right? Done.

Exactly. Yeah, it was everything. And he came that next morning. In fact, Hebsey on Sports was also broadcasting that morning. So there was a passing of the guards. I remember that. Okay. In fact, Hebsey on Sports was also broadcasting that morning, so there was a passing of regards. I remember that. Okay, so speaking of, okay, so we talked about FOTM, Leo Roudens, and now I want to just mention that Rod Black,

and I can't remember if this was before September 10 or after, but I think it was shortly after. I have to check the tape because he was working some CFL games, but maybe it was a bit before. But it is interesting that Rod Black's lengthy career at TSN slash CTV also came to an end recently. He was, I would say the term is, because we had a call about this,

that's on Toronto Mike's feed here. He was retired, but he's not interested in retiring. So he was basically a cost-cutting decision decision by uh by bell media yep it never ends well mike i've said it all along never ends if you can if you can orchestrate your own exit yeah fantastic well it seems like brian did like right well i think so i think so i think listen the other thing too is that you know once you reach a certain age or a certain status in our business for sure yeah you have advisors you know you've got friends or family or you know um relatives whatever it is you know that

you know you know the average person i would think would say well you know what do you think i've been here 30 years i'm this age anything like that i'm slowing down a bit i like traveling more um and can you find a way to before they come to you and say look it's time to go that you can go to them and say look you know can we orchestra i mean i i see the writings on the wall you're going to come and knock on my door one day six months from now a year from now two months from now i don't know i see what's going on in the industry right so i'd like to be able to you know say orchestrate my own departure. Give me another year, two years, whatever it is.

Let me do all the CFL games this year. I think this is what Rod did. Let me finish up with whatever. And, you know, we'll do it that way. He mentioned he knew it was coming for a while. Yeah. He's no fool. I think most people, when you reach a certain age,

because you see what's going on around you. I mean, you went through this, Mike, you interviewed Dan Matheson. We had him on too. You know, you reach a certain, you've been there for a certain number of years. And then they come along and say, that's it. You know, thanks for your years. And you're angry and you're bitter. And then you kind of realize because you're not the only one

that this is happening across the industry. Or this is happening to people our age everywhere. And Michael Landsberg would be another, right? Michael Landsberg's another one. Hebs, you work with some big names, obviously. How much does Eagle come into play, though? A lot of them do go out kicking and screaming almost in a way. Like Bob McCallum?

He comes to mind, yes. He didn't get the send-off. Well, here's the other thing when you work in an industry uh where you're constantly being um especially nowadays uh feted by other people um complimented on social media walking the halls it's sincere it's not sincere hey great show great job hey great show great show hey another request for you to come and speak in front of people and we'll pay you for this another request for this you come and speak in front of people and we'll pay you for this. Another request for this. You start thinking like you never think, well, you know, they could turn around and whack me right now.

That thought never crossed your mind because it's all praise. It's all right. And while all that's going on behind the scenes, unbeknownst to you, people are going, all right, he's got another year or year and a half at X dollars. After that, he's going to want this or that, or, and we want to advance this person. And we promised you might want to diversify them. Right. Yeah. And we promised this person when we hired them that we would advance them. That's why they took the job here. And then that person over there, and then there's the diversity thing. And then there's, I mean, all that, right. So, so while you're thinking, this is great every day, people people are loving me i don't have to pay for you know lunches i've got people are sending me golf clubs and you know all that right the thought so when it happens it's like joe pesci and goodfellas hey i'm all set to go

i'm all dressed up i'm ready there i'm gonna be a made man whacked bam and you can't even have an open casket. Right. And that, and that in a nutshell is what's going to happen to everybody at some time or another, unless they see the writing on the wall early enough that they can orchestrate their own exit and become their own boss in something. Is that Ron McLean? This is what people are doing now. The plan now is, can I get out and then be my own boss,

have my own brand, and not be part of ESPN or whatever the deal is, right? Or, Hebsey, or save the good dough you made all the year. Invest and save well. Don't have multiple divorces. Well, look, I had multiple divorces, and I saved enough. I did well enough for myself. Right. Right?

Could I have orchestrated my own exit? Mike, it's been five years since I started podcasting. Yeah, but you got really fucked over by a particularly ugly situation. I did. That CHCH situation. And find the David Schultz debut because Hebsey comes in and talks about it like the day after. But not even the big names. You look at someone like even like a Hugh Burrell would change industries. He saw the writing on the wall. That's it the day after. But not even the big names. You look at someone like even a Hugh Burrell,

who changed industries. He saw the writing on the wall. That's a good... Barry Davis, there's a ton of them, I think. Well, Barry was fired. There's a lot of them. Right, but who just almost switched. Okay, so lots of ground here. Another guy I just want to shout out,

because he retired at the beginning of the season. It was kind of a surprise, I think. Jim Hewson. Yeah, very quietly. Did Jim Hewson... And I very quietly. Did Jim Hewson, and I believe, I believe from all the, everything I've heard

and everyone I've talked to, I believe he retired. I don't believe he was fired. But what do you think of the Jim Hewson disappearance there, Hebsey? The way I understand it is Jim Hewson's wife is very ill. And I don't know, man. I don't know to what extent,

but I know this. If someone said to you, look, you've got X amount of time to be with this person before they're not on this earth anymore. Right. Versus, yeah, I'm going to do hockey games that you've been doing for 40 years. For big dough too. 40 years. Yeah. Right. I mean, you maybe have, and I don't want to put a timeframe frame on it what are you going to choose yeah you got dough right you don't have to go any further in your industry you can retire and unretire if you want to god forbid you know or you find that you want to scratch that itch whatever the deal is um man you could if you want if jim usin wanted to in three four years five years he could call uh the penticton saints junior b games if he wants to if he could call the Penticton Saints Junior B Games

if he wants to, if he's got the dough and he enjoys doing it. Sure. Do whatever the hell he wants. So I think that the way I understand it is his wife was very ill. And he said, you know what? Don't put me on the schedule.

I'm retiring. And remember last year he chose to not travel. That was so he, Sportsnet gave you the option. Of course, we're still on it. I think he wanted to he just wanted to protect you know his health and his wife's health sure especially you know especially if she was ill at that time um you know you don't want to you know any more risk to that it would be ridiculous traveling all over the place so anyway um it was a surprise and um i

think his legacy is uh intact he's in the Hall of Fame. He was known as a great play-by-play voice and did it for many, many years on a very high level. And also called Jay's games. I was going to say, yeah, he was a good one. He did. And Expos games. Yeah. Right.

He called the glitching games in 91, 92, and 93. Yep. Right. For the division, right? Absolutely. We always think of Tom and Jerry as sort of the voices. Yeah. Because you'll hear touchable Jerry. Right. And I know they had the national broadcast, the American broadcast

during the playoffs. For the World Series. Yeah. Right. So when George Bell was on his knees after making that short pop fly. That was Fergie Oliver. That wasn't Tim Hewson. That's right. That was CFTO. That was Tony Kubik, Fergie Oliver. Right. Don Chevrier. Yeah, that was a Saturday because I watched that game at

my grandmother's house in Midland, Ontario. Doyle Alexander, come on. Yeah. And Tony Fernandez, the late great, giving the high five to George. What a moment. It was a TSN game and Fergie did play-by-play. It wasn't Don Chevrier. He only did CTV games. I remember watching the scrambled version the night before. Yeah, because

Tom Henke gave up the home run, right? Well, Lloyd Mosby dropped the ball. Wasn't Butch Weininger or something? Yeah, Butch Weininger hit a homer. I thought he hit a homer in the ninth. And then Mosby dropped an easy fly ball and then they flew the game. I remember the Friday night. But, Hepsey, I got to quote, that clincher,

I remember watching it at my grandmother's house who did not have TSN. I think that was a CFTO game, the clincher, the one we're talking about Doyle Alexander when we finally That was a clinching game. That was CFTO right? Yes. Well Fergie made the call so I mean it's possible because he was working for CFTO

He was a sports anchor there. Yes that's right. I'm not sure in 85 Fergie was a regular play-by-play guy. It's funny eh? He may have been the host. I think... That's him on the call, right?

Blue Jays win it. That's him. Bell makes the catch. That's him on the call. I can hear his voice. So if anyone knows... We've got to find out because this speaks to the whole American Brian Williams thinking he was on that helicopter. This is the great job done by Malcolm Gladwell

that you take a flashpoint moment in history we all share. Let's talk about 9-11 for a moment. And you ask 100 people, oh, where were you when you learned about 9-11 that the second tower had been hit, et cetera?

And everybody's got a very detailed story about exactly who they were with, who told them, how they found out. Everybody of a certain age has this story. That's all of us.

And then you kind of dig into the details and talk and you find out, oh, actually, that's not how it happened. It's just very interesting how unreliable the memory is. It's so true.

Yeah. There's certain moments, right? 9-11, the OJ verdict. You're like, oh yeah, Hebsey told me the second plane hit the tower and I remember, and then Hebsey's like,

there's no way I could have told you because I only, whatever, and you find out like,'s no way I could have told you because I only whatever and you find out like wait okay and this speaks to the Simpsons and they're going to do a special episode and this is a quick tangent we're coming right back because we got to talk about Milan's favorite topic the fan 590

a lot of changes there but the Simpsons I have memories of watching the first episode of the Simpsons on television when it first aired and this is a Christmas episode you might remember when Santa's little helper joins the family. Okay. And I have distinct memories of watching it on TV

in 1989, December 89. And then subsequently, I realized that our Fox affiliate, WUTV, had a fight with Fox for a period of, it was a very short period of time, but it was that time where they weren't a Fox affiliate and they weren't airing Fox shows.

There was no Fox in Toronto over the air. And they fixed that by the midway through the season. So the fact is, I probably did not see that very first episode live on TV, but it's funny. I lived my whole life certain I was in front of that TV watching this episode. And now I don't believe it was possible. is my own brian williams helicopter story milan yeah okay hebsey let's get back to sports talk enough of my uh crazy tangents uh so jim hewson we believe he retired and he saved his money well and we i think he's living in white rock with the great brother bill not in the same home but in the same city and i wish him well but let's talk about the big changes at the fan because since we last had a sports media round table uh mike zigamanis he was out first i remember he he left the show morning show and then scotty

mack was let go and there was a huge shuffling of the fan lineup uh the big fan guy we're going to start with milan on this one and then get hebsey's take but milan what do you think of the massive changes at the fan since we last did a sports media interview? How much time do you have, Mike? I mean, first of all, I was a big fan of Scotty Mac. I thought he did a great job. I'm sad to see that there wasn't at least, and I know economics are the reason driving this,

but are you telling me you can find at least something for him on the Blue Jays telecast or on the radio broadcast? Like alongside Ben Wagner, you mean? Either Ben or even, you know, the Scott Ferguson role from years past of Jays Talk or hosting or the Wilner role, of course. Yeah. You know. I like shout out to Scott Ferguson. I love how you went back to that.

Well, since we're talking 80s, we go back. Remember, Fergie only lost that job because he went to the Team 1050 and there is a Mike Umentary in the feed all about the Team 1050 and there is a Mike Umentary in the feed all about the Team 1050. So, again, sorry to see Scott MacArthur go. I was a fan of his. In terms of what's going

on now with sort of the... I listen to the morning show. And remind us who it is. It's FOTM Blake Murphy. Who else is on that morning show? It's J.D. Bunkus and Eilish Volpar. How is it? Because I'm not hearing it. I don't have time to listen to that show. Tell me. It's FOTM Blake Murphy. Who else is on that morning show? It's J.D. Bunkus and Ailish. How is it? Because I'm not hearing it. I don't have time to listen to that show. Tell me.

It's a work in progress. They're, what, six months in now, I think. And it reminds me of the line Hebsey gave that, you know, the best thing to do with these guys would have been, or these men and women, would have been to send them into a cottage somewhere for a week alone and put them in a bubble somewhere. Like a chemistry test?

And do a chemistry test because it's a work in progress. I know morning shows are difficult to do. I guess I'm just listening to it out of loyalty, to be honest with you, because it's a hard habit for me. But it's also a podcast, right? Do you find now that the Fan 590 shows

are basically like podcasts recorded live on the radio? Yes, that's basically what it is, especially the drive time. You know, I do listen to the drive time podcast, uh, with Steven Brun and Ben Ennis. And it reminds me,

you know, Steven Brun just, he's just phenomenal. I think, you know, I know it goes without saying, but he reminds me of that, uh,

Rick Flair wrestling line, you know, where Rick Flair can wrestle a broom and make it look good. And that's no disrespecting Ben Ennis, of course, who was great as well. And also an FOTM. Yes, but Stephen Brunt is phenomenal.

And I do enjoy listening to the Drive Time show, but the morning show, it needs work, I think, still. Especially, and I like to listen to see what, hear more what Alish has to say, but she's more like the sound effects, sort of more of the background kind of person.

I think they're trying to change that. The sports knowledge has increased versus Ziga Madness. Because he's just a hockey guy. Right. But it's still a work in progress. Hebzy, man, what's your take on the, this is a massive changes that happened at the Fan 590

since we last hooked up. Do you have any time to listen to this? What do you think of the massive changes that happened at the Fan 590 since we last hooked up? Do you have any time to listen to this? What do you think of the new fan lineup? I have time to listen to it, but I have not been listening to it. I'll be quite honest with you. I'm past that point. I can't listen to commercial terrestrial radio. And, you know, once in a while I might find the podcast,

but generally speaking, I kind of know, kind of know what's going on already, and they don't offer me any insight or any real great patter back and forth. I'm like, yeah, this is a good conversation. It's got some meat to it. In a lot of ways, it's just sort of, I don't know, blah, blah, blah, and blah, blah, blah, and people maybe fighting for airtime. I find three people to be a lot. It's hard. I mean, us three, this is different. you know blah blah blah and blah blah blah and people you know maybe fighting for airtime i find three people to be a lot it's hard i mean us three this is a this is different this is more structured but when it's like you know all right here's you you're the host you do the time you come back from the commercials and then you you know you you become the ringmaster you you know you you send

it over there what's your thoughts on this you send that person what's your thoughts on this and then everybody talks about it and and um i don't thoughts on this? You send it to that person. What's your thoughts on this? And then everybody talks about it. And I don't know, man. Like, you know, when it's really, really interesting, you know, I'll know. Someone will say, you've got to listen to this show. You've got to listen to this morning show. Or these guys are great together. I don't get any of that buzz.

Bunkus is the lead. So he's the one who would back sell the, you know, I always think of Humble and Fred, right? So because I work very closely with those guys. He's the one who would back sell the, like, you know, I always think of humble and Fred, right? So, uh, cause I work very, he's the broadcaster, right? I guess he's the, he's the,

he's the guy that has, um, the broadcast. He's the radio guy. Cause, cause Blake, just to remind people, Blake Murphy,

who has been on this program, but he, he wrote for the athletic, but he had a, he literally had a podcast. That's why I put him on. Cause he had a podcast where he talked about music that he, he called it Columbia house party.

And I was listening to that. And that's why I invited him over. Not even because of his basketball writing for the, for the athletic there. But he's not a radio guy. He's learning on the job here. Three is definitely a crowd. I agree totally with that. You do, you do.

You know, three is, three is company too. Yeah, it's far, it's just far too many. Too much sports betting talk for my taste. Oh. And I don't know if that's direction being given at the top, but I tune out when it comes to the sports betting talk for my taste. Oh. And I don't know if that's direction being given at the top, but I tune out when it comes to the sports betting. Well, let's talk about that then, because Cabby returned to Sportsnet

as executive producer of sports betting content. I guess you've heard this already. And this happened since we last got together too, the return of Cabby. It's funny hearing this morning, Adnan Virk talking about working with Cabby and Hebsey on the score. That was quite the tale

so people should check that out but it does seem to me and again i'm not consuming the radio like you guys but uh sports betting seems to be the future of uh sports media in this country wouldn't you say that's true hebsey it sure is boy it's funny to um it's funny for me to watch you know sports center with uh rod sm Smith at 6 o'clock and a segment where he's talking about betting. He's basically saying, if you lay $200 against the Ducks, you get $135.

It sounds odd. It sounds foreign to me. Now, someone that's used to talking betting, someone that's got that patter, that's different. But when you're used to having betting you know someone that's got that pattern uh you know that that's different but well you know when you're used to sort of having the sports news delivered to you in a certain way and now you're getting that same person uh you know uh with like betting so like

you know the minus 220 and the over under is 43 and a half i i don't know it just it doesn't do it for me at all and i'm sure i'm sure if rod had his choice he'd say you know i prefer not to but this is now part of the content has to include the betting lines of the sports because the casual fan or even the non-fan. I know a lot of people that they're not sports fans, but they like to gamble. So they're there for the gambling aspect of it. They're not there for the pure enjoyment of sport. They don't know who the players are.

I couldn't name one. What about the Malons? What about the sport. They don't know who the players are. I couldn't name one. What about the Malons? What about the Malons? And I'm in the same camp. So, and a gambler, he's not a gambler. So it's because I mean, the point made by Brian Gerstein, cause we're live streaming. This is in real time is that he says it's either in your blood or it's not.

So Gerstein's got it in his blood. So he loves the sports gambling content, but then you got the Malons and the Toronto mics of the world, the fast time Malons and Toronto Mikes of the world, the Fast Time Milans and Toronto Mikes, who just simply, like, I do tune out every aspect of sports betting and sports gambling, which is not for me. Well, I don't.

I don't tune them out. But again, and I'm doing some work for Bodog, too. So, you know, full disclosure here. Full disclosure. And, you know, Bodog is, you know, Bodog pays high-profile people. I don't know, people that have followers. Influencers. People like you. Bodog is, you know, Bodog pays high profile people. I don't know, people that have followers, influencers. People like you.

Bodog is going to pay you to influence this. And then Bodog is going to come up with all types of stuff. It's not, but with Bodog, it's not like, you know, who do you like over under 49 and a half. It's more like, you know, name your three favorite Maple Leafs of all time. Or, you know, who would you say is the better of these two players or stuff like that, just to get people talking sports. But it's to get people talking sports about their favorite players

or this or that or incidents. It's not to get people talking about gambling on sports. It's just the love of sports. It's kind of a different approach. You know what I mean? But how much of this is because... If you're watching the sports already, why not lay a couple of shekels down, right?

I fully appreciate it. As opposed to watch this game and make a wager on it because you can win a fortune if you get the right team. I fully appreciate it's the future, the present of sports, but it's...

I don't like... And I know it's happening everywhere, whether you read the papers, the sort of sponsored content. That's's happening that's where i'm gonna say i'm gonna point out the obvious i gotta point it out and then we'll get back to your point it's the same point but it's essentially that's where the money is right now these sports bet and bodog and there's many other but they got they're spending the bucks so you know you can have a show on 10 50 if the money is there like if you bring the money and here's the show with the sponsor

and here's the money, suddenly you've got a show, right? So a lot of this gambling content is because that's where the money's coming from, the gambling, the sports gambling.

But trying to incorporate as part of your regular show, it doesn't make for compelling radio in my opinion. Yeah, but it's money's talks, right? Of course. If that's where the money is,

that's what the content's going to be. Well, that's why their ratings are where their ratings are, I guess. But if they have the Brian Gersteins of the world tuning in, maybe that's enough to survive. Like, how much money...

Brian, put it in the chat. How much money a year do you... And I'm not asking you how much you win or lose, but how much... I'm asking a year, not a year. Okay, what do you want me to ask? Nobody knows how much they spend a year on gambling. He might. I think he tracks it pretty closely. No, not a year. Come on. I mean, just because you want me to ask him? Nobody knows how much they spend a year on gambling. He might. I think he tracks it pretty closely. No, not a year. Come on. I mean, just because you record every single freaking kilometer

on your bike doesn't mean that everybody else goes, oh, I spent $15. The devil's in the details, Mark. Yeah, we're not all on the spectrum. What's going on here? Okay, so. All right, so on that note, that's the fan talk, and Milan is going to politely tap out of this next

segment. And I'm hoping you can speak to it, Hebsey. If not, it's going to be a short chat, but we mentioned Landsberg's gone. So Carlo Kuliakovo is still there in the morning show, former Leaf great Carlo Kuliakovo,

but is it Aaron Koralnik? I hope I said his last name right, but what do you think? Koralnik. Koralnik. Koralnik. And what say you about that change? Is that a better show without Landsberg?

Yeah. Yes, that's wrong for me to say because Michael and Carlo had a particular type of chemistry, right? Sure. And now Carlo has a very different chemistry with Kowalnyk, who I believe used to produce that morning show. So he was behind the glass for a long time as a producer. And I think an occasional contributor. I think he's really good. I like him.

I like the two of them together. And you're sitting down, right, Hebsey? You're sitting down. Milan, you're sitting down. I have because he tracks every dollar as I track every kilometer I bike. Brian Gerstein has revealed what he spent in 2021 on sports gambling. Are you guys ready? Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Spent or won or lost? Spent. What does that mean? This is the money he bet. Maybe you can share how he did. I can tell you what he invested. $5,000 a year. Okay, Milan, what's your guess? I have the number here. $5,000 a year. Okay, Milan, what's your guess? I have the number here,

and $5,000 wouldn't make me fall off my chair. It's $100 a week. I'll say $12,800. Okay, assuming Brian isn't bullshitting me, because he says he actually made, he's 28% return on investment, which is amazing in itself. Kirstein, and by the way,

Kirstein starts sponsoring Hebsey on Sports in Toronto. Mike, you rich son of a bitch. If you made 28 fucking percent on this investment, I'm about to tell the world. He spent $200,000 in 2021 on sports gambling.

And that's why all the sports media in this fucking country is sports gambling. $200,000? $200,000 Canadian dollars. Wow. You cheap prick. Why don't you spend a couple hundred dollars and advertise on your favorite podcast?

That's what I said. He gets more fucking airtime from these podcasts than he should be paying you. $45,000 profit Brian Gerstein made in sports gambling. Forget the fact that he's making a mint in the real estate world. You know what that's having there. He made

$45,000 in 2021. That's what he made gambling. Forget Edward Jones. Stop the fucking press. I should be investing with the right. I'm going to get that property in the sixth jingle ready for February, and we're going to add it to Hebsey on Sports

and Toronto Mic'd, along with a fast time watch and jewelry repair sponsorship. Wow, that's amazing. See, that's why. Let's stop the press. Let's not bury this lead. That's amazing. See, that's why. Let's stop the press. Let's not bury this lead. That's why all the sports radio

and all this sports media content in this fucking country is now sports gambling related because a guy like Brian is spending $200,000 except for my house. I've never come close to investing $200,000 in anything.

That's a lot of money. Wow. I know. We're all just recovering here. Okay. So the TSN, that's the only change I really knew of on the TSN. Oh, yeah. There's one more I wanted to ask you guys about.

Andy Petrillo. Andy Petrillo announced that she was going to step away from hosting the daily noon hour talk show Leafss Lunch, on TSN 1050 Toronto. She's still doing a lot of stuff. I see her on CBC Sports all the time, especially when there's soccer matches and stuff. What say you guys about Andy Petrillo and the fact she's no longer heard on 1050? Anything?

Go ahead, Milan. I'm sure she's a talented broadcaster. I wasn't a big listener of Leafs Lunch before. I know she's gone. But you don't like that station, though. You don't like that station. Yeah, I'm just indifferent to it. I mean, I know she's doing some soccer work.

I'm not a big soccer guy, and I know she's going to be doing some Olympic stuff as well, right? So, I mean, I wish her the best. She's active, yeah. She's a very talented broadcaster from everything I hear. She's got a great reputation, so I wish her all the best. And what about you, Hebsey? Because we know that Milan is fully biased against 1050

because he was, you know, because 590 was first on the scene. He's unable to change the station. So what say you? And I don't like Bell. Well, he probably can't pick up the signal anyway. That's true. I mean, he's in Richmond Hill. I don't think they go that far, do they?

That's a good point, man. Yeah, that's true. It's a pretty bad. Yeah, I think I get Saga 960 better than 1050. I mean, when you look at it too, when you think of how far radio has come, right? And then, or just audio, how far audio has come for us. Right. And where AM radio is, exactly where it was when it began.

The signal, you go under a bridge, you go around a corner, you go here, it's gone. Well, AM for sure. Except for the AM signal, of course. Except for the clear channel stations that, you know, there are few and far between. But, I mean, that's tough, man. I mean, trying to listen to a local, I mean, CKFH 1430 was horrible. If the wind was blowing from the west, you couldn't get it north of Eglinton Avenue. Right.

It was ridiculous. Which is why they jumped at the chance to move to 590. It was a superior signal. Superior signal. And also, too, the transmitter for 1430 was on Toronto Island. So, you know, technology has taken us so far. But AM radio is still AM radio. It's still that crackly. You might not get the signal, it fades in and out.

You can only go for so long with the signal. And it's really, you know, a dying, that part of it is, I think it's just a dying, it's a dying industry. You know, people are finding other ways. It's easy, that easy as pie now, anywhere, almost anywhere to stream something, to listen to a podcast, you know, the dependency of getting into your car and turning on the radio. I get that. I know we talk about this on past episodes, but what is

the future of the Fan 590? If they're not even promoting it on their properties, is that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could well be for sure. Listen to the games and see how your bets did. For sure. I think it's in the halftime show. The halftime show is an update on all the games and where the point spreads are and what the props bets are doing because what the futures are all that sure why not brian and the gang are laying bets in real time via their app uh as as numbers change and odds change and stuff like this

is con you know it's got to be difficult to spend 200 000 on anything like you have to market right yeah that's i'm i'm fully convinced absolutely we're just getting the taste of it now but it's That'll be difficult to spend $200,000 on anything. It's like the stock market. Right, yeah. I'm fully convinced, absolutely. We're just getting the taste of it now, but it's going to be fully sports gambling in no time at all. Because I'm sure, I don't want to speculate, I'm not sure, but the salaries of the three morning show hosts right now on the fan probably won't even compare to one peak host from a few years ago. Well, would it compare to Scott MacArthur?

Likely. Who, by the way, is interested in returning to Toronto Mike, but of course there's some salary continuance going on and he's going to wait until that last dollar deposits in his bank account. Have we heard what's going on with him? Well, he's going to come and talk, but he's been purposely quiet until that's all done.

But did we finish the Andy Patrillo thing? I'm just curious. Hebsey, because whenever I see Andy hosting, I don't know what Milan's not into it, but I'm fully, and I know you are Hebsey, I'm fully invested in this Canadian men's soccer team.

I mean, the women have always been great to watch, but now that the men are making this run for the World Cup, like I'm watching every minute of these matches. Andy Pacholo,

whenever I see her hosting something, I think she does a great job. I never watched the, I'm sorry, I never listened to Leafs lunch on 1050, but if she's as good there as she is everywhere else, I just think she's, I think she does a great job I never listened to Leafs lunch on 1050 but she's as good there as she is everywhere else I think she's very strong

what do you say Hebsey? I would say that she's similar to Ron McLean in that she can do a lot of sports she's a good host, good traffic cop pretty good interviewer too from what I've seen but yeah, she's solid and has been doing it for years. Andy Patrillo has been on the air for well over a decade, right? Yeah, and she did Leafs lunch for five years.

She did Hockey Night in Canada. She did Leafs lunch for a number of years. She got other stuff going on. Did she do Hockey Night in Canada? I don't remember her doing that. Sure. Yeah? Absolutely.

She was, yeah, absolutely. Ron would throw to her the first couple of years. I thought that was Sophia Yerskovich. That was Sophia, right? Do you want me to argue with you on this? No, no, you know your shit. I thought that was Sofia Yurtskovich. That was Sofia, right? Do you want me to argue with you on this? No, no. You know your shit. I wouldn't argue with you. I'm telling you that Andy Petrillo was on Hockey Night in Canada. Yeah, you're right. They would throw to Andy Petrillo.

She'd be on camera. You're right. Wearing a mic pack. Somebody complained they lingered too long on her derriere. I remember now I got a note. Well, the camera went at about a 180 degree, you know, hand with her. And she, you know,

Ron, here's what's going on. Throw to some highlight packages. Ron, back to you. I'm so sorry. I've completely blanked, but of course she was. Of course she was. That was, I think,

that might have been back in the George Strombolopoulos days. Okay. Yeah, because Sophia did a cyber thing. And the Glenn Healy days and the Damien Cox days. Right.

Of Hockey Night in Canada. Wasn't it Hockey Night in Canada? Yes. Even though it was on Rogers, right? It was still, that was the past. Still called Hockey Night in Canada. You're absolutely right. I should never, you're the subject matter expert. Absolutely. She's a rising star. I think she, this is out of her own. No, no, no, no. She's past that. You know, she's got to be. She's been hosting

the Olympics for years. She's not a rising star. She's been there for years. Solid. She's here. And she's too, you know, and she's great. So she's no longer on Olympics for years. She's not a rising star. She's been there for years. She's here. And she's great. So she's no longer on 1050. But here's another name. You mentioned signals that are hard to get. I'm all choked up talking about it. It's almost impossible to get the,

there's a saga station. They call themselves News Talk. I don't know what 1010 thinks about that. But Saga 960, that's where our good friend Mike Richards is. And I think he's fantastic. But that's where Bob McCowan, so since we last i believe it's since but at some point bob mccowan made an announcement like oh his podcast is now on saga 960 and that experiment i think he's got john shannon on that thing too i don't know i don't actually listen but it didn't last very long in

960 and now the bob mcc podcast is on Sirius XM. Has anybody heard? I think it's on Canada Talks. Anybody here listening to any satellite radio? No. So shout out to Bob McCowan. It's still a podcast. Anyone here listening to the podcast? No. I do.

It's a reminder that Bob is great when it comes to sort of when he's talking about the business of sports or sports media, he's had Nelson Millman on the, uh, former program director of, uh, of course,

you know, and I, I thought those episodes were, were terrific sort of, uh, that's inside baseball stuff. That's good stuff. It is.

I do like that. I think Bob is great when it comes to that. Do I want to hear his thoughts sort of, you know, for the a 100th time about pitchers not going deep into innings and stuff like that i've heard it already so you want good stories man the guy he's a good storyteller he's got good guests that have good stories to tell they're regaling you i mean that's that to me is what that shows oh yeah yeah you know primetime

sports was at its best when uh brunt was in the co-hosting chair and they had on like a burt randolph sugar and they just talked about like right exactly that was when it was at its best when Brunt was in the co-hosting chair and they had on like a Burt Randolph sugar and they just talked about like that was when it was at its best. And he's at Dave Perkins and Steve Simmons on. So those are great. Tell me a story. That's all we're doing here, man. Is there money to be made though on satellite? I don't know if Hebsey would know.

Okay, I do. I have more insight than I think. Mike has the insight there. All I know is when I approached it, it was you know, we're not giving you any money. You can have airtime that you can sell. I have a unique perspective on this as a producer of the Humble and Fred podcast. That for five years, they were on SiriusXM

and it was completely so they could go to a sponsor like Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair and say, hey, we're on SiriusXM. They're actually, SiriusXM isn't, at least the Canadian office in Liberty Village, right beside StickerU, by the way. They're not paying for the content creator. So the deal that Bobcat's got, I'm sure,

is simply that he can now sell advertising and maybe it's his own winery. I don't even know what the update is on the... But it reaches a greater number of people, though. No, in theory, you can never see, right? They don't actually disclose. But you'll never know how many people are listening to your show. It's a black box.

You'll never know. And let's face it, satellite radio essentially is Howard Stern and everything else. Howard Stern gets paid big bucks and everyone else does it for free. Well, that's what I know it for. I don't know. And the other thing is, look, I mean, if you love hockey and you're so into it, you can listen to the NHL channel and a bunch of different hockey channels. If you're into country music, you can listen to it.

You know what I mean? So it's more for niche programming. Bob's show, if it was part of a package with other sports shows, maybe it sells itself as channel whatever, 192, we talk sports or whatever it is. But I think he's just on a Canadian station, right? Sean Fitzgerald was reporting last summer that there were talks with Bob and Sportsnet about going back, and they did talk money.

Yeah. So there was interest. I know. I'm sure they were kicking the tires. Oh, I read that too. Yeah. A little bit interesting. Dan Jeffrey is an FOTM who's watching us live,

and he says that he got a three-month serious trial. And he said he only lasted a few days, and he never connected again. He said he never bothered trying to get it back because it interfered with his podcast listening. So I think people have their habits now in their favorite podcasts, Hebzion Sports, Toronto Mic, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And they're simply, yeah, they only have so many hours in the day to consume audio content.

It's true. I stopped listening to the Talking Sopranos podcast for two reasons. One is there's like 86 episodes. I got through about 60 of them and I loved it. The other one was I finished re-watching the series two weeks ago. Right. So you've moved on. To go back to the podcast now and like i've done with the series like i've seen

it again now twice right so while i was watching while i was re-watching the series i'm listening to the podcast and i'm right into the show and the characters and the production and the plot lines and everything but now that i haven't been watching it anymore i've no interest in the podcast so i think you know like a seasonal thing like you listen to baseball podcasts and when it's not baseball season right right that's me man i do right i love it i love the hot stove and find me great baseball podcast listen to in january i'm there but anything else yeah it's like uh like i like mark maron but you know sometimes he'll have a guest on that just doesn't interest sure you cherry pick it mike show sometimes i'll listen

and go to a particular guest and go i like like this person. And then, I don't know, for whatever reason, go, it's not for me. Or I want to go and listen to this other guest. I've got such choices. Mike, you're coming up on a thousand podcasts. Yeah, not too long from now. A thousand podcasts. Do you have any idea if someone misses for a while or they go listening? And they go, dude, I got to check on Toronto Mike.

And they go, holy shit. Look what I missed. Your Canada's Joe Rogan. I wish I was vaccinated Joe Rogan. I will just shout out yesterday. I spoke with Jeremy Hotz. Okay. So he's an,

he's so funny. Yeah. He, I was legit laughing out loud and it was like, I don't know. We talked for like 90 minutes and he was hilarious and honest. Another yuck yucks guy. That we talk,

you'll love this episode because he talks about, you know, John Wayne Jr. And Mike McDonald. And he talks about even, even humble, humble Howard Glassman. And then we talked a bit about Ben Murgie. Just the whole, you'll love it, Hebsey.

You got to check out the Jeremy Hotz episode. Okay, here's how I want to close. So I was thinking we got to try to keep this 90 minutes. We might leak a little over here. But I wanted to close with the Blue Jay broadcast because very recently Joe Siddle was on Hebsey on Sports. So it was great to catch up with Joe and Joe. It got me thinking of how fricking good he is.

I think Jamie Campbell's great. I think Joe Sittle's great. So I'm curious, we'll start with Hebsey here, but how do you envision the Blue Jays broadcast, the Sportsnet Blue Jays broadcast looking for this upcoming season, assuming there is one, and please answer the question.

People are wondering, will Buck be back? Well, I would think that the season begins with your number one guy is Dan Shulman, is your play-by-play guy on Sportsnet TV. That's good. Of course, it could be Pat Tabler sitting next to him. It could be Buck Martinez sitting next to him. I don't know.

But I don't think Dan is on board for 162 games with SportsNet. I just, I don't think so. And that being the case, that means that the other games will, the play-by-play guy will have to be someone else. I don't know about Buck's vaccination

status. I haven't heard about that. Doubt very seriously that SportsNet would ever bring that up. And doubt very seriously that any broadcaster or journalist is going to get an answer from Rogers Sportsnet as to who the team is going to be. That's just my personal opinion.

So they'll just make an announcement again, right now there's a lockout but if and when there's a spring training again that's basically when we'll get some kind of a press release from rogers as to what they plan to do and safe to say they won't be traveling uh like i would say probably not yeah i don't say probably i said the home game sure you put your crew in the home games right but yeah i'm traveling i i think for a crew

um from a money standpoint from a safety standpoint you've already done it for two years without traveling. So probably not, yeah. And one thing I've learned to do is stop making COVID predictions because Omicron kind of came in like a fucking tidal wave and it consumed us

and we're in it right now. But if it's doing what it says it's doing, which is doubling every 2.5 days or whatever the scientists tell us, then I mean, I did the math quickly in my head and realized we're all getting this in January 2021. I mean, sorry, January 2022. I got to remember what year this is.

Hebsey might have it right now. Luckily, he's on Zoom. I don't have it. Well, who knows? It doesn't come with a label, as you told me. It's true. It doesn't come with a label. It doesn't say, hi, it's COVID.

It's COVID here. Hello. It's not the flu. It's not the grip. It's not a fever. It's not the chills. It's true. It doesn't come with a lid. It doesn't say, hi, it's COVID. It's COVID here. Hello. It's not the flu. It's not the grip. It's not a fever. It's not the chills. It's COVID. But who the hell knows what state we're in as far away as April?

Like, I can't predict what February is going to look like. Well, back in October, the government announced likely removal of masks in March. Doug Ford said by March, we're not going to mask. Meanwhile, school, my kid, my five-year-old is upstairs right now going to senior kindergarten on her computer. Jeez. So it's great.

The way I understand it is this, from everything I've read, is Omicron has to reach its peak, has to hit its peak. And once the numbers start going down, then you can talk about the kids going back to school and things you know you can plan on things becoming more normal because the initial waves that's what's happened it reached a terrible high peak horrible yeah and then you know right it started to decline and then the decline became rapid and then it was you know like safe to go outside and i mean the decline is mainly because like, I mean,

we don't have any evidence in terms of how long the antibodies last or anything like that. But we do know that you do for at least a period of time. Once you get COVID and recover from COVID, you've got these antibodies that prevent you from getting COVID. Well, you both are medical experts. And which strain, which strain, the other one is which strain. Like, you know. Yeah. And there's now an Omicron 2. I can't keep up with all this.

But what happens when, what no one talks about is what happens when you do get COVID? What do you mean? Well, you stay home. Do you take Tylenol? Do you drink orange juice? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's right. So you treat it like a flu. I actually do have insight into talking to doctors, okay? Don't go to emergency unless you absolutely have to because that's the big thing now. People after they have like a fever

for a few days and they have COVID, they go to emergency and that's the worst place to. People, after they have like a fever for a few days and they have COVID, they go to emergency and that's the worst place to go because they can't do anything for you in emergency, but you might get the nurses and everyone infected and then they have to take their five days off. And that's part of the problem

is a shortage of nurses working. Isolate, you just isolate. Yes, okay. So Jay Brody is a good FOTM. The way you went with flu, if you had a regular flu, if you had a regular seasonal flu. Keep yourself hydrated and Advil and Tylenol until you feel better.

That's the secret there. And stay home. Okay. So Milan, that's what we're going to do after the super spreader event. Thank you, Dr. Hebsher and Dr. Boone. Last question,

we'll go to Craig M. He's a big fan of these sports media podcasts and that means he's got very good taste. What does, this is for you, Hebsey, and then Milan and I will chime in,

but what does the sports viewing landscape look like 10 years from now? So much of what we digest is going digital and streaming. Will we see significant drop off on how sports has been conventionally consumed? And what are the implications of that? So this is a very broad stroke by Craig M.

But what does your crystal ball say if we were to have a sports media round table in 10 years' time? 10 years' time? That's what he wrote, but you can change that to five if you like. I would think that, yeah, I would think that the devices we have available to us, they'll be more plentiful. Your standard watching it on television, over-the-air television, will still be there

because most people will still have that. Even if they're cord cutting most of the big big big events will be on television however having said that the number of streaming services available that have big dough yeah amazon disney i mean netflix facebook facebook twitter google youtube is owned by google there's some money there It wouldn't surprise me at all if 10 years from now, when you were to look at, let's say, the Blue Jays schedule, for example, you would have a certain number of games on over-the-air television, a certain number of games streaming here.

You know what I mean? Who knows? They would all be available, but on different platforms, different carriers, and maybe with different people doing the games, probably all from home. You know, I don't know. Is it going to be like the Jetsons when we watch the Jetsons on TV? Oh, my God. Because that's now, because the Jetsons,

when it was written in 1960-whatever, was about the year 2021. Right. Something like that. I think what COVID has essentially done is it's expedited everything. I think we're going to see more sports betting. I think television content or these sports rights are going to continue going through the roof. I think these leagues are going to make more and more money.

We talked about it before, but I think from a local sports fan perspective, and we've talked about this in the past, how sports radio in particular, it's regional. You have to focus on the local sports teams, and I think that's going to get lost, whether it's the athletic getting sold or the demise of AM radio. I believe that's coming soon.

Well, that's good for us. Good for the podcast. If you're looking after the local teams and you're telling your listeners, you know, hey, I watched this game last night. That's the other thing, is that depending on where you are, I don't know that many people

that consume all this national sports stuff. They've got a favorite local team for the most part. That's right. But there are a lot of people that just, that they love sports. But for the most part, you're watching to watch your local team. Love it. Hebsey, love Hebsey on sports. And I love your contributions to these quarterly sports media roundtables.

Thank you, my friend. Thanks for doing this. I hope you feel better soon. And fast time Milan, fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair, great friend of the program for years now, Milan. And again, you've got the golden pipes. Every time I hear you on these mics, I think, why can't I sound like Milan?

Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Hebsey. Thank you, Milan. And that, that brings us to the end of our 981st show. You can follow me on Twitter twitter I'm at Toronto Mike Hebzy is at Hebzyman Milan you're at Fast Time WJR

and visit our website Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair.ca google that because no one knows how to spell jewelry right it's the Canadian spelling and remember.ca everybody our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer Google that because no one knows how to spell jewelry. Jewelry, right. It's the Canadian spelling. And remember.ca, everybody. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.

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