Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Rob Del Mundo: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1577

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

In this 1577th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Rob Del Mundo who has written 55 stories for his 55th birthday. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Advantaged Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, The Yes We Are Open podcast from Moneris and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Welcome to episode 1577 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. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. The Advantage Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada. Learn how to plan, invest and live smarter. Season 7 of Yes We Are Open.

An award-winning podcast, unlike this one, from Monaris, hosted by FOTM Al Gregor, Recycle My Electronics.ca, committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past, and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the Community since 1921. Today, returning to Toronto Mike is Rob Del Mundo. Rob, how you doing buddy? Pretty good Mike, thanks for having me. Before I press record, I noted you're wearing a Toronto Ergonauts Grey Cup Champion hoodie. I am. And that was our, is that our most recent Grey Cup champion hoodie. I am.

And that was our, is that our most recent Grey Cup 2022? That would be the most recent one. Yeah, we were supposed to repeat last year, but then those pesky alouettes got in the way right here in our own barn, so. Well, now we gotta go to their barn, and hopefully they're not in our way once again. Revenge is a dish best served cold, I believe.

Okay, that's a Klingon proverb. I think I learned that from a Tarantino movie. But okay, go Argos. Go Argos. Okay, and are you a lifelong Argo fan? Absolutely, sir. Okay, good, we need more of them. I know Bob Lillett's a big Argo fan.

And I'm one of those guys, I can get into it. Like I'm not anti-Argos, like some sports fans in this market are like NFL or bust. Oh that amateur our Argos thing like you know they'd be happier if it disappeared. I'm not one of those guys. I root for the CFL. Absolutely. I mean I I don't understand the mindset that you can't like both leagues. I mean there's some people who love the NFL. There's some people who have the CFL. I love both.

The two don't have to necessarily conflict with each other. And I don't watch the Argos as religiously, partly because it's hard to keep track in summer, especially which day of the week it's on, whereas NFL is like Sunday, Monday clockwork. But no, I will root for the Argos any day of the week. I see a Doug Flutie bobblehead over there. I've got one too.

Doug Flutie, big Trump fan. yep see I noticed all of our heroes are Trump fan so it turns out you know if you're a Bobby Orr fan oh he's a big Trump fan if you're a Jack Nicholas fan oh he's a big Trump fan if you're a Wayne Gretzky fan it turns out Gretzky and his family are hanging out at Mar-a-Lago on election night like basically all your heroes are Trumpers it's unfortunate I'm pretty sure John Elway hits in there somewhere too but anyway. But shout out to Doug Flutie who

gave me a lot of great memories you know we're not all perfect right Rob? Yeah I mean I got when the Argos won the Great Cup in 97 I actually sneaked my way into the parade because I had a camcorder an 8 millimeter camcorder bag and people thought I was media so I got to see a Doug Flutie pinball. Yeah.

You know, that's sort of like when George Costanza always had like papers with him. It looked like he was in a rush and he was busy doing something. Just, just act like you belong. That's how you crash weddings. That's how you can get into events. Just look like you belong there. Absolutely. All right. And you belong here, Rob Del Mundo. So a little bit of housekeeping off the top. One is we are live at live.torontomike.com

and Jeremy Hopkins says it was great meeting you, Rob, at the last TMLx event. You were at TMLx 16 at the GLB Brew Pub, as was Jeremy, you guys met there. It was great to see you there. Yes, I remember Jeremy. He did that podcast recently with the ghosts and the Hockey All-Fame Fund.

Toronto Ghost Stories. That's right, yeah, no, I remember the event quite well, TMLNX16, great times, and thanks Jeremy. I will get to your podcast, I have it bookmarked, that's how I remember it, so I haven't listened to it yet, but it's on the list. Okay, because Halloween's over. So it was the season,

but you're gonna catch up with that anyway. Absolutely. He always delivers. He's back every quarter. Are you gonna be able to attend TMLX 17, which is later this month, November 30th. It's a Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at Palma's Kitchen in Mississauga.

Will you be there, Rob Del Mundo? I wish I could, but there's a conflict with the PWHL Toronto Scepter's home opener It was I had it bookmarked and I've been told so the home opener is at the same time as TMI It's a 2 p.m. Start at that now now they're playing at Coca-Cola Coliseum So they've upgraded from the anatomy center, right? And you know, I've been covering the league for so long. I could text Jane Helford right now and ask her to remove the game. I'd cheat probably laughing.

Do it. No, do it. If you don't, I will. So we'll talk more about this women's hockey league shortly. Now I wish I could be there. I've been to the previous two. It's a great event. Palma Pasta, go.

Go Palma Pasta. So look, you have a story to tell and I'm gonna help you tell it. I'm very excited you're back. This is your debut in the basement though. It is. Last time you came over for episode 9 11. Yes. Outside in the backyard during covid times. Yeah, September 20, 21. So we were just getting out of covid. But yeah, but I was I haven't done backyard

episodes in a while. So there was a period of time I did a bunch because we weren't allowed down here and you were in that bunch. And I'll be interested afterwards how you compare the experiences. Okay. And you'll be honest with me, right? Basement or backyard, you gotta make a choice. We'll find out later, everybody stay tuned.

Okay, so how do you know Kevin Shea? Kevin and I go back almost 20, 25 years through the Society for International Hockey Research. A bunch of hockey enthusiasts, historians, and I met him through that particular organization. And as it turned out, he'd be, well, he was a season ticket holder, still is a season ticket holder and then he's a got a whole bunch of books come out the first one he wrote would have been the one he did he did with Tommy Smythe if I'm not mistaken called center ice and through this so through sir and because of his presence around the then known as Air Canada Center and I'd see him at games all the time and then we just got to corresponding and then I got to know him really well. I'm not sure

there's a nicer guy on the planet than Kevin Shea but if there is his name is Rob Del Mundo. I'm not sure about that but thanks for the compliment but I know Kevin's talking about him. He's a sweetheart. So Kevin Shea has been over several times, he's been in the basement and his most recent visit he came over and told some great stories as always. And we talked about his book that he self published for friends and family members. He called his book 50 grades of Shea, which is a great title, right?

Absolutely. And you borrowed that book from me. Yeah, actually, what's it called? A hundred grades of shame. Oh, well, because he turned a hundred, right? Yeah, you only give him half the credit 100 Grades of Shay? Oh, is it 100 Shay? Okay, well, because he turned 100, right? Yeah, you only give him half the credit, come on, dude, but yeah. Oh, I like my title better. He should have done volume one, volume two,

50 Grades of Shay, okay? 100 Grades of Shay, my apologies to Kevin Shay. So this is not something you can go buy at Indigo or buy on Amazon or whatever. He literally just, he self-published this book of stories and he gave them to, I think, 100 closest friends and family members but I got a copy I think I was number 99 just like the great one at Mar-a-Lago there so now will pay one Wayne Gretzky okay yeah will pay mine so that I yes shout out to will pay mine

last maple leaf to wear number 99 so you borrowed this book from me yes that was that the team Alex 15 when we celebrated your birthday at the GLL. Okay, my big five-o. Okay, I see. It's all this is I'm telling a story here. So, you borrowed that book from me. So, we're in the process. Did you read that book and say, I want to do what Kevin did?

I like this idea. Tell me how you came up with the idea for something unpredictable. Yeah. Yeah. So, thanks for the loaner. And it was late, late June. So, that the loaner. And it was late late June. So that wasn't free. You owe me ten bucks for that.

OK, we'll negotiate. But yeah, it was late late June. So over the course of the early part of that summer, July, I was enthralled with Kevin's stories, a lot of which I already knew because he either shared them on Facebook or he actually shared. He used to write a column, hockey column called the Fan for All Seasons and early 2000s he asked me with my website at the time tmlfans.ca, we still have it, just not a lot of content, to host his column, a Fan for All

Seasons. So let's say he's got a hundred stories in there. So I was familiar with maybe about, you know, 20, 25 of them, but the other 75, I was very much interested. And it just became a labor of love. It said, could I do something similar? Maybe not a hundred stories, but you know, with the big 55 milestone coming up. So what day is that 55th birthday? That would be November 18th. That's a week from Monday. Okay. Wow. Okay. So you said, Oh, I'm turning 55. Yep. And you're like, well, you know, 55 saves lives. That's what you're thinking here. Or no And you're like, well, you know, 55 saves lives. That's what you're thinking here. Or no, you're thinking I can't drive 55 or one or the other,

but pick your 55 of choice, but you're turning 55. And you said, hey, I'm going to write a book inspired by Kevin Shea's 100 Grades of Shea. I'm gonna write a book myself. So you decided to write a book. I did. I started with a couple chapters just to see if it was sustainable to see if I could do it but long story short yeah yeah you just pretty much summed it up right there and

in terms of the title well we can get in the title later okay well let's talk about the title the title is something unpredictable and all I can think of is a Green Day lyric from good riddance how figured a good good riddance open bracket time of your life, close bracket, like you did with that. That's a parentheses jam. Parentheses jam, yeah. So is that the, is that basically,

you took something unpredictable from the Green Day lyric? Yes, it was, I tried to play off something like 55, like you were saying, like, can't drive 55, Freedom 55 was at the bottom of the list, there was no way we were gonna call it, but most recently, a bunch of runners and I, we went to Corning, New York recently to run the wine glass half marathon or marathon. And at that event we all stayed at the YMCA near Corning. And my buddy Mark and I brought our guitars. So we're singing around the campfire.

So this is back in October. So a month ago at this time the book didn't have a title and I couldn't work 55 into it but one of the songs that we're singing around the campfire among the guys and girls was Time of Your Life and my buddy Andy sent the video to the group chat and I was like oh my gosh the books I should be releasing it in November I still don't have a title yet. Something unpredictable what a metaphor for life you know you think your life's gonna go one way, a straight line, it's all these twists and turns, but that's how it came about. We'll discuss here in this chat, like, where you thought your life was going

and where it went with these twists and turns. But this is available in PDF only, right? Correct. So you wrote this book, although I saw you have a book with you that's not PDF. What is this book you have? It is, well, it's a copy of the, it's PDF copy of the book. That's a Sirlox bound. So anybody, I mean, can go can walk into any staples and you know, right? You can print your own book. You printed a book. Okay. Is that the camera right there? But there we go. Okay. Okay. So

55 stories in honor of you turning 55. Yes. But what I really like about this story and I by the way I've read it and it's great and we're gonna thank you're gonna talk about quite a bit of it here, but You're always interested in giving back like you're like, I don't want money for this book I you want to benefit charities, please elaborate on that. How is this? Book something unpredictable going to help charities? Yeah, it's a great question. Initially, it was going to be... Well, thank you very much. Honestly, you know what? You warm me up. You've done this for quite a while, honestly.

I don't get enough... That's a great question. I've done 1577. 1777. Okay, you're 1577. You were 9-1-1. That was an emergency. Hey-o! 1577 now. So there's been a few episodes since your last visit. And I don't hear that often enough. What a great question. So you've got me putting in your hand. Originally, I hadn't even thought about the idea. It was going to be more of an ego boost during the month of November when I would be turning 55 and just make it available to anyone who would be interested in a copy just send

me an order on social media post your favorite memory of me etc and then I was telling my friend my good friend Patricia who we were going to a Blue Jays game together back in July and I mentioned what to her what I was doing and she said well why don't you make the link available, but have a charitable component to it, and say, make the link available to anyone who pledges a donation. It doesn't matter who it is, it's a,

which charity, I'm sure many charities can benefit, and I said, that's a fantastic idea, and that's how that came about. So as fast forward to present day, I made it available on Monday, I believe, and I've gotten a few responses back with all various charities that people are pledging to. But yeah, I mean, it's all on the honor system. I'm not checking for receipts, but if you're here...

No receipt required. No receipt required. Who would lie about that, right? Like, oh, I just gave some money to the Canada Cancer Society. You know, the Human Fund. I feel like George Costanza would be making a donation to the Human Fund just to get that PDF. So let's be very, very clear to anyone listening right now.

If they would like a copy of this book, PDF only, no Kindle e-reader format coming, no plans to distribute it in retail stores, right? It's PDF only. Yes. If you want a copy of something unpredictable, give us the exact steps. Like assume my listenership has an IQ of approximately 80. Okay. So let's go better than mine. You know what? You're bringing down the average, Rob. I'll be honest with you with that one. But,

you know, then Jeremy brings it up. So it all evens out. But how exactly do I get that PDF copy of something unpredictable? Yeah, just tweet me at Rob underscore del mundo on Twitter let's not call it by that other platform name, but just message me there and Still there. I know it is so Elon Musk who bought it, you know years ago Shout out to FOTM cam Gordon. So you're still there. I have found myself, particularly since the election the other day, I found myself posting more on Blue Sky, but you're still on the Twitter. I mean, I'm on it too, so this is no judgment here.

So that's your preferred communication method for this contest. Yep, correct. Either Twitter or Facebook, but I realized that not everybody who's listening might be connected to me on Facebook. So you can also send me a note on Messenger. So do it that way as well.

Lots of ways. Look, you know, contact me if you can't figure out how to get a hold of Rob Del Mundo. We'll make this happen. So they just have to tell you, I want to get this exactly right. They have to tell you a store, a comment about like their favorite memory of you. Well, it's more for Facebook. I mean, I realized not everybody would be connected to me on Facebook, but those who are, I mean, my, mean my my preferred was just like an ego boost. What's your favorite memory of me? So I've got about what 10 12 responses so far already. Okay, that that part's optional I mean if you okay, so the main thing is just tell Rob what charity is receiving a donation from you and he'll send you

The PDF file so you can have a copy of something unpredictable. The file or the link, whatever you prefer. This is easy. We're making this nice and simple. I like it. You want to name check any of the charities that have benefited already? This is a wonderful endeavor by you. I have a list if you haven't memorized them.

Okay. So, so far already and we're early, okay? And we have all of November for this. And, you know, get ahold of Rob and tell him what you're donating to and you Get the copy of his his wonderful book, but here are the charities who have already benefited Toronto Humane Society Bear with us. I don't know this charity, but bear is spelled B E A R So I'm guessing where yeah my friend Mary Ann in who lives in Barry who has an affinity for for bears is donating to this

Charity that apparently looks after orphan bears. See I like orphan bears but just don't mess with me when I'm camping. Please leave me alone. Okay partners with paws so far we have the animals are benefiting off the top here. Nothing. Partners with paws. Paws is spelled P-A-W-S. Okay now let's move on to some humans.

Okay I'm all for helping the animals but us humans need some help too. The Toronto People with AIDS Foundation. Movember, that's for prostate, right? Movember, yes. Campfire Circle. That's for cancer patients. Oh, beautiful. And this one I found interesting.

So the Hockey Hall of Fame, okay. Is that a charity? Yeah, I should say registered charity. charity any guesses as to who Kevin Shea How about that? So Kevin Shea? I'm glad he did that except so am I how is that a charity? I'm just this is just a sidebar tangent You know, this is Toronto Mike's I just gotta go out. Do you know how that's a charity? I think it's a cultural like a cultural and museums. So yeah, okay So if you don't help animals or people like if you're like screw the animals screw the people

I try or prioritize let's put some money into this monument to hockey grades then then yeah any charity as long as it's a charity okay the human fund does not count correct correct a registered charity I mean if it's if you can find it on giving Tuesday comm then it's a registered charity and like Oh, what was the other Seinfeld one you mentioned before like the good tensors? Yeah. No, not I think it was it. Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about Sammy Joe small. Yep Sammy Joe small wrote the forward to this book So this is you self publish this you write this thing you self publish it in a moment

We'll get to who helped you with the editing because I know Monica M Monica maybe we're doing it right now Monica M read the book for you. She did. And she I believe is the person who donated money to the Humane Society. Yes. And that's because I know that we discussed this in the FOTM group and we talked about it at TMLX 16, but you recently lost your beloved dog, Butch. How old was Butch? Butch was 14 years and 10 months. So just a couple of months shy of 15, he had a great life. I mean, he was my shadow.

He was my buddy. So thanks again. Shout out to TMLX 16. I I mean that was on the Monday night and We put him down on the Sunday and I'm I show up to the event I'm still in the days, but I just I just want to thank everybody both in our whatsapp chat and FOTM Who showed up at GLB that night? Especially a special shout out to a cousin Janna who was my plus one at the stars concert and she was very instrumental in helping me get through that. So thank you cousin Jano. Shout out to cousin Jano, a welcome addition I believe dragged into this community by her

cousin Leslie Taylor. So thank you cousin Jano. So Monica M who I've never met, never heard of but not only does she proofread this book but this is a nice gesture. You lost your dog Butch. You mentioned Butch was your shadow you loved Butch so some money donated to the Humane Society that's beautiful man. Yeah I mean Monica also a member of Sir knows Kevin really well she's done some freelancing for Hockey Hall of Fame magazine and other endeavors she's a graduate of the College of Sports Media. So I believe some of her teachers were... Jim Hanford. Jim Hanford. FOTM Peter Gross. FOTM Roger Legevage. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Slow down, slow down. So Monica M. was taught by Peter Gross? Yes. That's that's invaluable. Yes. Whatever they

charged at the College of Sports Media wasn't enough. Imagine being taught by the legend FOTM Hall of Famer Peter Gross. There you go. That's incredible. Okay, so shout out to Monica with a KM and Let's get back to Sammy Joe small though How did you manage to get Sammy Joe small who's won a gold medal with Team Canada? Maybe more than one. I don't know when you're on Team Canada, you might win multiple gold medals. How did you get Sammy Jo Small to write the foreword to your book? Yeah, so I mean I've known Sammy for the longest time covering women's hockey back when, you know, it was out of the

spotlight for outside of the Olympic circles. People used to watch women's hockey in 2002, 2006, 2010, but I was, I think it was the 98 Olympics that got me interested in women's hockey. And when I got my press credentials about, for the first time, about a year later, then especially going into that Olympic cycle, it was just more than just, I didn't want to wait for the Olympics

to start. I wanted to go in the Beatrice Ice Garden at York University, everybody's pressed up against the glass. So I've known Sami for the longest time, ever since covering the days of the old National Women's Hockey League before the league she co-founded, the CWHL, and then she'd play for Brampton and then later Toronto, won a Clarkson Cup with Toronto in 2014. So, and then most recently she was the president of the Toronto Six that won their Isabel Cup in 2023 and I was invited as media to their ring ceremony which took place this past February. And so in trying to think about well do number one do I need a forward? Maybe I'll just kick the tires

and see who might be available. And just because I have that long standing relationship with Sammy, I just sent her a message and told her what I was doing and made sure I accentuated the charity initiative. And it took a couple days, but I eventually heard back from her. And then she was more than willing to oblige.

So, shout out to Sammy. Amazing amazing and I did check in like must be more than one gold medal but Sammy Joe small actually won like I'm not trying to minimize this because it's one more gold medal than you and I are ever going to win but she won a gold medal and four world championship gold medals right right four world championships and won by the IHF record book, official gold that was in Salt Lake in 2002. Sorry, sorry. One, yeah, one official gold by the IHF 2002. And then because she was third string in both 98 silver and 2006 silver, based on the number of medals that are number of people on the roster, it's, it might not be officially recorded.

That's exactly right. So she was third goldaltender, which I guess she never saw any playing time. And they're not counting that other because she was backing up. Yeah, it gets very tricky and which she outlines in her wonderful back of the role I played, which she released during the pandemic back in 2020. So again, shout out to Sammy. I can't be more grateful. But yeah, Olympic champion writing the forward for your book Hey, that makes me feel good. Well, you should feel good. And again, this is all benefiting charity And I just love that you're doing this So let's use this opportunity to go dive in a little bit deeper into women's hockey for a minute

So so you're a big woman women's hockey booster. Yes What do you think of the Toronto PWHL nickname Scepter? It's awkward. I can you spell it? I believe it's S C E F T R E S. Just do it again. I think you missed one. Okay, I'll try it again. S C E P. Yes. T R E S. Okay, correct. But you know, you're a smart guy. So that's why. So although earlier we discussed you're not that smart a guy So if you can spell it anyone can spell it so it's a bit awkward in what way just that it's a Doesn't really roll off the tongue. I mean, first of all, is it plural like is it Toronto scepter or is it Toronto scepters? I Always thought it was scepters, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, I'll Google it right now. I'll Google it right now. Yeah, so first of all, even the spelling, like I mean, if you want to Americanize the spelling, then I guess you'd do it with an E-R-S, but it's, yeah, I guess what they're going for is like the sword symbolizes the hockey stick, and I think it's mediocre.

I think they could have done better, but yeah, they could have done worse. At the end of the day, you know what? 90% of the name that they would have chosen would be rejected by the population anyway. I remember when Raptors was chosen back in the late 90s, Blue Jays, what's a Blue J? Or like Skydom, who would wanna go attend

a hood event at the Skydom? Now I don't wanna call it by any other name because of the corporate name that we all,'s its proper name, but no scepters And there's definitely an ass on scepters just to clarify it scepters of an asset the end Do you think because you know you stylize it as TS right is there any attempt to cash in on the Taylor Swift phenomenon? Not likely but I What I've heard the the criticism that I've read on Twitter, it's like it looks like the Medicaid logo,

and now I can't unsee it. But I will credit this though. I will say that when all six names were mentioned, I like, as long as it's the plural noun, like the Stronger Scepters and the New York Sirens, which what I don't like and this is my personal opinion is the trend towards the abstract noun singular names. I remember Mark Lazarus, great reporter, beat reporter from Chicago, before the names were

announced he tweeted out, please don't let them all be singular names, please not. So he got the Charge, the Frost, you know, the Victoire which I get but the one that puzzles me is the Boston fleet, which makes no sense to me at all. But I would have preferred a 50-50 split between like plural nouns and singular names. I don't get this whole in thing. We have to be like soccer teams or like, you know,

the singular noun has to be the best in thing. Maybe I'm old school. Plural nouns, plural nouns. You have the Orlando Magic, and the Utah Jazz, like they're kind of different. Yeah, so you get Tampa Bay Lightning, for example. Right. Oklahoma City Thunder. Yeah, there you go. Or even the old CWHL.

I mean, they had five teams, four singular nouns and then the plural nouns, pardon me, and one single, the Calgary Inferno was the, which I don't mind. It's just a matter of, like I said, four out of six singular, that was too much for me. That's just personal preference. I'm old school. Okay, but you're all in, but you are a journalist covering this team, right? Yes. So can you root from the press box?

So you're able to suppress this. I'm gonna guess that you want the Toronto Scepters to win. What's the name of their cup? The Walter Cup. Walter Cup? Okay. So you would love to, I'm sure you would, if you could tell me the truth after a Great Lakes beer, you would love to see the Toronto Scepters hoist the Walter Cup. Absolutely. Just like I was happy for the Toronto Fury, the team on which Sammy Joe's played and Tess Bernal played back in 2014 when they won the Clarkson Cup but am I able to... named after David Clarkson of course... that that and that 36 million dollar

contract but no it David Clarkson so if I can chime in with a hopefully short story about being able to suppress my memories or not always in the press box so well back in April of this past year talking about revenge is a dish served best cold. So the United States beat Toronto. Hello. United States beat Canada last year at the Women's World in Brampton. So this year's worlds were held in Utica, New York where Canada got the opportunity to return to favor but it was a really close game for anybody who remembers a five five going into overtime and during that entire Game seated next to me in the Utica arena press box are you know radio guys from Utica who are not quite?

I mean they're chewing for the United States and that's cool type of thing couldn't hide their emotions type of thing But I against better press box etiquette when Daniel Sudakne scored that overtime winning goal, I may have let out a little bit of a whoop before I tried to get there myself. But it is a little different with the countries, right? Like it's a bit different with the countries. I feel like you can kind of root for your nation. Different than rooting for a club team or whatever

that you grew up loving or whatever. It's still frowned upon. I've never been in the... It's still frowned upon, but I guess maybe phrased it a different way, more latitude would be given to you. Let's put it that way.

Right, because that's your citizenship, the country that you call home. Yeah, you pay taxes over here. Okay, so just remind us again, episode 9-11 is the Rob Del Mundo jam-kicking deep dive, but how did you get into sports writing? Yeah, so essentially my friend Rick Kuchman, shout out to Rick Kuchman, he was the one who donated to Partners with Paws, that's his charity.

So essentially before there were all these Yahoo news groups and chat lines, there was back in the text-based days, there was Usenet and a Usenet news group called rec.sport.hockey, and then there was also a mailing list run, the maypolis.com, not I was about to say dot com, the maypolis plaidworks mailing list run by a guy named Chuck in San Jose, California,

I believe is where he was located. And so I got to know Rick Kuchman through Plaidworks. And then he started up his website. At the time it was called penaltybox.com, which has since been transitioned to tmlfans.ca. And so Rick liked my posts. I mean, he knew I was knowledgeable about the game and vice versa. I knew he was very knowledgeable.

What I didn't know was that journalist Stan Fischler, based out of New York City, has a whole bunch of reporters working for him and that Rick was Stan's guy covering the games out of Maple Leaf Gardens. And Rick's family is very young at the time. He would have been like in his mid-20s and he was stepping down and oh and he was commuting from Guelph. So quite the haul to do 40 games a year from Guelph, Ontario to commute into Toronto to Maple Leaf Gardens so as the coincidentally as we were transitioning from Maple Leaf Gardens to Scotiabank Arena or I guess at the time it was Air Canada Centre

we have to bow down to the proper corporate overlord at the time that so those overlords who are overseeing that arena Rick said the asked me if I asked Stan for a second credential we can't both cover the same game, but Do you mind if I would you be available if I brought you on as a backup? So you couldn't say yes fast enough there the doors open for you right there Yes, they did and you you walked right in and you're still there. I'm yeah, I'm right there. Yes they did. And you walked right in and you're still there. Yeah I'm still here. Yes that's correct. Okay don't hesitate on that. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. You're still here looking right at you.

Okay so that's I heard you at TMLX16 at the GLB Brew Pub at Jervis in Queens Key. I heard you chatting with Steve Paikin about Stan Fischler. Yep. And I guess Steve was familiar with Stan. Steve was more familiar with Stan. Yes, we didn't talk so much about Stan, the journalist himself. We got more into a discussion about old school style defensemen and defensive defensemen. So I offered my opinions that I mean, I'm more of the like in voting for the North's trophy. I mean, I'm more of the, like in voting for the North trophy.

I mean, I like the defensive defenseman who's prioritizing in terms of offense. And if I can cite an example. I mean, Evan Bouchard, everybody loves to see what Evan Bouchard is doing for the Edmonton order, et cetera, et cetera. And I was telling Steve, I have a personal bias against Evan Bouchard because number one,

he's useless in his own end, and it's not just me saying that, it's Oilers fans saying, my gosh, Evan Bouchard, like, I mean, looks so lost in his own zone. And a bit of personal bias sets in because not last year, the year before, I was in a hockey pool with a chance to win a lot of money, and it became down to three, so it was a survivor pool,

so where you had to pick the winner and you couldn't pick the same team more than once per season. So out of 100 entries, 97 entries get eliminated and it's now just me down to two other people. And it's like, well, Edmonton's playing Anaheim. Oh, this should be a no-brainer. I haven't picked Edmonton yet.

Edmonton should beat Anaheim, right? Who's Anaheim's goalie? Well, some guy, he's leading the NHL and the CFP now, but at the time, Lucas Dostyle was not a household name. Well, the Edmonton Oilers are going to walk over Lucas Dostyle, aren't they? Well, no. Evan Bouchard is going to cough up the puck, not once, but twice, in a 2-1 Edmonton loss. It's like, oh my gosh. So, uh. So screw that guy. Yeah. No, it's like, no, it's like credit credit to him for doing what Brian Leach did in 94, etc. With all the, all the points, but I would never vote for Bushard as a Norse candidate.

And that was the conversation I was having with Steve. It's like, you know, the defensive defenseman versus the offense or the, the offensive guy who's going to sacrifice defense for, for points is that's my opinion. I got later in this program because you know tonight what's happening tonight with regards to the hockey Hall of Fame. So tonight's the annual hockey Hall of Fame game they always have it on the Friday before the induction ceremonies so tonight the Detroit Red Wings are in town and I won't be at the game but I will be at the Hall of Fame actually later on this afternoon at 2 p.m. Is the ring ceremony where this year's class gets their rings and TSN will be broadcasting it There might be an hour delay. So it's only on it either two or three o'clock

I don't recall but yeah, I'll be there. I'll be at the ring ceremony So later in this I'm gonna talk to you about a defenseman that sounds like your kind of guy Shay Weber Absolutely. Yeah, and who could blame me for that? Okay, so you're in sports right now. I'm going to ask you some pointed questions here before we get to some lighter stuff. You are of Filipino descent. That's a mind blow for those who can't see you right now. So I'm surrounded by Filipinos.

I live with several Filipinos, okay? So this is a community I'm very comfortable with, you know, unlike all those other cultures, like, what are you doing here? Bring me some more Filipinos, okay, so this is a community I'm very comfortable with, you know, unlike all those other cultures, like, what are you doing here? Bring me some more Filipinos. But I'm curious if being Filipino, like, like, have you like how many role models in the world of hockey media do you see that aren't white, let alone of Asian descent? Like, I am curious whether you ever were able to envision yourself working in sports media covering hockey in this country of Canada

as a man of Filipino descent. Yeah so basically I wrote my stories, I went into the dressing rooms, I got my interviews with players, I don't really think of, I didn't and still don't really think of myself as a Filipino reporter. I'm just a reporter so I mean obviously very few if any uh, role models to pattern if we're looking for uh, uh an example of ethnicity, but hazel may is on the baseball side Yeah, and yeah, well, she's a bit of a unicorn I will say that when um When I tweeted out back in february 2021 that we had lost my dad

When I tweeted out back in February 2021 that we had lost my dad, of the 350 or so tweets in response, all great people offering their condolences, two of them included Filipino reporters, Hazel May and Nikki Reyes, who both- Two FOTMs. There you go. So yeah, I mean, it's just,

I mean, everybody's condolences there, of course, are appreciated, but it was just more for that to bring about your question. But neither hockey people, right? Like, so I'm, cause hockey, one of the criticisms against hockey is it's awfully white. It is. And there's very few, I mean, it's like you've got

even current day, I mean, so Matt Dumbo's part Filipino, the Robertson brothers, Jason and Nicholas are part Filipino. And, but yeah, very few role models. But I just at the end of the day, I mean, I just I look at players as hockey players. I don't look at Nick Robertson as a Filipino hockey player. I look at him as a third or fourth line least wing who's very fragile, who might get 10, 12 goals a year and who isn't his brother.

So, I mean, if you're so you never, you never saw your being a man of color, you never saw that as something that might impede your growth and progress covering hockey in this country. No, I did not. Okay, cause now I'm gonna, you know, the tough questions are here because I was reading your fine book. Thank you.

Which anyone listening can get a copy of if they donate to charity and let you know. And the book of course is called Something Unpredictable. And I'm reading about, and I feel I suffer from this in some regard, and I would love to have a little chat with you about imposter syndrome. Do you, Rob Del Mundo, feel you suffer from imposter syndrome? Every day, sir. Well, can we pull at those threads for a moment

here for those who aren't familiar. So what exactly is imposter syndrome and in what way do you feel your reflection of this? Feeling like I don't belong. It's like I mean and and it's a it's a matter like it could be sports writing but it could be any walk of life for example. So if it wasn't clear from the outset, sports writing isn't my mortgage paying vocation. I mean, I'm an IT guy at the bank. That's where. Well, it's not clear.

So, okay, so that's definitely not clear. I've never asked this question. I'm not going to go up to some sports writer and say, but what do you do for money? What do I do for money? I work at a bank. I work for a bank. I work for Scotiabank. I'm an IT guy. Okay, okay, okay. Sorry, this is a not a Scotiabank household. Get out of my basement. You've got the arena for goodness sakes. What more do you want there? Okay, so you pay your bills by working in IT for one of our big banks. Yes, but as a side hustle passion

Project of sorts you you cover hockey and you are a sports media journalist in this country. That's correct So is the imposter syndrome on that side of the coin because you don't have imposter syndrome Do you have imposter syndrome when it comes to working IT for a bank? Again, it's not necessarily everything. Yes, yes it's everything. So for example at the bank it's because it's a double-edged sword in that I'm very fortunate to have been able to turn my my passion hockey sports riding as a side hustle. However I've done it at the sacrifice by sacrificing my IT career. So, or at least progression in my IT career. So I mean, right now I'm kind of like middle,

sort of like one level below middle management. I could have been there higher, sure, but I spend a lot of my free time, you know. You chose happiness. I chose happiness. And the double edged sword comes into play where, okay, I'm not a beat writer. I don't cover the team on a regular basis

and all of my colleagues know that. Well, there's the inclination to not maybe take me as seriously. Well, I'm not gonna be the guy that gets the scoop. I'm not there at the game day skit because I have to work at my IT job. So it's a matter of, you know, it's like I'm a fan-center.

You can't be David Alter. Yeah. So yeah, I think it's just a matter of, I think I'm reading between the lines. So is it that, okay, so you're, you got the, the job that pays the bills and then you got the side hustle passion job that makes you happy, but you're not all in on either side. Right? Like, so you feel like you're, you're not giving your all to the

IT part that might you know buy you a I don't know what do you want a nicer bicycle? I always wonder hey here's a million dollars I'm like okay what am I doing of this million dollars am I buying a nicer bicycle? I know you know me anyway everybody's got different tastes or whatever but back to you Rob enough about me I didn't write a book. Yeah really read a book. It's a good question. So you're not all in on that side and you're not all in on this. Cause like you said, you're not David Alter

who's basically betting on himself and he's going hard on that. Do you ever wish sometimes, I wish I were David Alter? No, I mean, is that because of discotheque? David's a great friend. David's a FOT. I've known David forever. And I'm not using this because maybe just the fact that David, David might be the only

non Rogers person who travels with the team and sees goes to every Leafs game. Am I out to lunch on that? You might be right. I mean, especially, and that might include Rogers people for all I know. Go ahead. Here we are. This is the David Alter show. So the man does. State on the record that you choose discotheque is not just the greatest you to song of all time, but it's the greatest song of all time. And as a guy who fancies himself a pretty strong casual you to fan, I find that offensive. That's offensive. I don't know what you. I know David's a huge U2 fan, as am I.

I'm not as huge a U2 fan as David is, but no, disco, no, I mean, it's the height of their career. I think we may have talked about this last time I was here, episode 911 at Joshua Tree in 1987. Right. Yeah, I mean, 87 or 91, Acton, baby. I think, I mean, ever since Pop Martin, Zoo Ropa is kind of like, no, please.

Like, I mean, the same band that wrote Sunday Bloody Sunday can't be the same band that wrote Lemon, that's not, come on. But that's my opinion. To me, it's like you start to believe your own hype or whatever at that point in your career. Okay, so enough about David Alter, but do you ever wish you went all in,

put all your chips on, I'm going to write about sports for a living? Once in all in, put all your chips on, I'm going to write about sports for a living? Once in a while, or maybe not even writing, but maybe even broadcasting, so to expand it, maybe not necessarily pen and paper, but what if I was behind the mic, like I don't think I got like a Rash Badani from Sportsnet,

well, what he does with the hockey football. Yeah, on-screen guy football. On air guy. But I mean, those opportunities are far and few in between. And I might not be the most photogenic guy for TV anyway. But you've seen some of the guys working in Canadian sports media. Are you serious right now? Are you serious? Now, I will say I do worry now. I know, you know, shout out to Rusty, who have a great song on flute called Misogyny.

But I do worry for women in sports media in that, you know, Christine Simpson got me told your services are no longer required. She's also an F1 team and she's been, I don't think they use the word replace, but they have hired a younger version of her to do that job now. And I don't think it's quite as extreme for males in sports media. And you sure don't have to be fit and handsome to be in sports media in this country as a dude. Well, that's good.

That's why I've lasted so long. But you're fit because you run marathons and you're a good looking guy. Half marathons, but yeah. So this is all come back to the imposter syndrome that if you could, you know, like, I mean, I love Arashma Danny, but he's no George Clooney. I'll tell him you said Arashma. He lives near here. We can bump into him.

No, it's, yeah, do I wish, it's one of those things where, I mean, you're never gonna be the, you're never gonna be, you're never gonna be let me phrase it this way no matter how I've got this fridge magnet of Homer Simpson trying to whiff a golf ball type of thing right and then the caption of that is no matter how good you are at something there was always a million people better than you and it's like it's appropriate for me because as you

saw in the book I'm not a very good golfer I can hold my own with a double bogey type of hole but so getting back to the imposter syndrome I guess you know when like like I said because I'm sort of caught in between the two vocations I find myself because I'm not all in on either side and eventually someone's gonna know something more than me I guess when it comes down to it I wish I could feel less uncomfortable in the scenario where, you know, I, okay, I don't have the quick answer right now even though I should. What time is the Argo game tomorrow? Well, if you were up on your sport, you should know this now. You should know this at the back of your hand, blah, blah, blah. But it's like, I'm

not saying that's an example of imposter syndrome, but in any walk of life, whether it's sports media, whether it's my day job or anything else. It sounds like you're not sure you're good enough to be where you're at in any aspect of your professional life. Yes, but I don't feel like that all the time. And to be clear, I mean, I'm very grateful for the opportunities in both sides and I'm happy where I am. Hey, I own a house in Toronto, so I mean, I gotta be doing something, right? So. Can you spare a dime is what I'm gonna ask you. Brother, can you spare a dime? You are rich.

You own property in the city of Toronto? I own property in the city of Toronto, but then whether or not you, if you wanna take a look at my mortgage statement and see how much I owe. I don't even think that matters today. Like the fact that you own property in Toronto, it's like, you know, I can see you eating the caviar and saying, I'll pass on the lasagna from

Palma pasta here. So listen, I think a lot of it is, uh, confidence, right? Like I think it's, it's, I want to take a page out of the YouTube handbook. So at some point post octang baby, they bought their own hype sort of deal while, you know, Bono Bono realized he's God and that's the biggest band on earth. And then the result was a discotheque. I think you could have a shade of you too. And you yourself could decide it's time to record your discotheque. What do you mean? As an actual like sell my average and mediocre guitar playing skills on an album? I don't know about that, sir. But no, no, no, like, sell my average and mediocre guitar playing skills on an album?

I don't know about that, sir, but... No, no, no. I think you got to start to believe the hype. Like, I think you're like, I'm here. How many people listening to us right now would love press credentials to cover a professional hockey team in this market? I just think that I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit for the fact that you did it as a side hustle and you've accomplished some things that people who have gone all in Alter

style have failed to accomplish. Like, I think you should pat yourself on the back and realize, you're, as you turn 55, you've lived a life worthy of a book. How many of us can say our lives are book worthy? That's a very fair point. And thank you again for the good words. It's a great point. Thanks for the good words. And like I said, I don't feel like this all the time.

I mean, like I said, at the end of the day, I read the book. I felt I could see revisiting this imposter. And again, sometimes I'm like same way, but you're a two time guest on this program. How many greats out there from Randy Backman this imposter's job. Sometimes I'm like if you go all in on the sports media, you kind of need to be a trust fund kid or something. Like I think it's a high risk and it's a low paying venture.

And you could, you know, you needed the job to pay the bills because you need to eat, you need to have a home in the city of Toronto, all these things very, you don't want to risk those things by going for the, this, things by going for this sports media dream. So I actually get, I think you're being very prudent here, but I don't think you give yourself enough credit for what you've accomplished on the sports media side. Like your name is on books, I've read great books, you got the credentials, you're getting Sammy Joe Small to write a forward to your book. You're kicking ass, buddy.

Well, thank you. And if I could just add to that a little bit. So if you put my name in chatgpt.com. Oh, don't do that. Oh my gosh. Well, I wanted to see the difference between chatgpt and meta. So chatgpt.com, I put my name in and it said much of the same things that you were saying just now. It's like I'm a renowned sports writer covering the Maple Leaf type of thing.

So respected by members of all of Canada. So I don't know about the all of Canada part, but thank you, ChetGPT. Whereas if you put my name in meta.ai, I'm apparently a film director of four films that I've never heard of. So I'm just going to leave it at that. You know what? Screw AI. I'm a real eye. okay? The real intelligence. I'm here to tell you, you're kicking ass.

Now, so now that we've talked about the imposter syndrome, which I'm not a doctor. Like I don't know what the treatments are, but I do believe at its core, a lot of that is just self-confidence. Like you need to kind of look in the mirror and say, hey man, you're doing all right. You're living a lot of people's dream here.

You've done a lot here. I think you gotta do I almost sound like Frank was his name for Al Franken here's somebody you know the Michael Jordan Al Franken yeah so more hard-hitting questions here now that I've got you warmed up here this is gonna sound a little personal what do I care it's my show Rob already what's the furthest you've traveled to meet a woman you met online? Raleigh, North Carolina. So here's the back story. Tell me the story.

Yeah. So back to the Usenet newsgroup. So rec.sport.hockey was the big one. And I had in my signature, my text-based signature at the time, tragically hip lyric. I think it was the one that says, we only agree on one thing anyway. That's what the hell is happening here. Boots or hearts? Boots or hearts. There you go.

Up to here. So I'm making my post from behind my computer, and all of a sudden this girl from North Carolina starts chatting me up and we got to know each other and have a lot of common interests So she was a huge Detroit Red Wings fan huge Steve Iserman fan and being in Remember this is before Hartford moved over there. So this is going back to 1995 her hometown team was the Raleigh ice caps of the ECHL but she and her best friend would travel all over North Carolina or even even Virginia Roanoke to see you know that their teams a Jeff Brubaker a former

Leaf was the coach of I believe he was the coach of the Greensboro Monarchs at some point so Jeff Brubaker number 23 Leafss enforcer, looking up on hockeyreference.com if you're not a bad vintage. But yeah. Do I even want you listening to this program if you don't remember Jeff Brubaker? So, and essentially it's like, so fast forward to the fall of 1995. Here I am. I'm just typing up this email saying with deep, this sounds crazy, but do you want to meet in person? And my phone rings and it's her and she's there. Hey, I got an idea. Why don't you come to Raleigh to visit?

So that is the first. So it wasn't, I mean, these days it's kind of like everybody built a profile on match.com or Tinder or puts it into your apps. But yeah, like I said, in one of those chapters, hey, I had this online dating thing back when it was a fashion. How did that meet up? I almost called it a hookup, but that insinuates a fashion. How did that hook meet up?

I almost called it a hookup, but that insinuates other things. How did that meetup go? Well, I mean, I saw her a couple of times over the weeks and months that followed. So the meetup went OK. I mean, she was nice. She was pretty. We got along really well.

Nice and pretty? Yes. What more are you looking for? Was she single? Yeah, she was single. Yeah. And she spoke. She spoke with a southern drawl. She was from the Carolinas. So she had that accent.

It's like, you know, let's get some grit. Yeah, Delta, let's get you some grit. Meanwhile, I'd never heard of grits other than my cousin Vinny. But no, she she went down to Carolina. And when the Red Wings played in Toronto later that year, March of 96, she came up and she saw a game with me at Maple Leaf Gardens.

And then when, I think it was that year when Hartford moved to Carolina, but they played their first season out of Greensboro. And if you see the old garbage taps, just like the old Minnesota Metro Dome, except in Carolina, where you've got those taps at the tarps, excuse me, at the Greensboro Coliseum. And she had since relocated there. Greensboro is about two hours west of Raleigh. And then, yeah, we didn't see,

that was the last time I would have seen her, so yeah. But that is a long way to go to meet a woman you met online. It is. But I bet you there's dudes listening and maybe gals listening or maybe Non-gender people listening who have gone a lot further than that Probably going a lot further and I got lucky in that I didn't get catfished No, she was and I of course I would never catfish anybody else But I mean we were who we said we were it you didn't share pictures of George Clooney or a rash Madani

Actually, I shared a picture of myself and then she was And then share pictures of George Clooney or Arash Madani. Actually, I shared a picture of myself and then she was, you knew exactly what to look for. Yummy, she's like, I like some of that. She was there, yes, I still want to meet this guy. It's not a deal breaker, but yeah. Okay, what's your current status? Yeah, I'm single. You're single, okay, so I don't make any of these assumptions.

So are you on these apps? Infrequently, I mean, I got Tinder. Where does a 55 year old dude like you who's busy, cause you got the full time job, and then as we mentioned, you've got the part time job. Like where does a 55 year old guy like you find somebody, it sounds like you're attracted to women here. Where do you find women to date?

Good question, and if I have an answer for you, then maybe when you ask me this, that question next, my status will change. I don't, you know, I forget charity. Here's the move. Okay. I'm going to give you a tip here. Forget charity. Okay. You write the book and you're like, if you write me and meet me for coffee, you get it.

You get my book. Okay. That might work. I mean, Hey, nothing else has worked in this point. I like her. So, so I, I'm, I'm not single and, but, but I always think, you know, that's the low barrier. Like grab a coffee with someone.

Cause you know, I think, and again, what do I know about dating? But I think, you know, within five minutes of somebody at coffee, whether you'd like to pursue like a date or whatever with this person, like I think, you know, pretty quickly, but coffee is like, I don't know, three bucks each or something or whatever. So for 10 bucks, you and your date have a nice coffee, have a nice chat, and then you know whether, the both of you know whether you're interested in having like a real date, if you will.

I think that's the trick, a bunch of coffee dates. Coffee dates, what I heard on the radio, it's most interesting, and maybe this is true of the younger generation But it could be applied to all ages. So hear me out for a second here I've heard the in thing now is that people don't want to do coffees anymore. They want to do zoom meetings Oh god, holy crap. Seriously, what do you this is this is the eight? This is the age. This is these aren't my rules I'm just going by what's reported. So it's like, you know person what X wants to meet person why?

Okay Well, why don't we just do the skip the dishes thing and then order in type of thing, which can work to your advantage because to your point about chemistry, let's say either side decides that there is no absolute chemistry whatsoever and this isn't going anywhere.

Instead of being in a social situation where you're just twiddling your thumbs, you just hit that end button and you are done. So that's, hey, that's the way it is. I don't make these rules. So yeah, I'm personally, I believe that much like with Toronto. So yesterday I had a gentleman on Toronto mic named Pat Carey, very accomplished saxophone player, like just very accomplished. And he also plays, he's a full-time member of the Down Child Blues Band. And the Down Child Blues

Band, blues band which has been around as long as you've been alive, okay, same age as Rob Del Mundo, are on their farewell tour. Like this is it, you know? Donnie Walsh, he's like, we're done. And I'm zooming with the guy, and it was set up through a third party, because I wanted to talk to Donnie Walsh,

who nicely said, I don't talk to anyone. So he's not doing Toronto Mike or Joe Rogan. Okay, he's talking to nobody. He's not talking to Oprah Winfrey. You know, I'd like to find out if Oprah offers Donnie Walsh an interview. I wonder if he takes that one, but okay, I digress. The point is it gets moved to Pat Carey

and then in the shuffle, I'm busy with lots going on. I agreed to Zoom with Pat Carey about the Damn Child Blues band because I'm very interested in finding out what's going on with this legendary band that's calling it quits. Like I am very curious. So I'm chatting up Pat Carey and then early on I like always ask like, where are you? Like he said, is he in Winnipeg?

Is he in North Carolina? Is he in Raleigh? Where is this guy that we're zooming for this Toronto mic episode? Cause as you know, Rob, how many episodes of Toronto mic are zoom? Very small percentage, right? These are, these are in person interviews. He's in South Etobicoke. Okay. I was, I, at that point in my, my, I'm basically like, I'm going to, out of respect for my guest, I'm going to record a good episode, a good hour with this gentleman, but my heart's already gone. Like it's like, why aren't we in the same room? I can't imagine a first date on zoom when you both live in the same city.

Like this is a long way to wait. If I were dating pack carry, I wouldn't want that first date on zoom. I'd be like, let's grab a coffee. It'll cost us three bucks. If we don't like each other, if I find you repulsive or it's going poorly, we're all adults here, you can, you know, thanks for this, good luck with your life and peace out at the 15 minute mark. Yeah, no, that's a fair point. And if it wasn't clear before, it's like I'm, I'm, I'm well for the in-person at like, I mean, even if you're not asking.

So if anybody wants a coffee with Rob Del Mundo, you can also get a copy of your book, Get a copy of my book and let's just do it in person. Let's not do it for Zoom. I was using Zoom as the example for being anecdotal from what I heard on the radio, but to be clear, that's not what I'm in favor of. I'm the in-person old school guy. What radio station was this? Come on, what station is telling these kids are all meeting on Zoom because they're too busy to have a coffee? By the way, screw the coffee. Meet at Great Lakes Brewery and grab a pint because I'm going to be sending Rob Del Mundo home with some fresh craft beer from GLB. You love your GLB.

I do. In fact, episode 911 got its own chapter in your book, right? You did an entire chapter dedicated to episode 911 of Toronto Mic'd when we kicked out the jams and of course in the book I saw I think was page 78 you shout it out Great Lakes Brewing it that's why I like you so you got the beer and that's a good good have a pint you know cough up the extra a couple of bucks get the pint and have your date at Great Lakes Brewery okay I'll come referee if you need it. Okay. Sounds good.

Ridley Funeral Home has a measuring tape for you. Oh, thank you. Pillars of the Community since 1921. Okay. Monaris has sent over a speaker for you. Oh, nice, thank you. That is a high quality wireless speaker. And with that speaker, you, Rob Del Mundo,

will subscribe to Yes We Are Open, which is an award-winning podcast from Monaris that Al Grego hosts. Al Grego will be at TMLX 17 on November 30th at Palma's kitchen. That is confirmed. You won't be there, but Al will be there. Al went to Winnipeg and he visited with the Shooters Family Golf Center and Restaurant owners, the Cicero Sani family. And he learned the story of how this family transformed a modest driving range into a beloved community hub that's been serving Winnipeg for the past 31 years and counting.

And those are the kinds of stories you get. From Al Grego on the Yes We Are Open podcast from Minaris, season seven episodes are dropping now. Excellent, I'm just looking at your poster over here. Okay, well you gotta subscribe or I'm not giving you that speaker. That's the deal here. Fair point.

That's the deal. Okay, I wanna know about Hollywood jerks, okay. Who is the biggest Hollywood jerk that you have ever interviewed, Rob Del Mundo? And I want to know about Hollywood jerks. Okay, who is the biggest Hollywood jerk that you have ever interviewed Rob Del Mundo? And I want names. Andy Dufresne, Tim Robbins. I have all the respect. Really? I have all the respect. So disappointed.

I am so disappointed too. I mean, it was especially like, I mean, I'm a huge Shawshank fan and I loved Bull Durham, Nucle Lelouch. So fast forward to the fall of 2007, the charity Right to Play is hosting what's called the Festival Cup at, then it was still called Air Canada Center. So you've got a bunch of celebrities and NHLers just playing a game in support of Right to Play. So it's just before the preseason, should be a great event.

Sundian's gonna be there, Jill Thornton's gonna be there. And then so for on the celebrity side we've got the Jim Cuddy from Blue Rodeo and we have you know Tim Robbins you know Andy Dufresne himself so yeah the games played and then you know we're all going into the dressing rooms afterwards and you know to be honest I didn't have any pre preoccupied notion of going in to see Tim. Actually, I was more interested to talk to Jim because we were, I wanted to ask about his album, his collaboration with Kathleen Edwards. And recently there was a long time DMHL referee who unfortunately had passed recently, so

I wanted to get Jim's comments on that. So I was more for Jim Cuddy. And so I'm looking around the dressing room. It looks pretty empty Except and then there's mr. Hollywood a Lister by himself or not by himself, but he's got two TV To TV cameraman set up waiting to talk to him one was a Claude fake from TSN does an interview no problem FOTM Claude FOTM second person She was the Rogers community channel. It's like a q20 something blonde. Hey, no problem. FOTM, Clyde. FOTM. Second person, she was the Rogers Community Channel.

It's like a Q20 something blunt. Hey, no problem. Tim, knock yourself out. So, he does the two camera interviews. Nobody else is waiting to talk to him. So, it's not like a big scrum type of thing. It's not like he's got a handler saying, excuse me, he's got to go, he's got to catch the bus.

No, no. The room is almost empty. I'm the only one waiting to talk to him and it's like you know I said well Maybe this would be a good tidbit for the fish report if I could get some quotes on like you know The charity hockey game did I say charity charity hockey game that he just played and then so I says hey Tim You got a second can I talk to you and then so he's just kind of like you know Oh mister he must have looked at me and said well this guy doesn't have a camera in front of him I can't be all smiles for a camera, so this

print guy, who are you with? That's like any, he takes my press pass, okay I've never heard of your boss and it doesn't matter. The point is, he didn't interrogate the other two members before me and I'm the only one waiting to talk to him. And it's for charity, just talk to this guy. And it's kind of like, you know, I asked, you mentioned Bob your name earlier, kind of like you know ask so you mentioned Bobby Orr's name earlier it's like you know Tim who your favorite hockey people idols growing up and he's taking forever to answer the question I'll say oh I don't know Bobby Orr and it's like oh okay so can you expand on that Tim like maybe maybe why like you can talk about maybe like the end-to-end dastardly

against the Atlanta Flames or the Detroit Red Wings type of thing It's like you just there and remember I'm this is the condensed version because he's taking like 10 15 seconds to answer the question Which is an eternity type of thing is like have you ever seen Bobby or play you should see him play and it's kind of like Well, you know Claude didn't have this much trouble with the Rogers TV woman didn't have so much. He was being difficult He was being difficult. I have no patience for you. I just, no. It's like, I'm not doing this. So it's like, you know, like to your point, maybe I have imposter syndrome once in a while, but I have the confidence and self-respect within myself to say, you know,

I don't care who you are, you big Hollywood A-lister A-hole. That's what I call my chapter, A-lister A-hole. Right. You have me confused with somebody who gives a damn who you are. So I just bite him. It's like that again that does not take anything away from my opinion of Shawshank as a movie or his portrayal of Andy Frank. So you didn't go home and burn your DVD copy of Shawshank Redemption? I didn't burn it but I think I was I was I was joking with another friend of mine saying maybe I should just burn this interview type. He said, no, no, no, keep it for posterity someplace. Maybe look 15 years later, you look back on it and laugh.

I still have it someplace, but. Is it audio? Yeah, it's audio only. You gotta give me that audio. Listen, Rob. If I can find it. I've been good to you. You have been.

You gotta get me that. I want that audio. I want the Tim Robbins tapes. That's a podcast series. You know, everything's like, trust me, we'll make it a six part mini series, okay? Tim Robbins tapes. That's a podcast series. You know, everything's a, trust me, we'll make it a six part mini series, okay? It'll be discovering Robbins or something.

I don't know, we'll come up with a good name for that. And we'll tell the real story of Tim Robbins, the jerk. Okay, get that audio, get that audio. That's disappointing. It is. It's like, don't ever meet your heroes, definitely. Not that, like I said, not that he's my big hero, but like and that's the whole anti-celebrity thing that that's my I mean when Tiff comes

Yeah, I can kind of really so typically because of the nature of this podcast is I invite someone over if they agree to come on they're gonna come typically not with Not yesterday, but typically you're gonna come into the basement and we're gonna have a chat like we're having now So it's so much like you're so Opting in for this that you really rarely the rare exception You're not gonna be at all a jerk because you kind of agree to sit down with this guy for at least an hour in His basement like it's a whole different vibe

but I did notice at the Joe Carter classic when I was set up. And then suddenly I'm going up to people and no one on everybody, you know, these people talk to me and I don't want to discredit anybody, but there were a couple of former Blue Jay's stars that the looks I got, like they really didn't want to come on, you know, and they did, they did come on the mic and I captured the conversations, but absolutely there was potential there and that's a charity event, but because they're not doing that whole opt-in, right? They did an opt-in to visit your basement for an hour, you kind of ambush them in the lobby of the golf course or whatever. So it's, that's sort of what you did with Tim.

So it's like, he's there for the charity, but he never really signed up for the Rob Del Mundo one-on-one. So now the fact that he did it, I guess is a good thing. I'm trying to like help Tim out. Sure. Don't be a jerk. Don't be a jerk about it. Okay so yeah I could understand if he was scrummed and he had to catch the bus which I would you rather he just said not in the mood man and not done it? Absolutely. I've gotten like I mean I've gotten that several times from hockey players. I

remember one time I wanted to ask a Chris Draper for a couple of questions, and Detroit was only coming in once a year at that time. And he had, he comes into the dressing room, he has his wife and kid with him. I said, Chris, do you have a couple of minutes? He's like, I'm sorry, I don't. And it's like, and that's cool, that's fine. And it was years later, we caught up with him.

It's like, hey, Chris, I was that guy. And it's like, it's all good, man. It's like, whatever. If you can't do it, just say you can't do it. Just say you can't do it. That's what I got from O-Dog. It's like, no thank you man it's like whatever that's like you can't do it just say you can't do it you can't do it that's what I got from Oh Dog it's like no thank you or whatever I got from Oh Dog and Oh Dog has brushed me off too and he was with Carolina type of thing but if you can't do it you and I are in

the same club he brushed me off too there we go maybe he's the Donnie Walsh of Canadian sports media I don't do media who is this Donnie Walsh that he won't talk to anybody like you're the leader of a band that's been around for 55 years on your farewell tour. Like who are you? Bruce Springsteen does these lengthy interviews with Howard Stern. Who are you Donnie Walsh not to talk to Toronto Miked? This is just me venting now. I'm excited to hear. Okay. So a couple of quick hits on our way out. One is, Rob, what was it like getting a bird's eye view of when Canada almost broke up? So here we go to the Quebec referendum of October, 1995. So my first job graduating university

was an IT guy for CBC. And it was, I don't know how I got put on this project, but I did, Grateful for the opportunity. It's like you're on the elections team. Here's a piece of software that basically manages the Chiron. You know, here's your fee, here's the numbers, your point and click program that you're maintaining, Rob, you know, operator presses a button, the numbers go to the graphic templates, and that's what you see on the screen. You know, this writing percentages.

Are you putting in the numbers or someone else puts in the numbers and you're just see on the screen, you know, this writing percentages. There you go. Are you putting in the numbers or someone else puts in the numbers and you're just putting on the screen? No, no, the feed is coming through the provider. Like it's all text-based. Right. And it's going through the computer, somebody else is, they're not putting in numbers,

they're just clicking a button. And so that the button can translate it into what the Chiron translates to the graphics. Okay, I'm with you. Yeah. Yeah, so my first election that I covered was in September 95, that was in New Brunswick. Frank McKenna was the liberal premier at the time,

but to bring it back to your question, it was a month later, October 1995, that was the Quebec referendum. And yeah, we'd set up in the Windsor Hotel in Montreal where CBC was doing its telecast. So, you know, Peter Mansbridge, Wendy Mesley, the entire crew is set up at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal where CBC was doing its telecast. So, you know, Peter Mansbridge, Wendy Mesley, the entire crew is set up at the Windsor Hotel. And that was, I mean, you know, people are, our hotel was the Sheraton on, on the Leveque Boulevard there right near Union Station. So I can wake up from my hotel room, see all the flag waivers

coming from Union Station and, you know, banding together at the Dorchester Square which is just to the east and I've got you know I'm taking photos over here but I remember the about a couple days beforehand you might have been even the day beforehand but some of these I overheard some of the senior producers talking with each other just you know not on the record of course but it's possibly forecasting a 54% to 46% in favor of the separatist side so it's kind of like wow it's just a really eerie mood and then the then the telecast happened so we go live on we go live on October 30th 1995 at 8 p.m. Eastern and at 755 actually they do a

behind-the-scenes type of thing right and so I posted on my YouTube channel there's the behind the scenes and then they do a behind the scenes type of thing, right? And so I posted it on my YouTube channel. There's the behind the scenes and then all of a sudden the director Fred Parker tilts his head a little bit and as he tilts his head you can see me by the computer over there. So yeah, and then the event itself, it was, and again, so at 7.59, it's like, okay, last call is everybody ready? Rob, did you make sure that everyone's computer is set to zero? It's like, yes, last call is everybody ready. Rob, did you make sure that everyone's computer is set to zero? It's like, yes, even the people upstairs. No, not the people. Well, then get up there.

What are you doing? So it's like, I mean, Wendy, Wendy Mesley, is your computer set to zero? FOTM, Wendy Mesley. And then at the main desk is Peter Mansbridge and Jason Moskovitz. Peter Mansbridge. Who's the other guy? Jason Moskovitz. Not an FOTM.

What's going on there? Okay. Well, that's that's your department, but you can be a booker too. Okay. So I mean, Donnie Walsh. Yeah. And gave him a thumbs up. And then just as as like adrenaline is going, I just happened to say good luck, Peter.

And he said, thank you. So I was, if not the last, then one of the last people to talk to Peter before he went live. Wow. And you have imposter syndrome. Well, he doesn't know me from Adam. I'm just tapping. No, but here you are.

Like you're just a dude. Yeah, just a dude. And you're a part of all these interesting things. Like, uh, that's why you've got 55 stories in something unpredictable. And your birthday was a week away. Is that what I'm? A week away. It's November 18th, a week from Monday.

You're turning 55. And your birthday was a week away? Is that what I... It's a week away. It's November 18th, a week from Monday. You're turning 55. Anybody listening can get a copy of something unpredictable so long as they make a donation to the charity of their choice and then tell you about it so you can get them the PDF. This is all happening now. You had a bird's eye view for that big historical moment. That's in the book. Now, let's talk about

today. So you're going to get to go to the ring ceremony at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Yep. See, it's all about Kevin Shea, right? All about him. I don't know if he'll be there. He'll be there on Monday. Oh, he'll be there. No, no, he'll be there for Monday. No, he doesn't. You should come to the ring ceremony. That's pretty much media only. He'll be there for the induction for sure. That's on Monday night. He won't be around the corner just hanging around. I feel like Kevin will be, let me know. I bet you Kevin's there.

Okay, but I don't want to too much of a debate except that one of these guys was actually at that Joe Carter classic But he did not chat with me. That was Jeremy Rowan. Okay, so you got Datsuk. Yeah, Rowan. Okay Shea Weber and then again, you're the expert. I have a little ignorance here. Who are the women that are being inducted? Yeah. Natalie Darwitz and Chrissy Wendell-Pole both, um, um, United States. So, um, both American, they won both worlds. They both won at women's were Americans. That's why I don't know what's going on. Okay. But Rowan is also American and a Datsuk is Russian, right? And then, uh, Weber is Canadian. Okay. So shout out to Colin Campbell as well. But anyway, go ahead. Of course. Okay. So, so Colin Campbell, right. So any controversy there? I, uh, these are all now we get these hall of fame guys. I saw their entire career. I would say, I can't speak to the women,

my apologies, but you know, they're American stars that won the gold. I'm sure they're more than worthy, but these three NHL guys, that's, Rowanick and Weber I would say there's no controversy right? All three are Hall of Fame worthy. What do you say? I would say Datsuk and Weber are no-brainers. Rowanick I was kind of on the fence on like I mean and this certainly isn't his first year of eligibility and he's been eligible for quite some time, but in looking up Rowanick stats, okay, like I mean he he's played an All-Stars game but never In looking up Roanek's stats, okay, like I mean, he's played an All-Stars game, but never actually was named an All-Star, won an NHL award.

I think he came in third in his rookie season for color-trophying. But I will say, if there's anything that works in his favor, it's that he put up low numbers, but in the dead-puck era. Like we're talking about like the Lou Lammerle trap era in the late 90s and early 2000s. So it was much harder to score back then. So if Rowanek's numbers look lower or are lower,

then that might have worked against him. But again, Rowanek was borderline for me. To me, Rowanek was very good. I don't know whether or not he qualifies as excellent, but well, I'm happy for him to be in. Now that we talk, because I'm just looking at the names here. I was out of the loop,

but Datsuk and Weber are the no-brainers and you're absolutely right there's a debate to be had for Rowanek whether he should be in the Hall of Very Good or the Hall of Fame here and I would think what's a comparable for Rowanek like he was no Modano for example right like so so he's no Modano well I mean you've got you've got that team that upset Canada in 96 World Cup so his contemporaries would have been like Bill Guerin Keith Kachuk You know, but neither of them are Hall of Fame were that that's what I mean, right? so, I mean, yeah, he didn't elevate to the level of my Dana what you were saying, but

Yeah, I'm just trying to go through that 1996 World Cup there or even 2002 when we finally got the revenge in Salt Lake. But you know, I'm changing my mind. I'll fix it in post, but I'm now going to say on the record, Rowanick's not Hall of Fame worthy. And I have to dive in deeper because I'm now just, he belongs in the Hall of Very Good. Yeah. I'm now just, he belongs in the Hall of Very Good. Yeah, and that's where the Hall of Fame has its challenges in that, because the bar has been set so low

for the Hockey Hall of Fame, there's, and when I give my perspective, I give my perspective as who was excellent, not who was inducted in because if you induct some, I'm sorry, I'm not sold on Clark Ely's or Bernie Federico but if you let those guys in right and the only reason I bring up those names is because they were part of the 2002 induction the first inductions that I ever got to cover with Stan but so to bring it back full circle but

those are two gentlemen who belong in the Hall of Very Good and you know the Hall of Very Good is a kiosk in the Cloverdale Mall. Absolutely. So, yeah, anyway, and 10 seconds about the women is like, I think both are worthy. If I have an issue, it's just, I don't think either of them should have gone in before Jennifer Baudrill, because I think Baudrill is long overdue. I have to admit, when I watch a Leaf game on a Saturday night, I really just watched the game. I don't remember the last time I tuned Leaf game on a Saturday night, I really just watch the game. I don't remember the last time I tuned in for the chatter between periods.

Okay? No disrespect to everybody involved. I just go do other things and I come back for the puck drop. That's where I'm at. Yeah. And to be clear, I'm not necessarily, it's not a commentary on the panel or hockey net in general. I'm just speaking solely on Jennifer Botterill's.

No, no. But I'm going to the fact that people have been sending me notes and stuff about, you know, Boterel, who of course never played in the NHL, but she'll make comments about that whole code in hockey about, you know, standing up for your teammates and doing something because they did something. That whole thing where you might be exa You'll be in favor of this Bodero would speak against it and then she would get backlash and I'm wondering if this all comes back to fluke from Rusty that was just more misogyny

Okay, I think she gets I think it on Hawking and in Canada and again, I'm not seeing this I'm just getting I'm seeing the reaction to it. I think The the deck is stacked against her because she is a woman yeah that's a fair commentary and it's more to the point and whether or not she's a woman or not it's a matter of the old-school style thinking it's always gonna defend the code the code and it's like and Ken Campbell from the hockey news will always say well what is the? Does anyone ever have a copy of the code? Or the code?

I think it's a Gare Joy's book. The code. I think you're right, yeah. And so, yeah, for example, it's like, can anybody please explain to me what the code is? So to the retaliation example, did the player have to stick out his knee to retaliate? Or can you not just send a message based on the code?

So I don't have any issue with that. But I appreciate that Jennifer speaks up. I just wish she didn't have to get backlash because she never played in NHL. Because if you're going to have backlash against anyone who did not play in the NHL, then you'll never basically appreciate the input, the analysis, the pros of a woman

because no woman has ever played in the NHL. Yeah and it's yeah the whole I never played I never I never played therefore I don't have an opinion type and that that's all government I mean I I have never been a politician but I'll offer my opinions too late yeah it's not too late there might be some job openings soon but okay so that's tonight so enjoy the ring ceremony yeah last thing because, um, well that's today. That's in the afternoon. That's today. That's the afternoon. But tonight, yes, Sean tell don't call. I had to think what's that guy's name? Sean Mendez.

Sean Mendez. Sean tell Krabby Ajuk is playing at Massey hall tonight. Will you be there? Absolutely. I actually, I got tickets for a meet and greet. So've got the photo when Chantel and I... Can I ask what that costs? What does it cost for you to get a meet and greet with Chantel Kraviyajic? Well this was a Mastercard promotion so I got a Facebook ad from Mastercard that said for $120 you can get a meet and greet and I'm looking at the Massey Hall prices so the key thing is this includes the price of the admission. So I'm going wait a minute Massey Hall prices. So the key thing is this includes the price of the price in the building

So I'm going wait a minute Massey Hall Okay, if I sit in the rafters 60 bucks if I get the premium seats 100 But it's like paying an extra $20 upgrade. I get a meet and greet and soundcheck. Yes one, please So yeah, it's not like her husband rain and I love our lady peace but I mean I'll be there in Oshawa for the For my 120 dollar floor seat in Oshawa. And I was kicking the tires on the meet and greet. But number one, it was out of my price range.

I think it was $300 or $350. And number two, and this is more important, the meet and greet is an add on package. The meet and greet for Our Lady Peace, Chantelle's husband, does not include your admission. So I said, yeah, I'm out. Now, of course, Our Lady Peace, you know, and I, you know, come on, do you know how many warm fuzzies I have for Chantelle Kravyazek now after her visit? I saw that.

Like I am like going to bat for her left, right, and center, like I'm, I'm all in the way I'm now all in on Bruce Springsteen after seeing him for the first time a couple of nights ago. But there's no comparing the draw of Our Lady Peace to the draw of Chantel Kriviashak. I'm not talking about for Rob Del Mundo. I mean for the zeitgeist of this country.

No, there's no comparison, but I just like, I don't know. The meet and greet as an add-on without including the price of admission, it's too rich for my blood. If somebody else can afford it, not a problem. I'm not that person. But you have your own property in Toronto. I do have my own property in Toronto.

But what endeared me to tonight's event was the fact that the meet and greet with Chantel does include the price of admission. Wait, what did you call her? Chantel? Did I say Chantel? You said Chantel. Did I? My apologies, Chantel.

If you do that at the meet and greet, she'll kick your ass. She'll kick my ass. She will take you out. When you meet Chantel Krabiashik tonight, will you let her know you enjoyed her on Toronto Mic'd? For sure. I'm even going to reintroduce myself as the guy who brought up the Ruby Tuesday question. I love this so much. Okay.

Because I'm dying to know whether she has thought about me as often as I've thought about her. Okay. Find out from me tonight. And you've been a longtime fan of Chantel. You've always loved Chantel. Yeah, I mean she's going out to promote, well the tour is to promote her album, Color Moving and Still, which is a fantastic album. I mean everybody remembers Before You and Dear Life. My personal favorite is a song called Eve, it's a deep cut. If you haven't heard it, do yourself a favor, just Google Eve on Spotify or Amazon.

What a voice she has. What a voice. And that's 25 years old now, that album. That's the anniversary that she's celebrating here. So any, like I'm now, because you're a long time Chantel Kravyajic fan, and I've been thinking about that episode quite a bit. I'm just curious. Any, I mean, other than the fact you got an answer to your great question, any highlights, like anything about the episode? Like did,

so I take it you enjoyed that episode of Toronto Mike here? Oh, very much so. I have imposter syndrome. I need you, Rob, just before we say goodbye, I need a couple of minutes of you pumping my tires about how much you enjoyed Chantal Kravyazek on Toronto Mike. Was Thorie looking forward to it all week long when you first plugged it and I did not walk away disappointed. She was great.

I mean, and I think it was mentioned in the WhatsApp chat a couple of times. It's like she kind of warmed in, like warmed up. She came in hot. She came in hot. Didn't know what to expect type of thing, but no, it's like once. I had to win her over.

Like I won you over. And you did, and that's the point. It's like once you've won her over. No, it's just like, I mean, her credentials don't need my explanation, but for all the artists that she's collaborated with, like, I mean, it's not just about her, but I mean, with- Kendrick Lamar. Lamar.

Drake. Drake. Gwen Stefani. I can't remember if she was on that podcast, but yeah, the part where, what's that? Rich Girl. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. Yeah, Chantel wrote that part, so- I had to save that for the sequel. I can't do it all in that hour we have. with a rich girl. Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na Not just a Green Day lyric, it's also a book by Rob Del Mundo who's turning 55 years young. And there's 55 stories in Something Unpredictable.

And the PDF is all yours if you make a donation to a charity. Rob Del Mundo, helping charities out, sharing the love. Always a pleasure, man. Likewise. Thanks, Mike. Thanks for having me. Always a pleasure, man. Likewise. Thanks, Mike. Thanks for having me. And that brings us to the end of our 1,577th show.

You can go to torontomike.com, follow me everywhere. I'm on Blue Sky, Twitter. Rob Del Mundo's on Twitter and Facebook, rob underscore Del Mundo. Yes. Tell him what charity you gave money to and he'll send you the PDF. Much love to all who made this possible. That's Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Recycle My Electronics dot CA, Raymond James Canada, Minaris, and Ridley Funeral Home. See you next week. Let's do this. One day I'll do this before. Okay. Oh, I'm actually very keen to talk to Colin Brunton on Monday. Colin Brunton. Google him. You'll say, Hey, Mike, that sounds amazing. He makes his Toronto Mike debut laughter and eight years of tears.

And I don't know what the future can hold or do for me and you. But I'm a much better man for having known you. Oh, you know that's true because everything is coming out rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away