Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Sophia Jurksztowicz: Toronto Mike'd #203

Episode Date: November 10, 2016

Mike chats with Sportsnet host Sophia Jurksztowicz about her career in sports media, the attractiveness double standard, her various excuses for postponing her visit and much, much more.

Welcome to episode 203 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. And Chef's Plate, delivering delicious and locally sourced farm fresh ingredients in refrigerated kits. Directly to your door. fresh ingredients and refrigerated kits directly to your door. I'm Mike from Toronto, Mike.com and joining me this week is Sportsnet, Sophia. I'm going to butcher this.

Yerkovich. Yerkovich. Oh, I knew I was going to butcher that. No, it's okay. I saw, I was waiting for it.

I was like, is he going to get it? Is he not? I was practicing my Roszkowski. So I was doing it like over and over again. And that went much easier than yours, I find. Mine is hard even for people in Poland. It's a Polish last name, but they say it's a very difficult last name.

So say it again for me. Jirkszczowicz. So Jirkszczowicz. Yes, but that's... Jirkszczowicz. You've got to come off the S into the T, kind of like Jirkszczowicz. Yeah, and there's a KSZ in there. It's a tough one.

Oh, and because I've put some notes down and I was tweeting about you, I had to spell your last name several times. I never could nail it without Google. I had to go Sophia J, and then it would auto-complete. I'd find it, and then I'd copy and paste. Yes. Was there any pressure ever to change that to Jones? There wasn't pressure.

I'm not going to use the word pressure, but there was, there were several suggestions early on in my career by my peers and superiors, but I said I would never do it and I never will. Unless, I mean, if I get married,

maybe I'm, I'm currently not married, but, uh, it's my dad's last name obviously. And, uh, he is the reason I'm here in,

in sports television. so why would i ever do that disservice to him gotta rep the last name yeah you know good point and i actually i like it when people with i don't know could we call it an ethnic name yeah it is like i like it when uh like ann marie medowike for example like thank you for not changing and i mentioned roszkowski who because she was on recently and that's an example, like in the, you know, the late seventies, she's on the air as Ann Roszkowski when, and I said to her, like, you know, you didn't change it to Ann Malone or something like that. And you didn't never became a Sophia Jones. So thank you. No, did she? And I would love to know, did she, uh, did she have the pressure? Cause it's different these days for me.

Yeah, no, she never did. But then again, she ended up in the Moses environment at City TV where it was like encouraged to. That's right. Which is kind of a nice, was very ahead of its time, I'd say. He's a visionary. So there you go. So yeah, no, great to meet you.

I just, to tell everybody listening, this is, I think, the third time you've been scheduled. Yes, yes, yes, it is. I'm not good at appointments. Well, I know you had good excuses, okay? So you had some tremendous excuses, in fact. I'm going to just go down some. Go through them, yes, please.

So you're, in fact, first of all, I'm just really happy to have you physically, and this is going to sound dirty, but it's not, but you're here in the flesh. Because my last guest,opher ward from much music fame uh we did it via skype and i hate to do it i hate to do this when i can't like look in their eyes it's a lot easier isn't it it's nicer to connect and and people can't see us but it is nice we were smiling at each other pointing at each other yeah and i like knowing when to come

in so this is i'm not unlike you i'm not a professional broadcaster so what i struggle with is i when i don't want to over talk i don't want to speak on top of my guests and trample them but i want to have back and forth because i want a conversation not like an interview yes on skype or phone i never i wait for like a natural pause and then i'll come in but sometimes i think people on the other end hear the pause and think, oh, dead air. I got to say something. Right.

And then we both, and I know I don't like that. Well, because there's a delay too with Skype or FaceTime. And I could save this story for later. I could tell you now. No, tell me now. I learned to strike while the iron's hot because 95% of the time we'll forget to come back to the story. Okay. Well, I'll tell you now.

Most of my interviews recently, I've been doing features for Sportsnet, and they're all via FaceTime with players. And a lot of the NHL players I've met before, and a lot I haven't, many I haven't. And so it's a little awkward to meet them for the first time that way, not for me, but for them, in order for them to trust me and feel comfortable. And like you said, when you're doing an interview, I'm also trying not to trample them because I want them to speak, but then there's a delay and I think it's a pause. So

I'll just jump in, but they're not done saying what they're saying. It's tough. It's tough. Yeah. So obviously the preference is to have somebody physically here and you're actually here. It was worth the wait to get you here. Uh, and on that, uh, note, like, uh, rapport, I guess we'd call it like I find, so I should tell people we met for the first time like 10 minutes ago. Yes. Yes. So I find you don't you know, we did a little small talk before, mainly about getting on the mic and all that nonsense. And don't hit your head. Those are the two things every guest here. Don't hit your head and talk really close.

And don't be afraid of being too close on these mics. And so building the rapport, like sometimes I've noticed it's fairly, like right now I should tell you I'm very comfortable, like we're old friends, which is nice. Oh, good. That is very nice. And I hope it's mutual or I'm going to be humiliated right now. No, no, it is. It is mutual, everyone listening. Yes. But sometimes you don't have that instant clickage

and then you're going to do like a 90-minute chat with somebody who you don't have a rapport with.. And then you're going to do like a 90 minute chat with somebody who you don't have a rapport with. And I always just hope nobody can tell them. And usually they can't tell because usually they're surprised when I tell them who I didn't have like good chemistry with. And so that is another thing like on the phone, getting a rapport when you never met the person is really tough. It is tough.

And like, you know, we were saying earlier that the trust for me having an NHL player, trust me because I'm doing a personal intimate story on them and the media is all over them all the time. That's tough when you haven't met them before. So at least most of your subjects are Canadian. So there's that. Hey, I know Sportsnet at least.

That's true. Yeah, no, that's true. And that helps with the name. For sure. Even if they can't pronounce your last name, they know Sophia J. So the excuses, let's get to this. So the first time I believe you canceled on me was you were going on a European adventure. Yes. That was in the summer. Oh, my gosh. So long ago.

So tell me if you don't mind, tell me like about your trip. Like, where did you go? Tell me, if you don't mind, tell me about your trip. Where did you go? Okay, are you ready for this? I went to six or seven, I believe six different countries. I started in Austria with one of my friends slash a producer at Sportsnet. And he was already in Europe. I met him for a couple days.

It was amazing. I've been, I've been to Austria before when I was really young. Right. And it was the best, it's so hard to say the best part of your trip, but I'm going back for sure. Austria and Germany, his family's from Germany. What part of Germany? Only because I'm actually in two weeks, I'm going to be in Germany. Oh. But I've been there before, but what part of Germany? We went to Stuttgart, which is not, no, wait, is that where we went? I can't even remember. I believe, yes, I believe we went to stuttgart which is not no wait is that where we went i can't even remember i believe yes i believe we went to stuttgart um but we didn't go to cologne or munich or frankfurt uh his family's in stuttgart so that's where we were yeah i'll be going to frankfurt and why are you going for business oh yeah so i get to expense the trip

and everything that's amazing yeah how long is your trip going to be for? Eight days, I think. It's like a whirlwind tour. I kind of want to get... I got all these kids and stuff. I can't go away too long because it's tough to go away for eight days. And it's been Christmas is a couple... When I get back, Christmas is coming and all this.

So it's a week in early December, eight days or whatever, like Saturday to Saturday. And one day is travel. So it's like seven days, I guess, in Germany. But you're going on your own? Yeah. Oh, well, you're going to have a nice break. I know it's going to be tough to leave the kids, but maybe you'll be refreshed when you come back.

No, I mean, I do go to Germany quite a bit. So it's like I don't have any more of that excitement of being somewhere for the first time. But I don't want to sound like I'm poo-pooing on it. It's fantastic to visit Europe anytime you can get to do it. Okay, so you're in Germany, Austria. Yes, Germany, Austria. And then Will was the producer.

He went home. I met another friend in Greece. We went to Mykonos and Santorini. It was very nice, beautiful. And then we moved on to Spain. Cool. I've never been to Spain. Cool. No, these are very, these are nice places.

I've never been to Spain or Greece and they're both on my hit list. And it sounds amazing. Greece was on my hit list for a long time and I finally did it. I had gone to Spain before. I went to Barcelona, but that's a place like New York, like even, well, I would say Toronto, but it's so diverse, so multicultural and a place that you can definitely visit over and over again, and you won't get tired of it. Sweet. But you ended up, I know you end up in Poland. Yes. So after Spain was Poland, and Poland was, that's where my family's from, so I went to go visit my family. What I did incorrectly was I only gave Poland a week. It was a six-week trip, so I gave each country about a week.

But really, I did a disservice because I had so many relatives to see. Right. Every single one of my relatives. I have nobody in Canada. It's just my parents. No grandparents. Oh, wow. No aunts.

No uncles. They're the only two that left Poland. So I had to see everyone in a week, and it was kind of, I almost felt a little rude because I would go for a quick dinner and on to next, you know, onto the next cousin. So a little too short in Poland. You ended up in the Polish tabloids. Yes. Tell us that little story.

That's amazing. My cousin by the name of Anna Jurkiewicz or in Polish Jurkiewicz, she is a very famous, uh, pop singer in Europe. Uh, you, no one would know her music here, but in Poland, she's huge. She is a very famous pop singer in Europe. No one would know her music here, but in Poland, she's huge. And in Europe, she would travel. And so right now, she's in her 50s and still singing, but kind of like a Celine Dion would be,

not putting out new music that often, but still very loved and admired. Anyway, everywhere she goes, people recognize her. And I went to a dinner with her right when I landed. And I've never had this here, of course, and I wasn't expecting it. But at the restaurant, there were about four or five different cameras and paparazzi and journalists taking shots of us.

How conscious are you? Are you always making sure you strike good poses? I've never been part of that. So for me, it was very weird. But I turned my head and looked at her. And she had every pose nailed down. Like one, two, three, four. Every camera angle.

She gave the photographers what they wanted. Gave the journalists what they wanted. It was really neat to watch. Did the tabloid say this is your cousin's name and her cousin? Or were you just unnamed? Like just with a friend like how do they know it was actually really funny they actually the title was in polish i'm going to paraphrase it was we know who this star is only we have it in this paper or

whatever they had my face with her but my face had a big star like a big blur over it so that you had to click the article to find out who I was. Who you were. Yes. That's hilarious. And they said, there's another star in Canada with the same last name

and they bigged up what I did. Like, she's on TV, she's a superstar. National presence, their pastime in Canada. Yeah, that would be a big deal, right? Of course. Yeah, for them it was a big deal.

It was a big deal for us. The hockey broadcasters in Poland visiting her family, they talked about it, they asked it was a big deal. It was a big deal for us. The hockey broadcasters in Poland visiting her family. They talked about a fight. They asked a source. You were clickbait, essentially. They used you as like a worm on a hook. Exactly.

And they had a source. They even had a source. Sources say, they kept saying, sources say she is single, but she might find her husband in Poland. Like very goofy, goofy stuff. Did you find your husband in Poland? I did not.

No, but you'll be back. I will go back. You have to go back because there's more people to see. Yes, that's right. Okay. So that was excuse. By the way, fantastic. To me, oh, Mike, I can't come over because I'm doing like a six-week tour of Europe.

I'm like, that's a good, like I was impressed. So that was your round one. I was impressed. Okay. Round two. Oh, no. All right. So round two comes now.

The World Cup of Hockey got in the way, essentially. So this World Cup of Hockey, which I watched all of Canada's games and enjoyed, it swallowed you up whole. So how was it working that? It was exhausting, but of course, exciting. It's one of those things, and I don't know if other people can relate listening, but it's so tiring to be a part of something. But if you weren't part of it, you'd be really upset. You'd be sad. Like if I wasn't working the World Cup of Hockey and I'm a hockey reporter, I'd feel left out and I would be upset.

So I was very happy to be doing it. But it's a lot of work. It was a lot of work. And I was at the fan village, the Scotiabank fan village in the distillery district for 10 days every day. And we would interview players, talk to fans and then of course i would go home at night this would be during the day evening afternoon go home at night or go to work at night and work on my regular job which would be preparing for the nhl season and doing these features and reports so it was um good 12 14 hour days every day and it was long

so that's another good excuse like so at this point I'm like, well, okay, she's bailing again, but like I understand like these 12, 14 hour days she's got the World Cup of Hockey, the NHL season is coming. Good excuse. Okay. Number three now? Well now it gets a little sadder here. So it's the best excuse of all

actually. So I thought that the European Adventure and then the World Cup of Hockey were really good excuses. Like I wasn't bothered at all. I hate thought that the european adventure and then the world cup of hockey were really good excuses like i wasn't bothered at all and then you i hate to say the term go ahead i think you're missing one okay please fill me in yeah i couldn't keep track number three was i had to go away on a trip for work to new jersey or philadelphia or something like that you know right i did i did forget that it's all a blur now okay so that was a good excuse too like you know i don't want to do a skype Skype interview with Sophia if I can get her in person. Yes.

Yes. But then, okay. So, I mean, very sensitive, quick topic here. But your dad, we just spoke about your dad. He gave you your last name. Did you know that? Yes. Yes, he did.

All right. So how's he doing? Because he had, did he have a heart attack? He had a heart attack. And he's, thank you for asking. He is, he's 75. So he's old, older. And he is really slowly recovering.

He's not, he's at home. We're eating food, homemade food instead of food at the hospital. Although we were there bringing him whatever we could for as long as he was there. And it's nice to have him at home but he is a really slowly recovering but but he is recovering but he's recovering so he'll be okay and uh and that is why i couldn't make it the fourth time but that was the best like that excuse is like a holy smokes like yeah like sorry you know like don't even like think of coming in here right now like i think it honestly was two or three days before it happened i think that we were supposed to meet up i don't remember but it was very close to the timeline again like uh yeah i mean of course that's that's family first and then but oh by speaking of family first so my youngest daughter yes so

i'm thinking like you mentioned your dad's 75 and I'm thinking he was probably like my age when I had baby number four. So I'm bringing this up because my youngest daughter, who's seven months old, her middle name is Sophia. Oh. Same spelling even. Sophia, P-H-I-A. Yeah. That's a very popular name. It's so pretty.

What's her first name? Morgan. Morgan Sophia. So she's Morgan Sophia. And it's a very pretty name. So it was like easy to like get on the same page with that one because we both everybody likes that name so yeah I just thought I'd throw that out there so well my dad I will we won't ask your age but my dad was 45 I believe when he had me 40 no 45 yes okay so yeah I was uh 41 when Morgan Sophia arrived. Similar.

Great name. Glad to hear your dad's doing better. Thank you. This is a very long intro, but I do a couple of topical things I just want to bring up. We'll be very brief on this because I think we've all seen enough analysis and stuff except to say that we are

two days removed from the American election. Yes. It sounds funny like every time i see in print the words president donald trump or president-elect donald trump i actually it makes me think i'm reading an onion article i know isn't that weird it does still feel like a joke doesn't it well the simpsons uh i love the simpsons yeah they had the whole when lisa Lisa Simpson becomes president, she inherits a budget crunch from the previous president, President Trump. And it was a hilarious dystopian future thing. You know what I mean? It's back to the future too or something.

And that happened. The good news is Lisa Simpson will be the next president. Well, she's very smart and she will break or crack that glass ceiling and I'm voting for her for sure do you get a vote i didn't know i don't i don't get a vote she also is uh still eight years old uh it's messes everything up in the episode no no no no no in the episode she ages but like you know it's this is a whole philosophical discussion how old is lisa simpson the simpsons are pretty rad to

predict that too they're they're great uh there's some great episodes there. Do you have any reaction to President-elect Donald J. Trump? You know what? I'll tell you. I watched so many videos and seen so many debates and so many movies on Instagram and Facebook. Little clips of Hillary and Donald when they were debating and fighting and whatever. And most of them made me feel the same way. But I saw one yesterday that actually, and I'm not just saying this, it truly moved me.

It really, really moved me. And it was Donald, some bits and pieces from his speech, one of his speeches, because he's made many. And I want to preface by saying, by working in the media, I understand how easy it is to manipulate voice and and pictures and I don't believe I'm not sure I don't want to believe that the context of what he was talking about was actually matching the pictures that um the person who edited the video used but it was a speech where he goes on and on about the good old days and he says how when America I've seen this video yeah under the footage of yeah we're uh in the civil rights movement and the the pro yes i saw

this yeah it's it's amazingly moving it's tremendously moving obviously had no effect though i don't think reason or like logic played any role in the electoral college results like i actually think uh and let's say half the people who voted, approximately half the people who voted for Trump, he easily won the electoral college votes. I think on this one, you and I are sitting here in Toronto, Canada, and we're using, like, reason and logic and perspective and greater good and all this vision stuff. And I don't think anyone voted with that part of their psyche.

Well, it's hard to say. I mean, I agree with you, but you, but people voted and he won. And what I, what,

what scares me, I guess him as a person and some of the things that come out of his mouth and, and the way he conducts himself is terrifying. But what really is terrifying is the voice that he gives to people who are ignorant and uneducated and unaccepting. And that was the video that I was watching. They had footage of years ago during the civil rights movement and then footage of today. And not much in that group of people had changed. And there was still a lot of bullying and racism in their actions.

And it's under his voice. But he does some of the things he says empowers those people who believe that it is OK to behave that way. And that's the scariest part for me. I agree. I agree. But he has. And also in terms of like his well-being, in terms of anyone who I don't know, anyone who would want to eliminate him. He's got the best insurance policy ever, which is the vice president is scarier than him. You should look into this guy,

what he believes. And there's things like conversion therapy and things, you know what I mean? Yeah, it's like electro... You got a gay son, and this whole mandatory... This is the scariest stuff I can imagine for 2016. And that's the best insurance policy I think Trump could have ever bought, in my opinion. I have a quick question. And that's the best insurance policy

I think Trump could have ever bought, in my opinion. I have a quick question. You may not have the answer, but is it possible, because I read that he wants to take back gay marriage being legal. Is it possible to do that? A lot of people probably did this, but I looked up what he can

and can't do as president. And he's not allowed to override a supreme court decisions so i okay so and i don't want to like speak as an authority and be wrong but i do believe if that's a supreme court decision which i believe it is he doesn't have the authority to override that okay like i think that that ledger that that lay that uh part of the checks and balances is beyond his power. Man's got a lot of power, though, but there are certain things he can't do, and the thing is, because the Republicans control

the Senate and the House of Congress, and heck, they're going to get the Supreme Court, it's going to have some anti-choice social conservative to replace the guy who passed away, and then there's a very old person on the Supreme Court who probably won't make it four years, who will also be picked. So all the power is on the Republicans' hands,

but they cannot override a Supreme Court decision like that. Okay. So that's where the power, I believe, stops. So we'll see. I'm trying to be like, now that this happened and it's reality, and I'm a big, like, I believe in reality, like this is really happening. Our big neighbors to the south have elected this man

democratically and he will be the president for four years at least so i'm just trying to react to what he does and instead of what i'm i fear he will do yes you know what i mean that's the only way you can do it yeah and i'm trying to keep that in check and give him a chance so to speak because he did get elected by the people and you know this is the conversation i have with my especially my 12 year old daughter the thing is what jolted me on election night is that like at 7 30 p.m we're talking about witnessing history okay so it's like oh my god like i'm getting off like emotional because my 12 year old daughter is there and we're yeah you know what i mean yeah and then in like i'd say in

a two-hour span i went from feeling 90 that she was going to win that night to 90 sure she was going to lose and like a and it was just so jolting yes yes and the footage of people crying at the uh theater the the building that she was going to celebrate uh and people being angry and uh it just felt like a really big practical joke this whole year, but it's not. And then you have that whole acceptance part where you're trying to accept this reality and you're like, okay, this is really happening.

And then you're kind of thinking in your head, all the terrible things that could happen. And then you're thinking the path to victory for Hillary, it shrinks and shrinks. And then you realize there's no reasonable path anymore. And then you go to bed and you wake up and you realize that really did happen. And it's just sort of, yeah. And you don't get a vote. It's not your country. You know, you're a Canadian, but you, um, we're going to be affected by it for sure. You're impacted security and economically you

have great, uh, impact. So do you believe that as many, there are a lot of memes and jokes out there that Americans are going to be moving to Canada. And I, I'm sure you believe that as many, there are a lot of memes and jokes out there that Americans are going to be moving to Canada. And I'm sure you heard that the Canadian immigration website crashed during the election. Do you believe many will move to Canada? My wife asked me this. Here's my feelings. The white Americans, this is my feeling. I feel this is going to be a race thing here.

I feel like the white Americans would be better served and will most likely, if they move, they will move to swing states. Okay, this is what I think. Okay. So if you're in a state that always goes red or always goes blue, and there's so many of those, they will move to a swing state and then they will feel that their vote will matter.

In four years, they can oust this guy. I actually think if you're not a white person in America today, particularly if you're Muslim, but if you're not a white person, I think there's a legitimate question, especially if you're not a white person in America today, particularly if you're a Muslim, but if you're not a white person, I think there's a legitimate question, especially if you're a new American who came from another country, you really will consider moving your family to Canada.

This is what I believe. I think it's really tough right now, especially for a Muslim American. They're talking about registering all the Muslims in America. Think about that for a minute. It's so scary. It's so 1930s Germany.

Yes, it is so 1930s Germany. It's just scary. And I'm a white woman. I just couldn't possibly relate to what it would feel like to be a Muslim woman, man, child, whatever, living in the United States. And it's scary for me. I couldn't imagine how it would feel for them. And as bad as things were when we saw Trump elected, the very next morning we learned radio personality Erin Davis is retiring.

Did you hear this? She is? Yeah, did you hear this? I do hear this. Because you work for Rogers, right? This is the Rogers family. Yes. Erin Davis, who's been

on c well she left c it's a long story but she did an episode with me and you should listen because we talk about it she gets fired from chfi but gets rehired because they essentially julie adam realizes she made a huge mistake like jobe you know i made a huge mistake and they undo it and then she's been there ever since so she was on with don daynard and then she was on with micah cooper and now darren b lamb and on december 15 she records her last morning show and then she and her husband are moving to british columbia oh like this is happening on very soon december 15 so she's gonna be retired and live in british columbia yep that's fabulous for her yes so i just want since she's a friend of the show and she sat here in the seat you're in now

and we had a great chat, I just wanted to update everybody that the, yeah, she's been a big deal on Toronto Radio for, you know, 28 years or something. So this is a, so I wish her well and I think Toronto will miss her,

but I hope she finds peace and happiness in BC. Me too. I'm going to listen to the episode, so I don't want you to go over all her her, but I hope she finds peace and happiness in BC. Me too. I'm going to listen to the episode, so I don't want you to go over all her answers, but quickly, was it a long time coming, this decision, or was it kind of impulsive? Well, she, okay, so we talked before this decision because we talked a couple of years ago, but I can tell you she had a great personal tragedy in her life. I want to say I can do this because two years ago. Okay.

Two Mother's Days ago, actually, to make things even sadder. But she had a great tragedy in that her young, her 20-something-year-old daughter died very suddenly. And she was a new mom. So, Erin Davis's daughter in Ottawa was like, I'm going to say 20, I want to say 24 years old or something like that. Wow. Way young. And she died in her sleep, a heart condition. And I believe that that must, I think, you know, I think Erin, it was her only child. And I think her and her husband, um, have so much pain. I can't imagine. I'm sitting here now and I have four children and I just can't even like, if I think too much about it, I will start to cry. So it's like, anyway, it must be the worst pain a parent will ever feel. And I think that

might've played a role in this decision and this very personal decision for her to start a new chapter with family in BC. Well, I wish her all the best and that is terrible to go through, but she's been such a shining light for so many people how many people love her i mean they like you said they let her go foolishly and brought her back because the people and that never happens no almost never happens you know who i happened to i believe as well katherine humphries did they let her go i i believe you know what don't quote me don't quote me you just quoted yourself but not recently. This is years and years and years ago. Recently, she decided to retire because she had two kids of her own.

Right, right, right, right. But I believe that they did do something dumb like that. And then she came back. Fans just love her. Okay, we're going to come back to Catherine Humphries because there's a... I'm going to try to get this back to chronological order. Okay. So she comes up again.

She's married to a tragically hip... Yes, the drummer. ...band member, yeah? Yes. Johnny Faye, right? He's got a great voice, yeah. He does have a great voice. I've comes up again. She's married to a tragically hip band member, yeah? Yes. Johnny Faye, right? He's got a great voice. He does have a great voice. I've never met him.

I've seen the band a couple times, but never met him through her. But yes, she is married to him. Yeah. And you're right. She has raising twins and no longer on. We'll talk about her in a minute. So let's talk about the beer in front of you. Okay.

I'm so excited. I'm going to hold one right now. Ooh, Canuck Pale Ale. Can I describe the... Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. The can has a picture of, a very Canadian picture of a lumberjack, I think, with an axe and a toque and a beard

and a plaid shirt on a log on a river. That's the most Canadian guy in the world. I love it. I have a good story for you later, but we will do it later because I want you to..., I hear this a lot. And then I've learned through experience that you will forget to come back to the story. And then everybody listening will be like, what was going to be the story? Should I do it then? Yeah, go do it. Really quickly. So when I was in France, I met a couple, a young couple, and they, this woman, her boyfriend

lived in Whistler for about a year and a half. And he fell in love with Canada so much that he decided to create and make a poutine food truck in France. And it is not a big thing in France. I will tell you, poutine is not a thing. But he's decorated it and advertised it wearing, he kind of looks like this guy on the can with a beard and a mustache. Like a lumberjack guy. Like a lumberjack. And his photos are all on the truck and on his website.

Cool. Wearing lumberjack things, I guess, if you want, style. And he said he tried to make it as Canadian as possible. So it's quite the stereotype, but it's funny that he's bringing that to France. He's doing pretty well. That reminds me. So whenever I'm in a European city,

I always get a thrill out of seeing things that are like tributes to canada because we're such a small speck in this world yeah you know i was in dublin of all places i'm in dublin and they have a chain in dublin but i didn't know it was a chain but i saw one so i saw one and it was called i think it was called maple mousse and it's like they sell like it's like a brunchy type place and the maple syrup and stuff but it's all canadian themed and it's so it's in dublin like yeah and they got like a moose and like i think he's got like a lumber everything we're all lumberjacks yeah i think we are all lumberjacks but it's like you're oh there's the maple moose and it's like that's the canadian themed like breakfast place in dublin that's so cool i want to check that out if i ever go it's a whole like irish chain if you ever get

over there dublin's very cool city by the way uh speaking of beer they have a they have a beer there too i don't know if you heard of it it's called guinness but we so this is great lakes brewery which they brew in like southwest toronto so they're that's that's happening at like rural york and queensway area right very close that's yeah that's why i like these guys they're right there so that's yours enjoy if you want more let me know i know people i'm even wearing the... It took me nine months of working with these guys, Great Lakes Beer. They're great guys. But nine months before I got a free t-shirt out of them.

So if I get a photo with you after this, they'll see the Great Lakes. Okay, well, they'll see the t-shirt and I'll hold a beer. This looks awesome. I love beer. So thank you to Great Lakes Brewery. And I have more things for you, Sophia. This is quite the visit. So it was worth the wait.

The perfect food when you're enjoying your cold Great Lakes beer is Chef's Plate. So you, I'm going to guess, I can tell you're a healthy person. You eat healthy. Yes, I do. Yeah. And you're busy because you got all these 14-hour days. Yes, I do. And dad now to take care of.

Right. Yes. So there's Canada's leading to take care of. Right, yes. So Canada's leading meal kit delivery service is Chef's Plate. And it's pre-portioned, locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes.

And they put it in these refrigerated kits and they deliver it to your door. So what I'm giving you, well, what Chef's Plate is giving you, is two free meals. So I'll send you a link. You pick the two meals you like and they'll send this over free of

charge. Everybody listening, here's your orders before we dive into Sophia's career at Sportsnet and other places. You have to go to chefsplate.com and use the promo code TorontoMike, all one word, and you get

two free plates from Chef's Plate. That's amazing. It is amazing. So you got beer, you get two meals, and these are healthy meals, and you'll love them. I was even able to put these together because the instructions are so easy. So, yep, all yours.

And everybody out there uses promo code Toronto Mike at chefsplate.com, and you can have two plates as well for free. And that's my gift to you just for visiting my basement. That's how I lure you into my basement. But you know what? You didn't lure me because I didn't know I was getting this. So I'm very excited

to be going home with the beer and the chef's plate. You are very right. Eating healthy, local, supporting our farmers is very important. So I am very excited about this. Thank you. Great. That's awesome. By the way, when I thought you were coming over the first time,

I had a chat with our mutual friend, Jeffrey Merrick. Have you ever heard of Jeff Merrick? Have I ever? Do I ever? I see him all the time. I love Jeff Merrick. And I know you. I think you have a story for me.

A couple of stories. So one is, the first story is, and again, this is like, this episode is dedicated to your dad okay because this is the third time he's been brought up hey dad uh so jeff merrick uh tells me he recognized your last name when he was first i guess you were an intern he was working with you and then he said uh he recognized your last name and he realized that jeff realized he was becoming a very old man when you told him uh yeah, yeah, your dad taught Jeff Merrick at Humberside.

Yes. My son goes to Humberside by the way. Oh, he does? Oh, well, and I wish, I wish, I wish that my dad as most, um, parent or kids, I guess, wish about their parents. I wish my dad could live forever and never age. Um, because he is and was, and I'm not just saying this, but he was the teacher that you write movies about. The one that changed kids' lives, the ones that every kid loved, that cried when he left.

He's the seize the day guy? He is. No, but he's just the greatest teacher and dad. But everywhere I go, in fact, I wish I had my phone in front of me because I can pull up fan messages. I have a fan page on Facebook I would say eight out of ten are actually about hey is your dad Mr. J he was my favorite teacher not oh I like you on sportsnet I get so many a week about my dad that it's not even funny and I read them to him all the time if the Polish tabloids knew about this I know exactly they'd be

writing about that too um in fact actually that Polish pop star loves my father. She didn't really have a father of her own. My, my father's brother unfortunately did not really claim that, uh, he, he had her and he decided no thanks. And my dad kind of took her under his wing and she loves him very much. Uh, he's a great man. So Jeff remembered him and Jeff says, oh, he's my favorite teacher. And I actually believe him. I don't think he's lying to me. No, Jeff doesn't lie. And I'm glad to hear your dad went by Mr. J because that would be tough. Too hard for high school kids who are still struggling to wake up in the morning. Mr. J is good enough. That's great. And by the way, so that was Merrick's little story about Sophia,

but he also, he said um so as an intern he he worked a few so can you tell me let's start there so where were you interning where you were under the tutelage of jeff merrick so actually i was interning at 102.1 the edge and that was a sister station of am640 under chorus and we you know what they did do a great thing once a month for all our interns they had a guest speaker, a personal speaker to motivate all of us teens from 18 to maybe 22, 23, about where we want to go in our career and what it takes. And I remember Jeff Merrick was one of the guest speakers. So I was in music.

I always wanted to be in sports, but I was in music. And I remember when he walked in the room, my jaw dropped. And I was like, oh, my God, it's Jeff Merrick. He's going to speak to us today. And he did speak to us kind of about seizing the day and you've got to go for the opportunities you want in life and you've got to make them happen. And I remember sitting there wide eyed and he left and we were still all the, he left the room. The interns were still supposed to stay and listen to the next guest. But I excused myself.

I ran after Jeff in the hallway and I just said, listen, I love your show. He was on Leafs Lunch. I've always wanted to do what you do. Can I shadow you for the day? And he, of course, being Jeff, made a couple of jokes. I don't even remember what they were, but he pulled a couple of pranks on me very early on in my career.

They were fantastic. And he said, kiddo, no problem. See you next Thursday. So I decided to shadow him for the day kind of got him his notes um honestly i didn't do anything i think he just bigged up that i was helping him and i felt so good about myself although i did nothing at all but printed out some stats and some papers and then the team asked me they said so would you like to do this once a week jeff domeomet, Domet, Domet. I'm

always saying it wrong, but you know. Domet, you say the T, right? Oh, I think so. I think so. Have you ever had him on? Nope. Okay. But I know of him. We have mutual friends. Yes, yes. Yeah, the one who took me, the Humble and Fred universe. Yes, yes, exactly. So Shorma invited me back to be their intern once a week. And then it all kind of snowballed from there. I started going to Leafs games and covering it for AIM 640. But that is how I met Jeff Merrick. And he, Jeff, if you're listening, when you listen, single-handedly, I could definitely say you've helped, you pushed me into my career and I'm very thankful. He will hear this. He will listen to this. He listens to this show. I owe you a lot. And him and I, we joke around in the hall a lot when we see each other

in the makeup room. But I want Jeff to know that every time I see him a lot. And him and I, we joke around in the hall a lot when we see each other in the makeup room. But I want Jeff to know that every time I see him, I'm very thankful and I never forget what he did for me. And that it's, you don't want to bring that up every time you see someone

and be like, oh, thanks again for what you did 10 years ago. But I will never forget and I'm super thankful. I'm pleased to be the conduit for you to share that with Jeff. So that's beautiful

because he will hear that. And yeah, I mean, I've had some great chats with Jeff. One day I was, so my buddy, this part's sad because my buddy died way too young from esophageal cancer and he's buried at Park Lawn Cemetery, which you know, at Bloor and Prince Edward or whatever. And I'm in there one day and I remembered

when Jeff was on my show, he told me the story of how he buried Harold Ballard because he was working at Park Lawn at the time and he actually helped put him in the ground. Wow. So Harold Ballard is at Park Lawn Cemetery. But I couldn't find his grave anywhere. Like there was no anything.

So Jeff, very helpful in real time, gave me directions on how to find Harold Ballard's grave. No way. Yeah. So I went, I found it, took photos. Anyway, so Jeff is just a super like decent chap very nice guy he's such a great guy i didn't know that he worked at a cemetery he also worked at and he's gonna come on again because we're gonna talk about this when he comes

up but he also worked at great lakes brewery what i know how long has great lakes brewery been around the 80s uh i'm gonna say late 80s i'm say. But yeah, and it's funny because we're in southwest Toronto, but now he's in Stouffville, Jeff Merrick. But prior to that, this was his hood. He was a southwest Toronto guy. Yes. I mean, I don't know. I know he went to Humberside, and if you go to Humberside,

then you must be from the surrounding neighborhood at least. So I knew that much, but I didn't know that I worked at the cemetery, Great Lakes Brewery. There you go. I'm teaching you. This is the Jeff Merrick episode. It's your dad and Jeff Merrick. That's what it is. Okay. So, so by the way, 102.1, I didn't know you were there. That's, uh, you were like, when I would go to like an edge fest at Downsview Park, you were like one of the, uh, what are they called? The street team? Inside Edge? That's right. Inside Edge. Uh, wait. Inside Edge. Army edge army army you know more than i do john sindon you know jonathan yes of course i do so we were we were buddies and uh

i i grill him about he once got me he when he was working at mlse i got to be uh i got to go to a leaf game as the media like this is old hat for you but for for this blogger. It must have been so exciting. So I had my own spot. I chose 67 because, you know, for obvious reasons. But we had a long talk, mainly about 102.1. With Jonathan, with Sinden, right? Yeah, Sinden, yeah. Yes, he was a big part of the, I guess you can call him my boss. He was the boss of the intern army.

So I worked under him as well. Wow, small world wow small world small world so we are uh at 640 and where do you go from 640 i was at 640 for a while so then um a couple years and jeff had left already to go to the cbc and it was greg brady no you know what happened jeff left to go to the cbc with. And so they were experimenting with a new host for, I think they gave people a week test drive each time. So they had a bunch of people come in. And one day, Steve Koulias of The Score,

at the time it was Score Television Network, came in to do a week of hosting. And I was his intern. So I interned for a lot of different guests. And Steve liked me and said, Soph, you're doing a great job. Why would you want to come over to the SCORE television network? And I knew I eventually wanted to get into...

Actually, that's not true. I didn't really care if I was in radio or television. But I was studying at Ryerson for radio and television arts. So one or the other would have been nice. And to have both would be even better. So I said yes. And he said, come in for a little test run as well. So I went in to the Score television network and did a bit of a, I don't think it was even an interview. There was a quick little interview, a quick test, maybe two or three nights interning on a show called

Hardcore Hockey Talk. And then from there, they picked me up as a full-time intern as well. So I was interning at two places, going to school working at starbucks wow that's cool did you purposely misspell people's names on the cup no we didn't have to do that stinky stuff i think it's so goofy that they have to do that but we didn't have to do that so no i never did that now okay so uh is it i don't know tell me isn't there a perception there's more money in TV than radio? I think there is a big perception that there is more money. But is that not true?

Give me real talk here. Hashtag real talk. Hashtag real talk. There's definitely more money in the sense that, I think, budget-wise, yes. Because you have to, I mean, when you think about radio,

the elements that you use even with TV, we have graphics and camera and location shots and all that. So I think production-wise there is. But if you're talking about money to be made, I don't know if that's true. I don't know. I couldn't tell you. Not that money should be your primary motivation to make a decision. But at some point you do choose TV.

Now, here's another question. I'm going to try to phrase this. I can't be too PC on this, but a little bit. So recent guests have included Jackie Redmond's been here and Carolyn Cameron. Yes. So I'm wondering, when people, how do I say this? When this whole radio TV world, is there any sense that they're streamlining based on um aesthetic aesthetics don't worry how do i say no you could like okay so do the pretty do the pretty

prettier people get streamlined to be in front of the camera i don't think so i'm gonna say no and i will say no because um i have seen a lot of pretty girls come and go. Um, but you have to be able to communicate. It has to be first. I think, I think this is how I see it. Like, okay. A, uh, are you a good communicator? Like well-spoken and intelligent and quick on your feet and all that stuff.

And then let's say you're qualified there. So let's say, let's put you in that bucket. Okay. Okay. Then it's like, okay, the next layer. And I'm not, they don't think they'd be very like upfront about this, but this must be somewhere there. Does the camera like her? Yeah.

Right. Yeah. Is she attractive to our viewers or whatever? And then if no, that might be, hey, radio's calling you or whatever. I don't know. But if yes, we got to get this person in front of a camera. Yeah. No, I'm sure that I would be crazy and lying for sure if that had nothing to do with it

because television is a visual medium for sure if that had nothing to do with it because television is a visual medium for sure but I I what I will say is that in my own experience trying to climb that ladder in my career I have seen a lot of beautiful uh women um come and go and and come and stay many have come and stayed and and they're in front of the camera and many have just not had the other things that it takes, like you said, to be witty and well-spoken and well-read and educated and well-versed in sports in my industry, for example. So that's refreshing because it's good to know that really the first thing is your knowledge and your personality. And then that is a second piece to the puzzle. But it is a piece of the puzzle. I mean, we get full makeup done. Our hair is done. and your personality. And then that is a second piece to the puzzle. But it is a piece to the puzzle. I mean, we get full makeup done.

Our hair is done. We get wardrobe. It's important to look the part. But the men get picked on too. They get dressed. Okay, because I'm thinking now of the Sportsnet ladies, because women. So I'm thinking of Carly and Ivanka.

Yes. These are very attractive people. Yes. Right. All right. So the pressure to be attractive people. Yes. Right. All right. So the pressure to be attractive, to be in front of the camera as sports net, do you think it's the same for men as it is for women? I know that's where you're going now, but do you think so?

No, I don't think it is. I think there is a lot more attention with women or put on how a woman might look. with women or put on how a woman might look. But I would also be lying if the men did not, if I said that the men didn't, weren't really well taken care of, or at least that there wasn't attention on how they looked, how they look. On for hockey night in Canada,

we have a couple of wardrobe people and they make sure the guys look great. It's very important that their hair. You're talking about, yeah. Hair, makeup, suits, hair, makeup, suits. Hair, makeup, suits, yes.

Right. And I guess I'm thinking of face and body. Definitely, yeah, you know, but I've never... Only because all the women are hot. You know what I mean? He's just saying that. He's just going to go with it. I'm just saying, yeah. And not all the men are hot.

No comment. And I say that as I'm a, I'm very, like I'm a, I'm a heterosexual male who can appreciate a handsome man. Yes. Like I look at a guy and go, that's a handsome man.

Nick, Nick Yarros is a very handsome man. He is. Jeff is a handsome man. Jeff's a handsome man, sure. Yeah. But I'm just saying there are people,

as far as less handsome, I don't want to call them out. They might be future guests who will be mad at me for calling them ugly. Yeah, don't do that. But there's no ugly woman.

You know, no, I mean, it would be crazy if I said, yes, there is, but there, no, there aren't. Um, is that seat getting hotter for you, Sophia? This is the tough time. No, no, this is a great, I just want to know if this double standard exists and we all perceive it to exist. Is that cool? It definitely exists, um, in my industry. But you know what? Like I've seen, I'm watching CP24 and other and CBC and the women aren't all young and under, you know, 45 or they have a lot of older women who have credibility or women who you wouldn't, how do I say this? But just a different variety of women on their television. And sports is different.

Sports is different. Okay. Cause it's a entertainment. It's entertainment. But I would, I would be the first to say that I don't take care. I try to work out and I'm healthy. I don't do that for television.

I do it regardless. I know Carly's very athletic. Well, a lot of his genetics, like he didn't like go get some surgery done to be like an attract, have an attractive face. This is, this is genes. Exactly know Carly's very athletic. Well, a lot of it's genetics. Like, he didn't, like, go get some surgery done to be, like, have an attractive face. No, exactly. This is genes. Exactly.

You can thank your dad again. This is, dad, this is weird to say, but thank you for my genes. Right. Okay. I, just, recent guests have got me thinking because, who have I had? So, I already met Ann Roszkowski, of course, course, who she's more of a, blames ageism. Like you hit a, she, she, she says she's a 63 year old woman who will never work in broadcasting again

because she's a 63 year old woman. And that made me sad when I heard that because I was asking her like, what about the next broadcasting gig? And then I just had two, two ladies on, Christine Bentley and Kate Wheeler. Yes. Christine Bentley was a fixture on our television forever.

Yes, she was. And the public perception was that she retired because she said she was retiring and they had a party and then she was gone. I asked her straight out, did you really retire? And she looked me in the eyes and said, no, they told her her time was up.

And they said, we can do this two ways. You can be walked out, and not get to say goodbye, or we could spin it as a retirement and you get to say goodbye. And then you can be you know walked out like you're in not get to say goodbye or we could spin it as a retirement and you get to say goodbye and then you can save some dignity or whatever right well this is this is really happening and this is this is a ctv uh woman uh we all know in toronto's christine bentley like that happened and michelle dubay took over right a younger beautiful woman took over but ken shaw is still there. You know what I mean? Wow.

Right. This is real. This is why I'm thinking. So in 203 episodes, like I've had a few chats like this. And I'm not from the industry. So I'm just learning from talking to people. But I mean, Liza Fromer also was recently on and similar, like pushed out. And younger, more attractive people take over.

Barb DiGiulia was on the fan forever and although there's no one specific you can point to and say look but she was pushed out and she would blame it on her age which also with age comes higher salaries so it's hard to differentiate between the two but i guess i wonder like so right now you're young and you're attractive and is this a career where you can continue to do this into your fifties? No, you know what? I've definitely thought about it a hundred times over that I don't think I will. And I don't think I'm going to try to fight that either. And it is unfortunate that many of the reasons probably are because I feel like I would get pushed out and I feel like they wouldn't keep me around in 20 years. So I've thought about many times what I would do as a alternative. And I

want to be a teacher like my dad was a high school teacher. And that's my backup plan. But I hope it's still years away. But you're right. It's something that I definitely have to think about. Ron McLean doesn't have to think about that. This is my, yes, thank you. You're very compliant here because these are all my thoughts. Ron McLean doesn't have to worry about it you know the same reason that you know ken shaw and i asked christine because there are token examples there's somebody who is it lisa laflamme there's somebody she says they always keep she says they keep somebody to point to to say look we don't just fire older woman right because look at x and they have there's always like a token person that keeps so they can always point to that person say say, look at X, right? But generally speaking, this seems to be a pattern.

Did she fight it? Was she trying to fight it with them? Well, you can't fight it. Like, cause you know, when they tell you your time is up, they're going to sever you. There's going to be, that's a whole, like I didn't get those details, but there's going to be some fair severance worked out.

And then the only thing is that we, the public, are told she's retiring, which is very different from what happened to uh her colleague now because they're doing a radio show right now but her name is kate wheeler you might not know the name but she's also been on the tvs forever cfto and then ctv the the national news one what do they call it ctv news news channel i never that one that one okay got it she was on that one and she didn't get that option to do the retirement option she was walked out and never got to say goodbye but you know you have these

chats with these people and it just opens your eyes to how this industry operates you know what as soon as you started talking about that story i feel like it totally makes sense to me and i wonder i wonder did she talk about Ken's reaction? Was he upset? I don't remember. I don't remember. But Ann Roszkowski talked about Gord's reaction because, you know, Gord Martineau and her were on together for like two decades plus or something. And then Ann got let go.

And Gord, it took many years later than Gord got it. But I, but this is not, you know, I spoke, Ken, I don't remember. Don't remember. But I just remember being surprised to hear how they just literally said your time is up. Well, you know what? It's, I'm glad you are telling us this story because, and it does relate to what I've been thinking about.

Like I am 30 years old and. That answers everybody's question is how old is Sophia? And I can't ask the question. There it is. 30. I gave it to you without even having to ask. I was never going to ask. Fresh 30.

Just turned 30 not too long ago. And I feel like a lot of my peers, oh, you're doing so well in your career, but I feel like I should be further along. And I think most people put that pressure on themselves. Let's get to where you are because you've got a cool gig. You've got an amazing cool gig. We're going to get to that. You're at, where do I have you now? The Score. You're working at The Score.

Yes. Is it that Sportsnet buys The Score or did you move over before the purchase? No, no, no. Sportsnet bought The Score so that's how I moved over um i was not on television for a long time with the score doing all you know what everyone does behind the scenes and the notes and writing highlights and all that so all the dirty work but fun work too uh not uh it was great it was a good time but anyhow so i was there and i had was on TV for about a year and a

half, maybe two before Sportsnet bought the score. Sportsnet bought the score. I don't know if Jackie talked about this, but we were kind of in limbo for a long time. Didn't know what they were going to be doing with us. We have our own shows and our own talent, on-air talent. What do we do with these guys and girls that we've inherited inherited so to speak um and so for a while i was in limbo it's always scary right because when a new when a company takes over your company like will they keep me what do they have me you know do they have a me do they have a me and who will they have a spot for me and they didn't but i i'm very blessed that i have a lot of people that like working with me so So I knew that I was going to find a role.

I didn't know if it was going to be on TV again, but I knew that there would be a job somewhere. And I moved over to city TV for a bit. And so I did, I covered, um, Matt leave for, uh,

we, Catherine Humphries. Great. So that's my, so what is that like? So, cause, cause now it's Danielle, uh, show yes yes yes and but originally you were the you were there yes so you you took

basically you take over for katherine humphries who's as a kid who had as a kid as a guy who had a kid who played t-ball yes one of the highlights was when my son james was on t-ball tuesday did he make it on t-ball tuesday so he played played at High Park and Catherine did their thing one day. Wasn't she so good at that? Like I tried doing that and that's the one thing I hated doing because you can't, you just can't do it as well as her. And I hated doing that. Yeah.

You gotta, yeah. It's tough to fill in for somebody who's popular. Yeah. So tell me, ask Hillary Clinton about that. Yeah. So tell me what it was like. So Catherine Humphries goes on mat leave because she has twins. Yes. And you take over initially. So why did Danielle end up there and, and you, you leave there? Uh, I didn't want to leave. It was a very interesting,

um, scenario. I'm going to do my best sharing what I can share, but, uh, I was very happy there. I'm going to do my best sharing what I can share. But I was very happy there. I loved being at City TV. I love the City TV family. I love the format. And I felt really good in my element. I felt it was a very casual sports broadcast where you can chat and have fun

and really make sports about entertainment. Whereas Sportsnet and TSN do a great job, but they cater to the hardcore sports fans. So everything is super serious. Right. With the rock music, you know. I know what you mean. It's very, very serious.

It's more casual, like raw, raw, kind of lighter fare. Yeah, like Catherine would make fun of certain things and joke around. And she still delivered the result at the end of the day which is what people want to see what was the score who scored how did it happen but it it was less about you know catering to the fantasy hockey player who wanted to know how many assists and stats and you know so and so forth it was more just about the entertainment so I loved that I had so much fun. And I was under the impression when they had called me over, cause it was a very quick, I think it was in a matter of a couple of days. Like, are you free in the next two days? Cause Catherine's going away. And I just had to

figure it out. And so I was under the impression that I was going to stay. Um, and when I originally signed up for this, I think it was January, February, I had booked a vacation, my first one in years. Because as you know, in this industry, you can't. Well, you did just get a six-week vacation. I don't get six-week vacations. Yes, this one I did do. But I can explain how I got six weeks off too. I just want to point out it can't be that bad.

Well, finally, finally I'm earning that. But when you're interning and trying to, you know, prove yourself, it's hard to take time off. So I booked a week off to go to Nashville. It was awesome. And they needed a filler for me. And Danielle filled in. And what I had, I don't know really what happened, but what I think

happened is they may have liked her better. And when I came back, slowly, I got, I just didn't have my job anymore. Is that a chemistry thing? Remind me who you are chit-chatting with in this segment. Gord. Gord.

And Tom Hayes, who's not with the team anymore either. But it was... Obviously, now I realize you've never listened to the Ann Marskowski interview I did with her. Because you really do need to listen only to hear the gourd stuff which i don't know anything i've never worked in cities but and i know you're going to be careful because you were good rogers i understand that and you're wearing a shirt with a sports net logo on it so just to remind me and you know we all love rogers you know bless their hearts but uh gourd didn't talk to ann roszkowski for years like wouldn't speak to her unless the camera was rolling. Really? Yeah. Did you know this? No. Just didn't...

Would not speak to her. And she didn't know why. And one day she confronted him and said, was it something I said? And then he kind of played it down and said something like, no, no, it's just, I'm just going through some stuff or whatever. And then, once again, resumed not talking to her. And she said, for three years.

Out of nowhere? just just so the only time he would speak to her in fact he wouldn't even stand beside her until like five seconds before that light goes on at the live or whatever then he'd stand and then of course us viewers like me who only see what i see on the the idiot box we have no clue because they are fine together when the camera's rolling because they're professionals but when the camera's not rolling they do not speak did she ever say

what changed what happened you need to listen you need to listen to your homework okay listen to the Ann Ruskowski

I have on my site torontowike.com I have a big button on the top that says notable episodes if you click that you can cherry pick by celebrity

just go there and find the Ruskowski it would be good for me honestly i think it's good for any any woman in the industry listen to the ann ruskowski interview like i had no idea i just and i just have these people i i grew up i grew up watching ann and i liked i liked the moses city tv news i loved them very much like that was my uh my my news source as a young man. Yeah, City is... Moses was excellent. City, excellent. If I had more time, because we're going to go along here, I would talk about the... I just went to a much music reunion.

Oh, cool. And I know you're 30, so these are not your people, but Michael Williams and Denise Donlan and Laurie Brown and Ziggy and of course Christopher Ward is there because it was his book Launch Party and more.

I mean Simon Evans was there and Kim Clark Champness. So I'm doing the math in my head to realize that these are my people and you will not know these people. But are those people that you mentioned, are they all working in the industry still? Kind of, sort of, kind of like some,

I mean, Lori, I mean, they all have like Denise Donlan has a huge career after. I'm going to try to get it in here, but, uh, they all kind of left.

They're all, I mean, this guy, Christopher Ward, who was my last episode, he co-wrote a song called Black Velvet for Atlanta Miles. So he, that pretty much,

you know, takes care of him for the rest of his life. And, and he left Much Music on his own after that, but I'm into much music land only because that was a Moses thing too. And they had the same two 99 Queens three was, but city TV and recent guests of this show. And I know I'm promoting this,

but just cause it's interesting to the conversations. Adam styles has been here very recently. He sat there. Yeah. He loves his craft beer, by the way. He's a big beer thing on Fridays in the summer, I believe. Right. So I think he took an extra six pack. I'm not sure. I just let it go. He's a big craft beer guy. Well, he does the beer thing on Fridays in the summer, I believe, right?

So I think he took an extra six pack. I'm not sure. I just let it go. I'm not going to call security. And Avery Haynes. I love Avery. Amazing. Oh, you had her on as well?

Yeah, she came on too, and it was amazing. I've barely worked with her, maybe six months, but she's a role model for me for sure. And if you thought I was awkward and stupid trying to ask if only the hot chicks get to go on TV, you should have heard me asking her about her new marriage.

She called it fluid, but yeah, it's fantastic. She's very happy. Did she answer the hot chicks question too? No, I didn't. Did I ask her that? No, I didn't. I don't think I did. But you know, she's got that white streak, right? Yes.

But her hair is blonde. You know, when I was there, she had short brown hair. Now she's got long blonde hair. That's a new development. But, yeah, you can't see the streak as well when she's blonde.

No, you can't. So when did you ever run? With blonde or brown hair? Blonde. Blonde hair. And after her marriage? Yes. Which I don't know anything about,

so I'm going to have to listen to that episode. You got to listen to that episode. You got a lot of homework, Sophia. Okay, so let's get back to Sophia here. I would say Sophia Yuriksovich. Better. Yuriksovich. Yeah, you could just like cough in the middle of it.

My good friend Alice lives across the street. You know, it's a weird small world story. My friend Alice married a buddy of mine I went to high school with. And completely coincidentally, she's across the street. Like I didn't know until I moved in right oh wow but she's Polish uh born in Poland and uh her next door neighbor is Laura Dyakun am I saying that right uh Dyakun Dyakun Dyakun yes Laura Dyakun's parents live beside Alice so right across the street from here yeah from here.

Oh, because they used to live on Beresford. I know Beresford. Yes. Because I went to Pius at Jane and Bloor. I went to St. Pius for two years. You're too much younger than me, though. Two years. SK and JK.

And then I moved over. Where did... James Cullin. Yeah. French immersion. That was the French immersion. Yeah, that's the thing. So I made sure my kids went public school track, but they did the Humber Crest French Does that have French immersion? Yes was the French immersion. Yeah, that's the thing. So I made sure my kids went public school track,

but they did the Humber crest French immersion. Does that have French immersion? Yes. Okay, okay. And that starts in SK. Oh. Ours only started in grade five. I remember because a lot of pious kids left us.

I remember the group that left us to go to James Cullinan. Yes. And you lost the core kind of group of people who were put into the French immersion. And we were like a big rivalry in our sports teams, grade seven and eight volleyball. Ice versus James Cullinan. Yeah, if I told you like where I lived before here,

right there pretty much, right by like Jane Dundas, Jane and Annette, like right near Renamee High School there. So you know that, you know, I was born and raised in the West as well. So I know the area. And I always found it interesting, the same weekend that the Ukrainian festival goes on in the Bloor bluer west village you have in the same day so i my dad always says why

do they compete against i said the same thing i agree but here's the thing what if it's not a competition what if it's if you're going that way because you get a lot of people who are not in the neighborhood if you're going that way you might as well walk that's a positive spin on something i have inside info from my Polish friends. The Polish and Ukrainians don't particularly like each other is what I'm told. That's awful. Why is that?

Well, I guess it would be like, I mean, I have a lot of Ukrainian friends, but it would be like... India and Pakistan. Yes, sure. Or Toronto, Leaves, Habs, Montreal. Close, but they don't like leave some Habs, Montreal. Close. Gotcha.

But you don't like each other. Gotcha. Okay. We're doing geopolitics. Terrible analogy. Terrible. But we are better at geopolitics than the new president of the United States. Yes, we are.

All right. So, holy smokes. I'm not going to look at the clock. Okay. So, that's sad, though, that you couldn't stay at City TV. I was very sad. Because you were having a great time. But guess what happened because of that?

So then I got a couple of weeks off because I was very upset. I was very, very upset when I found out I didn't really come back to the job. I was one of those career moments where you're like, oh, I don't want to do this anymore. Forget it.

But I had a couple of weeks off and my boss was like, don't worry, we'll figure something out. And then they gave me a spot with Rogers NHL Game Center Live, a digital spot and no knock to digital because it is more important or just as important in television, depending on what channel, what industry, what show you're doing, podcasts, so on and so forth. But at the time I was like, I'm going from six o'clock news to hosting digital segments. And I was okay with that, but I just wasn't,

I wasn't as excited. I just missed the news. But what that did for me, it's been awesome. It's been so much fun. But what that did for me is it led me to hockey night in Canada because they needed a digital representation on hockey night in Canada. And I was that person.

So, you know, one door closes another one opens. And I mean, if you're, if you're, if you're a sports broadcaster in this country who enjoys hockey, dare I say the greatest place to work would be Hockey Night in Canada.

Am I right? Isn't that the creme de la creme? Yes, yes. That's been my lifelong dream as a little girl. So yeah, it's... And that's what I mean. When you have a cool gig, I'm like, this lady is... I see here...

Because I love my Leaf games on Saturday night. And my 14-year-old probably... I was worried when he was younger because he didn't seem to care that much. And I'm like, that's okay. He's going to have his own interests. And then suddenly, like a couple years ago, now he's way in. Like, he can tell me the fourth line guy on the Marlies or

whatever. And I'm like, I'm out. He's way in. And apparently the gateway drug to getting your kid to's way in. And apparently, the gateway drug to getting your kid to be way in is video games, okay? My kid memorized all the rosters

from the video games. I know. Because it's like updated. So he knows the depth. Really, like, hardcore stuff that I don't have time for. Like, I can name

all the Leafs on the current Maple Leafs team, but that's it. Like, I know some Marley's, but not many. Okay. So what am I saying here? So we all, we watch a lot of Hockey Night in Canada and

we, you're in our living rooms like every Saturday night. It's like this big, huge ritual that like means something to us. Like, so it's a cool gig to hear. Well, you know what? And it's always been, it's a huge ritual for me and my, my family as well. And I remember the importance of Hockey Night in Canada, but when Rogers took over and they made all the changes, I know a lot of people were upset and it just didn't seem that things had changed a little bit. But another problem was that no Canadian team was good last year and we lost a lot of viewers.

So for me, I was still so proud every time I was up there, but I know that we weren't getting the same, it wasn't the same tradition because teams weren't doing that well and it wasn't just one Canadian team, it was all of them. And so that kind of, you could feel that, but I mean, geez, sometimes when I would close my eyes

or I'd be in the makeup room and Ron McLean would walk by me and get his makeup done, like I would, I'd have to just take a deep breath and be like, I can't believe I'm here. I can't. Do you know he's been on the show? Oh, has he?

He's a great guy. He loved the beer. There's a man who loves his beer. Yes. And, and, uh, he,

uh, I'm sure he had a lot, a lot of good stories for you, didn't he? Well, okay. So he came on before the new changes were announced. So let's,

okay. So, so I guess you did two years. Yes. And you're, tell me specifically what your role is on the Hockey Night in Canada telecast. Cause you are on that early part. Like tell me specifically when we see Sophia. Well, a little bit of an update. I'm not on Saturdays anymore for now, uh, for now. And

I'm saying for now because you never know what's going to happen. But what I, when I was on, it was during the second intermission and it was, um, usually I would come with a story, a feel good story or a story that was a reaction to as you know, more and more players are joining social media and then they're using their own voice to say how they feel. So sometimes there was a bit of a, if it was a controversial reaction to something, I would talk about what was happening in the social world, that buzzword, the digital and social world. Um, and sometimes it'd be just a really nice, cute story from the community about hockey and how, um, hockey brings families and people together in Canada. Um, but now, so I'm not doing that. So now I'm doing this thing called pro files and it's a feature on a different hockey player every week

that is meant to focus on them away from hockey. What are they like as human beings? That's cool. Quirks, cool things. I love it. It's fun. Yeah, I've never had a professional athlete on this show ever, and I always think if I did,

I don't want to talk about the sport. I just want to talk about everything around it. Yeah, because they're tired of that. Yeah yeah in fact gino retta was just here like two weeks ago yeah and he said and i when i was on the phone with him and he's going to come in and uh he said you're not going to ask me uh any questions like how the leafs are doing or anything like that and i told him this is the truth the last thing i'm going to ask you is for that you can get that in a hundred places right now. Like I want,

I want the stuff you're not going to get. We're not going to find out like, uh, but, uh, the stuff I'm talking to you about today is stuff that's never going to air on a Rogers property. Like this is, this is the stuff that people want to hear because it's like,

it's inside baseball. It is. And you know, what's funny, I think I asked you the same question. I don't know if you remember. No, I don't remember.

Facebook. And I said, are we going to be talking about, you know, my take? I think I asked you the same question. I don't know if you remember. You reached out to me on Facebook and I said, are we going to be talking about, you know, my take on the teams? No, like I have no interest. You can do that on your, when you're making your dollars. I'm so glad because, yeah. I just pan beer and ask you other uncomfortable questions. No, they're very, very good. All right. So the change. So, okay. So you're, so, okay. So, so you're not on. So I'm just,

so you, these packages you put together where you talk to the hockey player, they air on Hockey Night in Canada. I should know this, right? Because we're in November here. No, no. They air on Wednesday Night Hockey. Wednesday Night Hockey. So yesterday I just finished one on Ryan O'Reilly

of the Buffalo Sabres. It was very interesting. The story was that he does math and puzzles and mind puzzles with his dad while he's working out. So when they work out, when he was training to be a hockey player, he would be lifting weights and skipping dad while he's working out. So when they work out, when he was trained to be a hockey player, he would be lifting weights and skipping and whatever he's doing. And then his dad would say 20 times, five plus two, go. And he'd have to answer it while he was doing

things to teach him focus and all. It was a really cool story. That's a good idea. By the way, you didn't ask him my question. When I have Ryan O'Reilly on, I'm going to ask him about sharing a name with my favorite character in Oz. So I loved this show called Oz. Yes. Okay. And my favorite character was Ryan O'Reilly. That was the first and last name? Yeah.

That's the name. I think they spelled it a little different. O'Reilly was spelled a little different. Okay. You're going to have to ask him about that. Anyway, that'll be my only question. And then I'll say, take your beer and go. That's my question.

Okay. So that's great. That's cool. But do you have any reaction personally to the big changes, which was the big primo change, I suppose, is saying goodbye to my friend George Strombolopoulos. Well, sure. I worked with George for the two years that he was there, and I have only the best things to say about George. I loved working with him. He was a team player, supported me, supported everyone around him. No doubt, I think most people can agree, huge shoes to fill. And I think what people have to remember is that George didn't make that decision.

Ron didn't make that decision. And both of them are the ones that are constantly being circulated. Like Ron is gone and George took over. Neither of them made that decision. So it played out the way it played out and George had a job to do. If someone called you and if you were aspiring to be a Canadian broadcaster

and your goal was to grow every year and they said, hey, would you like to be the host of Hockey Night? Would you say no? Strombo's been here. Just when he first got the gig, like early his gig he came over yeah and everybody was picking on him for like his pants or his socks or whatever they were picking on like silly stuff like that uh yeah you're right that's the primo gig in the country for a host of that yeah that's the that's

the top dig is that like that's is that your dream gig in the biz if you were to stay in this biz is that the dream some people have asked me that. And if you asked me maybe in 15 years, I might say yes. But right now, no, because it just seems so... Ron knows so much. And it is... I'm saying this just from observing. I'm not saying this as fact. But it feels like it's his life.

What he does, he just does this. Well, it is pretty much. Like he plays a couple of times a week and he used to referee and like he really does live and breathe hockey. He does. And he does hometown hockey now, but he just does such a good job

that to even think about filling in is intimidating. So you need somebody between, you need somebody to replace Ron, not be so beloved, and then you'll come in and take over for that person. Well, there you go go but ron i mean i don't know i think ron can will be around for a long time foreseeable future i michael and i know you'll be talked about

how him and george uh neither made these decisions or whatever and i my hypothesis and i threw it at ron and he did not disagree i believe he agreed is the Gary Bettman influence so it seems to me like we all you know we're all like hey why did this change we don't like and then they undo the change but the change never should have happened in the first place I'm a huge strombo guy listen to the episode I do strombo huge

strombo fan yeah he's great but Ron McLean never should have been removed as host like you never should have removed him it was clear that it was a bet Bettman's interference because Bettman, because Ron refused to treat Bettman with the kid gloves

because they're partners. Because Ron has way too much, like, journalistic integrity. And he talked about the ethical, he really does struggle with the ethics of things. Like, this is stuff he ponders deeply. And he wasn't going to treat,

give him a pass because of a relationship between Rogers and NHL. Bettman doesn't like that. So Bettman, I believe interferes and then Ron has to be replaced. And then why not George? He's fine, but people want Ron. So they,

I guess Bettman changes his mind two years later. Maybe Rogers says, Hey, look at these numbers. We need to change this. Of course, you and I, you just said every canadian team missed the

playoffs last year yes and we're out of it early which is key yes and as a leaf guy who mainly just watches the leaves i can tell you until the kids showed up at the very end which got kind of interesting to see nylander and uh you know hyman and some of the kids uh no interest for the first time in my life and that was for like a year for about one and a half seasons i had no interest because we were just bad, like uninspired and bad. Yeah. And it's painful.

Isn't that crazy? I've heard so many people say that, and even in my own, I grew up, born and raised a Leafs fan. Things have changed now that I've talked to a lot of different players. Things have changed. But not saying that I'm not a Leafs fan,

but when you meet these people out from every other team, you just become fans of the players, not the teams. Sure. But same thing. For the first time, my friends, myself, we just didn't rush home to tune in.

But even when they were bad, I would rush home to tune in when I was younger. I'm from the 80s, okay? Nobody knows better what it's like to want to watch your Leafs on a Saturday night when they're a bad team, okay? Yeah. Maybe Wendell will get a wrist shot

or get in a fight or whatever. But yeah, yes. For the first time in my life i'm i've got a good 12 years on you uh there was a period of time where it felt it hurt like it was not fun like if and then you realize i'm going to do something else with this time because why would i ever tune in for something that's not fun yeah yeah no so you can't blame anyone on the broadcast you have it's just a perfect storm of uh people tuning out of rogers hockey yes exactly because of because of the ratings and um and i could have been other factors but but for sure that was a huge part of it and and yeah i don't know about the i couldn't confirm the betman story but that's definitely one that's been

circulating you'll never be able to confirm it because you're never going to have a smoking gun on that one. But McLean believes that it played a role. But you know what? He now can say he stuck to his integrity, kept it, and just like happened to Aaron and to Catherine, fans brought him back. You know, he got to keep his integrity.

He didn't have to compromise what he believed in. Absolutely. So he's back. Strombo's gone, unfortunately, but it sounds like he had a good working experience with Strombo. Yeah, he's a fantastic person. I love George. And do you like, is Ron because, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed my, I'm enjoying this chat

too, but I enjoyed my Ron McLean chat thoroughly. It was just great. And he got here early and i was actually doing a business call and he sat on the couch and listened and then he asked me these questions about web development and stuff and he was it was like he was really curious and like i was like ron mclean's on my couch asking me about like my my day job and it was like just amazing and then we had the best chat and then he liked the beer so much he he came back to visit the actual brewery. No way. They must have been so happy.

Yeah. My friend there sends me a photo of Ron there. And yeah, they were really happy to have, you know, Ron McLean in their brewery. You know, they're used to Jeff Merrick, but Ron McLean's a whole different thing. So like I really, really loved my chat with Ron and my experience of Ron. But then I saw there's a blog called

Toronto Sports Media and it was reporting that people who worked with Ron didn't like working with Ron. Like maybe he's a bit of a control freak or something like something about that. You know what's funny about that? I don't know. I worked, uh, I've never worked with Ron McLean on the desk. So I, even he, when I was on hockey night, George threw to me, uh, Ron didn't. So I've never worked directly with him. Um, but you know, I always tell my friends that are close to me and, and I'm gonna pump my own tires for a bit, but I, one thing that I love about what I do is a lot of people around me are like, you're not a diva. And I love that. I love that people are like, you're so down to earth. You're still just like you are on TV. You don't think about all those things. And it's me or it's Ron or it's whoever,

it's George that is going to get the heat for things that happen. So as you've, I've made mistakes because of certain things, um, an environment or being rushed or doing, having to do something before I went on air. And so then I've noticed myself that when I was on the score, I would chit chat or be on my phone before I was on air. But now I'm silent. I'm quiet. I don't talk to people. I'm not as friendly because I just want to be in the zone. And so people who maybe don't know you or don't understand that part of television might think, oh, she was dismissive or she's a little bit rude. And so that's on a tiny, tiny, tiny scale. I have a minute on Hockey Night in Canada. Ron has the whole show. So there might be people who would say, I don't know that, but there might

be people who might misinterpret that as being difficult to work with, but that's his job. That's what he's got to do. So maybe it comes across as controlling, but for him, it's very important to be able to control, I guess, the elements around him. I haven't heard that myself. It sounded like, if I'm remembering correctly, it was something like, okay, producers will tell the people to be doing this. And then sort of the last minute, Ron will have them do something else.

And they've got direction from, I guess, the producer, whoever directs you on the show. And then now Ron, who's an important guy on the show, has great power, but he's not the producer, wants to do something else. And then I just wondered if you had experienced anything like that. I was surprised to hear anybody say a negative thing about Ron McClain. Like, I was surprised to hear that.

No, for sure. And, you know, I haven't. But I will say that it's like a catch-22. It's a double-edged sword because you want your broadcaster, the face of Hockey Night in Canada, to know and love the game so much that he himself can watch a play and look at something and say, this is what's important, this is what I want to talk about, and be right about it. But on the other hand, you need someone that also can compromise

and work with a producer and say, okay, we're going to go in this direction. But you really don't want to work with someone who just doesn't, who just is like, whatever you say, I'll do. Ron probably, if that's what you're hearing, he probably has a strong voice and says, no, I like this player, this shot better. That's what we're going to talk about. And it is a scramble to get that done 30 seconds before you're going to be talking about it. But I would, I would look at it as that, as a compliment almost because he's just so good at what he does that he knows. I think he's fantastic at what he does.

Yeah. Yeah. He's, um. I always said Strombo loved the guy, but he never should have been offered that job, because it never should have been available. It's one of those things where I can't even talk about whether Strombo gets a raw deal having two years and out, when he never should have been there. Strombo's great at lots of things, but somebody who's the best

is already there. And two years and out though, man, like in two years might seem like a lot, but it's not. And two years of like Leafs being crap. Yeah. Yeah. It is not. And not only,

by the way, the change wasn't just Strombo. The change was the entire team, you know, around Strombo and, and producers and different APs and, and me and, and different directors.

So you're thinking one person has to adjust to something that's already been in place, but that's not true. It's an entire management structure. So think about that. It doesn't take two years to figure that out. So he really wasn't given a fair shake. What about you worked closely with PJ Stock? My favorite.

So tell me about working with PJ. Okay. What do you want to know or should I just go on and on and on? Just tell me just like it sounds like you had a good experience because you're beaming over there. I love PJ. He is, I'll tell you. And if he, I hope, I'm going to send this to him later. But when I first met him, I was like, typical retired hockey player, jock, makes stupid jokes, jerk.

Like I just, I was like, what an ass. Like that's honestly what I thought. stupid jokes, jerk. Like I, I just, I was like, what an ass. Like, that's honestly what I thought. Cause he fabulous, but like funny, but one of those jobs, like, you know, it's picture stereotypical jock still 14 years old, you know, high five and everyone thinks he's the coolest guy, guy on the show, on the show. And, um, PJ would be very forward about thinking he's the coolest guy. PJ, if you're listening, you're not. Um, but he, um he um but he's he's so smart and has so much heart like his heart and his character just blew me away and that's what i gained so much respect for him and he's very he's so jokey on set and and behind the scenes but he works very very hard

and he knows so much about hockey and so when I would watch him as a fan, I like, he drove me crazy sometimes. Then I started working with him and he drove me crazy a little bit for the first couple of weeks. Um, but when I really watched him closely, I'm like, this guy works really hard. He doesn't just joke around. He takes, he takes notes. He knows the game and he really cares about the people around him. And so, um, I love him. I love the guy. I'm very, very sad that he's not working with us yeah so he was in the same like wave of changes that got strombo that got pj stock as well pj used to tell me we had a segment called tweet at me bro and we talked about being a woman in the industry

and i would be in usually very form-fitting dresses and pj would tell me every time before i went on air and like now i'm laughing but but I'm smiling. But when I first started, I was very nervous. Like I from going from digital to Hockey Night in Canada in a snap. And I'd be working with PJ for the first part of the show before Hockey Night. And he would tell me every time he would say, you look bloated, like in my dress. Every time, like 30 seconds before going on air, he'd be like, your hair looks stupid or something. And I'd throw me off. But that was and that was his way of, to be honest with you,

I miss it. Like, I love it because I would laugh or people would laugh and I would just be a little bit more loose. It was his way of just being like, chill out, take a deep breath. I wasn't bloated, just for the record. But he would say stuff like that.

Like, who does that? But that's PJ. Very good. And so PJ's gone, unfortunately. Ron McLean's back hosting. Strombo's gone. David Amber comes in to do the late games, I guess, so that Ron can get to his hockey. What's the Sunday show called?

Hometown Hockey. By only watching Leafs, I see very little Hometown Hockey. I know, but they are on here and there. Once in a blue moon, yeah. Now, let me ask you about this. So, yesterday, Don Cherry, whoever tweets for Don Cherry, I know it's some producers,

a woman who was at CBC, I think. Yes, at CBC. So, he writes the tweets, though. It was one of those, like, left-wing pinko or... Oh, I didn't see it at all. Okay, so it was something like, basically, all you left wing kooks or whatever who say you're coming to canada because trump won stay where you are we have enough

of you here one of those kind of things okay okay all right what's okay how well do you know don like what's don like as a person well i only know him from the quick hi and bys in the hallway. He's always been great to me. Great. Like, remembers my name. You know, Don comes around sometimes on Saturdays offering chocolates and treats to all the behind-the-scenes staff. So he'll finish a show and he'll walk around and say, would you like a treat? Which he doesn't have to do. mean he's don cherry but it's just a very uh i got when i saw him that way after getting off of his set it just reminds you like he's a human human being

yeah human guy um he's always been good to me i don't know i can't i really i'm not saying no i don't i've never heard like i don't want you to trash him. I actually hear good things about him as a person. And like Ron, I'd ask him lots of Don questions and very positive things. I coach his corners like appointment viewing for me. Of course. It always has been. It's the best.

And it's just, you know, as you get older and you realize he's got some dinosaur views when it comes to other things. Hockey too, actually. But, you know, you'll put up with that because it's entertainment or whatever. So does Don know that you're an avid cyclist? He doesn't know that I'm an avid cyclist. Because he might label you in the pinko. Oh, the pinko.

That's right. The left-wing pinko, whatever you call it. I can't remember his terms, but left-wing pinkos or kooks or whatever. But you are an avid cyclist. I am, yes. I'm an avid cyclist. I am, yes. I'm an avid cyclist. I don't race or anything like that.

I would hate to make myself seem cooler than I am. But I do cycle everywhere I go. And I was going to cycle here because it's, what, 14 degrees Celsius? I could have cycled home with you on my lunchtime ride. Do you ride every? Every day. So I do 35K every single weekday. Where do you go?? Every day. So I do 35K every single weekday. Where do you go?

So I'll tell you. So from here, I do the waterfront trail to, you know, the Humber Bay Bridge. Of course, the white bridge. Yes, I live right by the Humber. Right. So right before the bridge where you go down and then you start going north. You know that bathroom, the washroom that looks like a flying saucer? No.

Well, there's, so if you start going north along, it's called the Humber Trail. Under the bridge? Yeah, so it's right before the, if you're heading east from here

on the waterfront trail, just before the bridge, you start busting north. If you go down and you start going, there's a north trail along the Humber River. By the Palace Pier,

Palace Place area. You get to the Humber River, which is where the bridge goes over. Yeah. And you, along the Humber River. By the Palace Pier, Palace Place area. You get to the Humber River, which is where the bridge goes over. Yeah. And along the Humber River, on the west side of the Humber River, there's a trail called the Humber Trail. You take that up. It's got a name, the Oculet or something. But there's this legendary bathroom that looks like a flying saucer. You'll pass that.

You'll go up to, I believe it's called Stephen Drive or something like that. Yes, Stephen Drive. And then you connect to what we believe it's called Stephen Drive or something like that. Yes, Stephen Drive. And then you connect to what we call King's Mill Park, which is near Old Mill. Which is where I live. Right. So that connects to there. So now you're going through King's Mill Park where I saw my first deer. Deer.

I see deer all the time in my backyard. And all the deers I've seen are on this part of the trail because the aforementioned oculate or whatever it's called the flying saucer bathroom i call it just before that i had like a stare off with a deer like a month ago just quietly biking there it is there's a deer it's cool isn't it so cool so the old mill so now we're at the old mill and of course then you go over that little saint the catherine street bridge whatever that is and then you're now in ATN Brulee Park. Yes. Along the Humber River. And I'll take that up to that bridge, that Dundas Bridge.

And over that, it's called, I have all these names because of Google Maps, but Lampton Woods, it's called. And that, I'll take that trail to James Gardens. Okay. But I'll basically take the trail up to Jane and Eglinton, basically. Oh, wow. So at Jane and Eglglinton now i do a little circle yes and i go back but on my way back this is boring to everyone but i'm enjoying this

so much okay so on the way back when i've uh uh so i've go everything on the way back but now do you know the saint mark's hill that goes up to where humber crest is actually but you know the saint mark's hill a very steep hill that goes up. There's Humbercrest and Baby Point. Oh yes. It's a big steep hill. Yes. It's right. Yeah.

So I'll go. I'll bike up the hill. And now I'll take. I'll get on Annette Street. I'll take Annette to High Park. And then I'll take the High Park Street. Or road. Whatever.

I'll take High Park Avenue. To. Through the park. Through High Park. So now I'll go through high park. Okay. When I come out the other end, it's called Colburn lodge.

Yes. So I'll take Colburn lodge back to the waterfront trail. Yes. And then I'll take the waterfront trail West to my home because we're right now almost exactly on the waterfront trail because the waterfront trail is Morrison. Okay. Which I'll point to you after.

So that is my 35K lunchtime ride. So that's 35K. Yeah, exactly. That's a lot. So I use Map My Ride and every single ride I map with the GPS device on my phone. Map My Ride.

I need to write this down. Yeah, Map My Ride. So I'm really weird in archiving stuff. Like it's not a mental illness, I promise you, but it's kind of, so every ride in my adult life,

I've recorded every ride I've ever done. Oh, cool. So I do month over month. I'll see what did I do this month versus last month, and then I'll have targets. Like last year, I wanted to hit 5,000 for the year, and I blew past it.

I hit like 7,500 for the year. This year, I'm going to beat that. I've had several months now where I've gone over 1,000 for the month in biking. Wow. And it's mainly yeah so me and the kids the two older kids bike now they michelle bless her heart my 12 year old she basically at the end of uh at the end of october or mid-october really when her soccer season's over she says daddy i'm putting my bike in the shed until april or something and then she won't do the win so i bike all year round but her and so then we'll stop the biking so we've stopped it now and i'm back in my 1999 protege but i uh i uh when when during the months she will bike uh we bike everywhere like everywhere we cannot drive we will bike even like that's awesome so

when i'm at this much music reunion at the Royal Theater at like College and Bathurst area, I'm biking there. I just met Wendell Clark. So I've never, my hero, I never met him. Ken Reed was there, by the way. Oh, at this. There was a book signing. Jim Lang wrote a book with Wendell. Yes.

And, heck, here. You have it right there? This one. Okay. Because I'm showing Sophia. This is great for radio. So Wendell signed my book, right? Oh, he signed oh he signed it guys i am a witness he did sign the book so uh i bike there to maple leaf gardens like everywhere i gotta go unless i have the baby with me or the two-year-old i'm biking that's awesome

so i will bike when it's cold i won't bike when there's ice because i had some scary moments on ice um i don't have a great my tires aren't i'm looking at your bike over here i really have a road bike yours is a what's yours a hybrid hybrid okay mine's a road bike and i've had some scary scary slips so i won't do that but when it's cold i will and my bike ride to the cbc building from home is about 12 kilometers one way so if i do go every day and I don't, I will be honest, when I'm on television, my hair needs to be done. A lot of that has to do with...

I never care what I look like. That's the secret. Honestly, I don't need... Look at me now. If you guys could see me, I am not wearing makeup and I'm in workout clothes. We're going to get a picture. Filter that. But anyhow, so I can't always bike, but when I do, it's a good 25 kilometers a day.

It's good. It's a good little ride. That's great. No, and I talk 35. Like, I don't even mean to brag because for a long time I did, when I started my new biking regime, which was only 2012,

when I kicked it off again, 10K a day I was doing, 10K a day. And then it became 15K, and then it became 20K, and then eventually I bumped it up to 25, and then I bumped it up to 25 and then I bumped it up to 30 for a long time and now and I ran out of time like the problem is the clock how long does it take to do now it takes me about an hour and 20 minutes okay my 35k so now I'm out of time

so uh I can't bump it up if I wanted to but yeah it's definitely not something you don't just start doing 35k but that 24k is great that's a fantastic right it is a great ride and sometimes i'll finish work at two in the morning and i'm like oh i have to bike home but as soon as you're on your bike it's just the best feeling in the world now cbc building so i know where that is so like if you do get yourself onto the waterfront trail where there's no cars which is really nice you can that and you can take that waterfront trail to the the that i keep talking about the spaceship because i don't know what this park is called but you should be yeah so if you're coming east yeah sorry if you're coming west from cbc land you're going to go over the white bridge and then right away you're going to

go left and you'll see you go down it's a great view of the skyline down there and then you're going to start making your way north okay and i'll show it to you later like it's some you have the most if you're good let's say you're going to Old Mill. Yeah. Well, I am going there. That's where I live. I bike by it every day at lunch. Like this, this is, this,

this, this is the best way you can go. Waterfront Trail to Humber Trail, which is right after the bridge. And then it'll take you straight to the Old Mill. Okay. Because I used to take the South Kingsway down with all the cars.

You don't, you don't, that's right. So as a guy who bikes a lot with his 12 year old daughter, we always map out our rides and we try to do as much as we can without cars because everyone feels better map my ride well that app is how i record my rides but google maps has fantastic tells you where but biking trails yeah google maps has a biking trail filter thing you just hit the bike thing yeah and it even it

even is really good at knowing how long it'll take you to do like it freaks me out sometimes like i'll map it on google and it'll say this is a 54 minute ride i'm like ha ha ha i'll do that in 45 i'll get there 50 like exactly it nails me that's amazing so no cars for you if you go waterfront to humber trail humber trail to old mill honestly that's what i would do okay if you were my daughter that would be my advice too well thank you for telling me because i always have to fight the cars for half the ride and i don't like doing that no you don't have to you don't have to those the cars for half the ride and I don't like doing that. No, you don't have to. You don't have to. Those days are over. By the way, I saw the jerk report. Oh, yeah, yeah.

I'm really behind on that. That was an experiment and it was actually fun and I'm going to keep doing that. Should I explain what it is? Yeah, tell us what the jerk report is. The jerk report was a concept my friend Jesse and I came up with. Jesse, what up? How are you?

And we were hanging out. We were just talking about, you know, social media and pumping yourself up is such a big deal. How are you? And we were hanging out. We were just talking about, you know, social media and pumping yourself up is such a big deal. But I just don't really like doing something that doesn't feel authentic. And unfortunately, a lot of the time, if you're going to be posting once a day, it's it's that doesn't feel right, authentic. So it's unauthentic. When you're taking selfies and pictures, it's pretty unauthentic sometimes. I hate that. So he said, one of my hidden talents is rhyming. And I love rhyming.

And I love rapping. I'm using air quotes. I don't actually rap. But my friends and I will get together and sometimes we challenge each other to only speak in rhyme or text in rhyme. Like the mouse in Today's Special. Does the mouse?

Oh, you're only 30. No, I like Today's Special. I didn't realize. But the mouse doesn't always rhyme. Always? Always. Please continue. Today's Special. I know realized. But the mouse doesn't always rhyme. Yeah. Always? Always. Please continue. Today's Special.

I know that show. Okay. I didn't know about that. You didn't know the mouse only speaks in rhyme. He was a mannequin and then he like transformed. Yeah. Jeff. Yes.

Yes. Jeff and the hat and then the old man. You've convinced me you know Today's Special now. And Sam. Sam. That's right. Sam. But the mouse only speaks in rhyme.

So please continue. I want to give people a frame of reference. So the mouse only speaks in rhyme. So please continue. So the mouse started jerk report. So my friend said, well, why don't you do a little sports update of the headlines of the day? So things that people must know. So if LeBron signed back with Cleveland, like big stories like that.

Trump won. That's not a sports story, but big ones like that. He said, why don't you do something called the jerk report where you deliver it in a 15 second rhyme second rhyme and so i started to do that i haven't really maintained it i've only done two episodes but um i'm gonna keep going with it it's a little dumb but i'm okay with that as long as it's authentic were you entertained i was entertained

and i was yeah i was gonna ask if that's yeah keep the jerk report going. Okay. Are you kidding me? Yeah, don't quit now. I will not. And be disciplined about it. If you're going to do one a week, I want one a week. Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. I have to do more. No more six-week vacations. No.

Okay. I know we're going to wrap up here, but a couple of quick things is, have you ever considered leaving sports media for like harder news? Do you have any desire to do any like news, real news? Yes. The answer is yes. Um, I did because for a long time I did just social media for sports and highlights, which are really fun, but can get really tedious. At least for me, I'm someone who likes different challenges and doing something different every day. And so when you're on the 10 o'clock news every single day reading highlights, it just can, it can get a little tedious. Um, what I love is telling stories and what I, um, whether it's controversial and you're chasing a story or whether it's nice and a feel good story, I just love uncovering things about people. Cool. So

that is what I'm doing now. And so that has pacified me, um, in my hunt for doing. Huge. That's why I started this podcast. Because you have a passion for it. Because I wanted to, I needed, everyone's got a story. Like I want to hear the story. And you need a long form format to properly extract the story. You can't do it in like a 60 second sound.

I know. And that's the thing. Like with most of the guys I get, I have hours of footage and interviews and then it turns into a two andand-a-half-minute piece. Not very easy to do, but you could still get a point across. Sure, of course. But what helps is down the line, I just talked to Ryan O'Reilly.

We talked about one thing, but I have 10 other things that down the line, if we ever do something on him again, I could bring forward. And he texted me and said, I really liked what you did, which is the best compliment ever. Yeah, of course. The best when you're hoping to represent someone in a light that they're, you know, you have to be objective, but you're like,

did I tell your story properly? The painting of, Marge did of Mr. Burns. Oh, yes. Remember? He said, thank you for not painting it small, and then Marge said to Homer, I thought I did. I remember, and she was the

only one that was very it was yeah anyway that the i had all came back to the simpsons but i love this okay cool so you would and i'm thinking like i'm thinking okay so i know you if you can get back in the city tv like some kind of investigative journalist thing would be fun you know are you friendly with carly aggro i know her but we just we don't work in the same building, so I don't know her that well. Right, because you're a CBC building and she's Roger. Yes, but why? Okay, here's why I ask. Because her twin sister Charlesy

works on CBC's marketplace and they're doing a lot of investigative reporting. I'm only thinking you have somebody at sports net whose twin sister is kind of doing some really cool stuff like that that's a good point and you're in the cbc building anyway so she's got to be hanging around there somewhere i should connect with her because i i really would be passionate about doing stuff like that i i just so people listening know i'm I do a lot of my producing, like I chase my own stories and I

think a lot, a lot of people do, but in sports, sometimes you are at a desk, so you're not out there chasing. But when I get these interviews with these players, they're not set up for me. Like I'm running around doing that. So there's a bit of, um, it's different than investigative journalism, but it's exciting to chase a story. It really is. Absolutely. Absolutely. Uh, like for example, in my head right now, I'm desperately trying to remember the name of the mouse in today's special. Even though we have many devices near us that could Google it, I refuse, but is it Millie? Oh, it might be something like that. I think Millie sounds familiar. Like you knew Sam, Sam. I remember Sam Crenshaw. I remember his last name. You know, all the names,

like I could picture. I was too old for that show. Here's the joke. That show... How do you know that show? Just because it was like Osmosis. That show was like... I was a Polka Dot Door guy. Love Polka Dot Door. When today's special comes out, I'm actually a little old for it, but I wasn't so old. I still tuned in and caught the gist. Mr. Dress-Up?

Of course. That's my... The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dress-Up are like those are my guys. So the Friendly Giant was kind of on the way out when I was a kid. And then Mr. Dress Up was the superhero. He was the best. Did anyone not like Mr. Dress Up? I don't want to be your friend. No, he's sort of like, he was our Mr. Rogers, right?

So you never hear a bad thing about Mr. Rogers. In fact, the more you learn about Mr. Rogers, the more you like him. Like everything is so sincerely, unbelievably positive about this man. Yeah. And he, you know, he obviously, Mr. Rogers, he's a Pittsburgh guy, American guy.

I believe Mr. Dress-Up, I believe, is an American. I don't, that'd be terrible. Yeah, but he comes here. I hope I got this right. But he's our Mr. Rogers.

Yeah. And I watched Mr. Rogers, but I liked Mr. Dress-Up more. I loved his drawings. Casey and Finnegan. Yeah, the treasure, but I liked Mr. Dress-Up more. I loved his drawings. Casey and Finnegan. Yeah, the treasure. The tickle trunk. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you know, the original tree where Casey and Finnegan, no, who lived in there? Casey and Finnegan lived in that little tree, is in the CBC building on the Wellington entrance, open to the public. You can just go take a picture of the tree if you want. I'm going to. I want to do that.

Take a picture. I'll come and then I'll see. I'll come visit you and you'll be like, this guy's stalking me at my work. No, bring your kids. They wouldn't know. No, they actually would not know. The 14 year old was like a Bob the Builder guy. Oh, Bob the Builder. Which is not a Canadian show.

All right. Holy smoke. What are we at here? Okay, good. Just checking the clock. Last couple of questions. One is a recent tweet by TSN's Kate Burness. Am I saying that? Burness, yes. I butchered it. One time I called it Beerness or something,

and I got like angry notes. It's kind of spelled like Beerness, but it's Burness. My ignorance is showing, yeah. I definitely know of her and who she is, but she just seemed to judge those on in this tweet she seemed to judge those in her industry who get cosmetic surgery oh what is she saying just something about the effect of like she would she would never do it or it was just

really like like i would never do that or something but what was she referring to somebody asked there was some footage that came out of her so she worked i guess she worked oh this is terrible is it barry maybe she yeah she did um the um the real the new vr that became uh whatever it became so uh she was there and someone took a screen cap of her on that show and then a screen cap of her today and she looks she looks quite a bit different like the hair color is different i think she's in better shape now if i can can say that. Like maybe she works out more. Yeah, she works out a lot. Or chiseled or whatever. And then somebody just said she got,

somebody accused her of getting plastic surgery. And she said that no, and she would never ever do that or something. And then I talked about this at Toronto Sports Media, but there's a guy who writes there named Mike in Boston. And we were having a chat and he was under the impression that this was a smackdown against women who would get plastic surgery. So my question, and i'm not as convinced that it was that i think it was more

like that it's just she's made a personal decision she will never get cosmetic surgery that's how i interpret it yes which is good for her i don't i hope i don't want my wife to get it i don't want you know i don't want my mom to get it i don't want my daughters to get it like just you are what you are and be like confident and proud or whatever yes so uh would you get cosmetic surgery if you felt it would extend your time in front of the camera you know that is a tough question because i think uh at this age i don't feel like i need it um and no but most 30 year olds don't get cosmetic surgery i would say because you're like this is prime time i'm thinking like in 20 years i i would say now I would say no, but that's so, I think it's unrealistic for people to say, well, actually that's not true. Kate might actually really believe that she never,

ever, ever will, but no. And the reason is because I think you can tell and i think it looks so unnatural and i think that's that's the worst part i'd rather look old in my age than look unnatural i won't name names but i had a recent guest who was and i grew up watching the guy like through the 90s and 80s and stuff and then uh in person i had a little bit of a moment of like whoa like what has this guy done to his face like i had that kind of like like this is clearly a lot of work done and it's it's you're having that moment of like china which is i mean i don't judge people who get it done like i personally hope i never get it like i don't want to dye my hair even like you know what i mean but you know what's funny though i know so many people who have and you can't tell and it's those people that you're like you look great and it works right

and then you have someone who has and you can't tell and you're like oh i would never do that it's like well right you know it's uh that's that's a tough one but right now i'm not not looking that far ahead oh it's time it doesn't have to be uh with merrick i started playing this song no joke and he basically made me turn it off and talk for like another 45 minutes no way that. That was back when I thought episodes should be an hour long. And then I realized, why do I even have rules? Yeah, no. I have no boss. No, you don't.

How long? Wait, how long has it been? It's about 145, 146. Wow. No. Yeah. An hour. An hour and 46.

Oh, wow. I was going to say, it's not 145 right now. No, no, no. It's an hour. No, no, no. It's not an hour. No, see, okay. So can I say something really quickly?

I would talk to you for another like two hours. I know I have a lot of things and I realized no one will listen for my five hour episode. No, but you never know. But I, because I didn't bike here like an irresponsible cyclist. I didn't. I took my mother's car. She needs it back. She needs it back.

She's going to work. That's okay. Cause this is my farewell song. Last thing though, is that Freddie P from Humble and Fred says hi. Fred, love you very much. I love the Pattersons and love that family. So hi back to Fred and Doll and Danny and Mel. Wait, Josh, John, and May.

I hope they're listening to this show. Although Fred, I had him on episode 200, and he says he only listens like, he listened to Mike Stafford because he had a personal connection. So when he sees your name, Fred might listen because he, like I said, very fond of you.

Well, I'm very fond of him too. So even if he doesn't hear the whole thing, I'm going to clip this out and send it to him. Let's do it. And that brings us to the end of our 203rd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike

and Sophia is at Sophia S. Nett. Very well done. And our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer and Chef's Plate is at Chef's Plate CA

and Ryan O'Reilly is, no, I don't know what Ryan O'Reilly is. No, he doesn't actually have Twitter. But I want to say thanks to Great Lakes Brewery and Chef's Plate. I'm really excited to have a beer and a good healthy meal. And I want to say thank you.

Thank you for having me. Greatest excuses ever, but... We finally did it. Four excuses later. Fifth time was a charm. It was worth the wait. See you all next week. because everything is coming up rosy and gray yeah the wind is cold but the smell of snow won't stay today and your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away

because everything is rosy and gray Well I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah