Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Sports Media Roundtable: Toronto Mike'd #913

Episode Date: September 10, 2021

Mike hosts a sports media roundtable with Mark Hebscher and Fast Time Milon. Topics discussed include Buck Martinez, Chris Johnston, Greg Brady, Bob McCown, Michael Landsberg, Wayne Gretzky, and more.

Welcome to episode 913 of Toronto Mic'd, a podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. ChefDrop, access top chef and restaurant prepared meal kits shipped across the GTHA. Thank you. for over 1,200 CEOs, executives, and business owners around the world. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees

from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majewski. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the gta real estate scene learn more at realestatelove.ca i'm mike from torontomike.com and joining me for our quarterly sports media roundtable is the host of hebsey on sports mark hebbshire welcome mark, Mark. Thanks, Mike. Long time no see.

How are you? I was going to say, we literally, just to peel back the curtain here, about a half an hour ago, we wrapped up a great episode of Hebbsy on Sports. It was episode 249. There was great energy because you were here in my backyard and you hit another one out of the ballpark. You were on fire, buddy. I'd rank it in the top out of the ballpark. You were on fire, buddy.

I'd rank it in the top 10 of the 249 podcasts. Okay, give me the order. 63 was fantastic. 63 was probably the best. I remember 128 vividly, of course. Well, you know, when you think about the highlights, because we had a lot to cover because the Jays are on fire, and Leila Fernandez won her semifinal last night. But we've been recording Hebsey on Sports for a Raptors NBA championship.

Like, that's got to be number one. Yeah, that was great. That was, you know what? I think, you know, when you go back, you go, man, it's really hard for me to remember, separate one from another. But, you know, when I used to do sports line i was like i remember that show you once and i'm like i have no idea you could play me a tape of it i go i said that i did that i don't know because it happened live it happened in real time i i just

kept on going right so i wasn't i had no you know i wasn't aware of what else was going on uh or what jim's reaction was or what the audience's reaction might have been or anything like that. It happened live. And I never watched the show afterwards and go, oh, look, I looked like such an idiot there. Or, you know, I should have never said that. Because I saw other people would go through that and they would be self-critical. It was just nothing worse than someone going, yeah, I watched my,

I don't like the way I look on television or I don't like the way I sound and stuff. So I just avoided doing it. I didn't want to be critical of myself. I'd rather just sort of do it in real time. And if someone, you know, comes along and says, for example, hey, I watched the show last night and it was a great show. I go, well, thanks very much. As opposed to, well, I watched it on tape and I didn't like it at all. I thought my teeth looked crooked.

My timing was off. I laughed. I thought my teeth looked crooked. My timing was off. I laughed. It was a silly sounding laugh. You know, I mispronounced this guy's name. You know, that type of a thing, right? No, just don't watch it. Like you did it live.

But now everybody just, like every time someone takes a picture now, it's like, oh, wait, before you post that picture, let me have a look at it. And then they squeeze their fingers apart, right? Yes, of course. So they can see if that pimple on their nose is... I said, no, I'm sorry, but nobody who's going to look at that picture, like nobody is going to take the picture and blow it up to 7,000 times its size

to see if you've got like a ward or something. They're just not going to do it. Stop that. Like, cut it out, man. Don't be so self-critical. Just let it happen. Did I mention, Mark Hibscher, that we have somebody joining us for this

quarterly sports media roundtable? I know, because he's sitting right next to me. That was my opening salvo right there right off the bat, and then I can leave it up to our guests. What'd I miss? Yeah, fast time, Milan. We were saying not quite fast enough. We had to start without you, but thank you for the coffee.

Not so fast, Milan. Milan, how are you doing, buddy? Are you talking about mentally or physically? Well, traffic sucks, right? You must have hit traffic getting here. So bad. Hey, you got the polo shirt. I went to a Catholic high school, and we had to wear white shirts,

and the preppy rich kid, the cool kids, would wear white shirts and the preppy, you know, rich kid, the cool kids would wear white shirts with the polo guy. Ralph Lauren, is that the polo? Yeah, yeah. I'm doing my best Zach Morris impersonation. Where's your phone? The brick phone. Yeah, that's it. Fast time along. You're here just in time, actually. Glad you're here. Thanks again for the coffee. I want to start the show before we dive into the nitty-gritty of the Canadian sports media landscape, I just want to start by wishing Darren Dutition well. Dutchie, it was announced yesterday, he's fighting cancer, so he's taking a little time off to do that. And I just want to wish Dutchie well.

Absolutely. And Mark, I know you echo those sentiments because we just finished. I do. When I first saw it, I know you echo those sentiments because we just finished. I do. When I first saw it, I just was pretty upset. You know, good guy, been around for a long time. And you never would wish that on anybody. So he's a fighter. You know, he's got in some scraps, you know,

he's not getting back down. So I think that he'll be able to beat this. And we're all, we're all hoping for the best. You know, he's a Canadian sports casting legend. He's been on the air for many, for decades. Yes. Yeah. Late night, you know. Very recognizable. Good guy, Dutchie, Darren Dutition.

So get well soon, Dutchie. And, you know, Dutchie at TSN there. There's so much ground we're going to cover, so we're going to go pretty quickly here. And Milan, just so you know, Hebsey's got a hard out in 90 minutes. Don't say it that way. How should I say it? Tell me the

nomenclature. Yeah, I thought I was on time. Milan, we're almost done here. Ready for the finale? So I want to open... The important news is that Hebsey find a new barber or dentist. Hebsey does look like he just came out of the barber chair. But we got that story on Hebsey on Sports last week.

It was quite the story, actually, the story of Hebsey's haircut. That was fantastic. Decided he was going to declare that he wasn't vaxxed after he'd cut my hair. It was sort of an afterthought. Why would he mention that to you? I don't know. What can I tell you? He's out of the picture now.

He just wants you to know he's an anti-vaxxer, but of course that's well out. Yeah, you got to declare that up front here. Milan, are you fully vaxxed before we continue this conversation?

Absolutely. Is that a personal question I can answer that though? Are you Steve Simmons now? What is this? I don't think it's a personal question. We're going to get,

okay, let's start with this actually. For sure. Since we're talking about vaccination stats, I was going to go in a different direction because TSN, I was going to bring it to Landsberg, but we're going to get back to Landsberg. We're going to start with the vaccination status of Blue Jay, sometimes play-by-play,

sometimes analyst, Buck Martinez. Hebsey broke this story. Full credit to Hebsey. Hebsey broke the story. What a story. Well, come on. I got, come on. Is it really a story?

Really? It's a story because it means, I believe it's a story because that means Buck Martinez can't come to this country without, is he allowed even in the country? But if he comes, he has to go for 14 days. What's the rule? I don't know.

Okay. But it changes the rules for when he crosses the border into the country where the team he covers plays home games. Doesn't look like he's going to be crossing the border. Right. So he calls games from home, right? Would be his choice. You don't think this is a significant story that Buck Martinez is not vaccinated and

doesn't want to get vaccinated? In the grand scheme of things, is this a big story? Like, in other words, does it have a real effect? Is he doing a competent job in Florida? Yeah, because we're used to it. And because, let's face it, it's not that tough to sit somewhere and look off a monitor and go, there's a... And if he's a half second behind the play,

you're watching going, how come he doesn't say anything? And then that's a technological thing. But I mean, this is the way it is. I mean, I'll bet you that you could watch, let's say, 10 different events in the next week, and you wouldn't know if the people were on site or not because they're so good at it now. And I told you this on my podcast.

For years, I was watching Andreas Kantor do the biggest games in world soccer, the biggest, biggest games. And I'm thinking, this this dude like univision or telemundo or whatever he was working for was flying this guy to the like to the event and then i find out he's sitting in a huge studio in miami right he's never been to the stadia before he's sitting in the studio different right but he's been doing it for years they mix the audio with it and you're and as far as the viewer is concerned, he is there, right?

And so it's not that hard to do. Hebs, he's doing a competent job, but as your buddy Motor City Doug Schmidt would say. And you put buddy in ironic air quotes. Yeah. Who? We'll do an investigative look into it. He doesn't know. He's not familiar with the work of Doug Schmidt.

Doug who, right? look into it. He doesn't know. He's not familiar with the work of Doug Smith. Doug who, right? You know, I think a lot would argue that could you do a better job when you're in the stadium though? Slam dunk, of course you would do a better job in the stadium. Of course. Absolutely you can because you'll see

things that are out of the range of any camera. But you'll also have a feel for what's going on that the person not sitting there just doesn't. You can tell if the mood is changing. You can tell if there's, you know, jabbering going on. You have an actual sense. And then you, you, the cameras can only show so much. The announcer has to enhance that by saying, you know, let's, you know, you can't see it

or it's out of range or, oh, I just saw this happen. You know, a couple of times I've watched the games and they've cut away. Like there's something is about to happen. Like the end of an inning, let's say there's going to be a high five and then they've cut away. Like there's something is about to happen. Like the end of an inning, let's say, there's going to be a high five. And then they'll cut away to the pitcher walking off the mound, which has nothing to do with it. And then the lower third is the score as they go to commercial. Right.

And it almost seems to be a delay almost sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. And so I always thought, boy, you know, as a fan, I want to see more stuff that's going on in the dugout. I want to see more stuff that's going on on the field after the play. I don't need to see the crowd shots. This is where I really want to see how the players are reacting.

Because back in the day, they never high-fived each other ever on the field after a play. Baseball just wasn't like that. Now, they're all doing this stuff. And this is where guys like Joe Siddle are so great because they come out and say, Now, look here. Anthony Rizzo is trying to bait, trying to draw Vladdy off first base by having a conversation with him, by having fun with him. And then boom, they tried to pick him off.

I love that stuff. Right. And so it's much harder. Like Joe had to really be watching, but he's not calling play-by-play. He's watching for certain things that he knows that the viewer at home can't see. Right. Joe Siddle. So he's almost at an advantage because what Buck and Pat can't see

or aren't looking at necessarily because they're calling the play-by-play or looking at their notes, Joe is looking for stuff. You didn't see this, you didn't see that, but here's what happened after the play. So is this the end of Buck? I think so.

Who's the Blue Jays play-by-play crew in 2020? What do you say, Mr. Hebbshire? Well, I think, look, Shulman can negotiate his own deal. If next year there's no issues with COVID, then Shulman will say, well, here's the schedule. I'll take this,

I'll take whatever this many days off in the summertime, spend time with my family or my vacation or whatever. Here's my obligation to ESPN. I can do 80 games. I can do 100 games, whatever it is.

That's his schedule. Rest of it, I don't know. Okay, because what would you, sorry, sorry, sorry, is. That's his schedule. Rest of it, I don't know. Sorry, Mike. Hebsey, would you rather have a Jamie Campbell doing it live in person, or would you be okay with a Buck doing it from home? No, I don't want the guy from home if there can be

someone in the stadium. Absolutely. How good of a reporter can you be if you're at home? You're detached. You spoke to people on the phone. I spoke to Charlie Montoyo on the phone as opposed to, I was two feet from Charlie Montoyo when he smashed something on his desk and screamed or whatever. You're not there. So you have to depend on your sources who are there to tell you what was going on, to give you a feel. And that's way too much work. Just put someone there. Now, what if in 2022 season, what if there's a rule at the Rogers Center that you need to show your vaccination passport, as we call it,

but you need to prove that you're fully vaxxed in order to enter the stadium? Like, that could be a rule in 2022, right? Then Buck can't, unless Buck changes his mind, because it sounds like this unvaccination, according to Hebsey, is his choice.

Like he's chosen not to get this vaccine. Well, isn't the new rule as of September 13th, that's just for fans, but I, I wouldn't be surprised. No, it has to be.

It has to be. I'm pretty sure, look, Major League Baseball players have gotten some type of an exemption in that the team has to be whatever, 85% vaccine, that type of a thing. They're covered by the union. They're covered by the union. They're covered by the union,

that whole thing. But I just think in someone like Buck's case, what would make someone change their mind? I saw a really good thread on Twitter the other day, and I don't remember who it was by. It was, I believe a, um,

uh, a liberal. I don't even know what the, what the designation, but it was a politician, I think in Alberta, but it was interesting. She said, you know, my mother smoked for for years she knew about all the signs right she

still smoked right her friends started dying in their 50s of lung cancer she still smoked right um this happened that happened but she still smoked um but once once they put the non-smoking signs up for and the malls and in the bingo parlors and generally in restaurants, right. She couldn't go out and be herself anymore. She couldn't be a, you know, get dressed up and that type of a thing.

And only then did she quit because she was denied access. And if you deny access, then the person that says, well, you've got your choice. You can just not go to restaurants, bars, whatever it is, across the borders. Right? Or you can change because you don't want to have your access denied.

Simple. Real simple. Right. Now, fast time alone. What do you think? I mean, the Blue Jays are on a run right now. And the playoff odds. One week ago, I had an episode of Hebsey on Sports,

and I think Hebsey said we have to sweep Oakland or whatever, and then we swept them, and then we swept the Yankees, and now look at this. It's like a 50% chance of making the play. Unbelievable. What do you think of the coverage, of the Blue Jays' coverage? Well, I mean, I'm glad that they finally have a radio announcer. Ben Wagner, who's doing a great job, by the way,

just doing the game solo, but it would be nice if... But he's not even at the games. He's not at the games. Only the home games. And that's what my fear is, is that is this going to become more of a permanent thing? Sure it is. Howard Berger was reporting a couple of weeks ago that the Leafs are going to do the same thing.

Oh, yeah, that's old news. They decided that last year. Wow. They decided it last year. Wait, wait, wait, what is the news? Bowen's going to own the home games. Only home games. They decided that last year. Wow. They decided it last year. Wait, wait, wait. What is the news? Bowen's going to own games. Only own games.

So they don't travel. No, they will not travel. That's right. Is that a COVID thing or a money? I think it's a combination of both. I think it's a convenient excuse that COVID. But let's face it. Joe is in his 70s.

Ralphie has got to be 60. I don't know. And maybe whether it has anything or doesn't have anything to do with it, and I'm not going to speculate as to who is or who isn't vaccinated, but if the job can be done

by not being there, then you would have to explore that if you were trying to save nickels, pennies, and dollars. It's expensive to send two people on the road. It was a, they announced like Mike Hogan. I can't remember who it was.

A couple of Argos play by play guys. They were told you're going to just do home games. And there was like outrage. I remember at the time, maybe we weren't, we needed COVID is like a gateway drug. We all just agreed a few minutes ago that the fan, the listener,

the viewer is being ripped off. Right. Yeah. Yep. So then I get saving pennies and nickels and this, but again, it's like what we had spoken about, I think, in previous episodes is that, you know, you're spending hundreds of millions of dollars on this team,

signing big free agents and everything, and then you're cutting corners on, you know, spending millions of, tens of millions of dollars on a home and then cutting corners on the basement washroom. But nobody's outraged, though, Milan. I think there is outrage. Nobody's outraged enough to do something about it. And so if you're running a company, it's like, you know what it's like?

It's like the bee that's flying around here. It's a bit of a pest, but it's not stopping you from doing it. Yeah, and it's not stinging you. It's not stinging you, so it's like, yeah, you know. It's annoying. And I just think that if I'm running a business, unless there was, unless people, look, unless season ticket holders, people were threatening to take their sponsorships away. He said, listen, this is the cost of doing business.

Now, if I said to you, would you rather have George Springer or would you rather have Ben Wagner go on the road? That's strange. That's costy. You got a choice. Okay? You can't spend your money here or you can spend your money there. But you can't have both.

Almost the same amount of money, too. But you can't have both. Is this the urban Santana where they're going to hand out the, you know, collect money from the players thing again? Like, it doesn't make sense. I think Ben Wagner's doing a fantastic job, but I think in today's era, especially for broadcasters, you are being asked to do much more than you did before.

Take it from me. I did a show on CHCH TV for almost a decade, okay, called Square Off. They came to me and said, we really would like to bring back Sportsline. Sportsline 2.0 with you and Bubba O'Neill. I went, oh, that's very interesting. Yeah, we'd like to run it at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Sort of like PTI, you know, with the little menu on the side. You and Bubba go back and forth.

I went, yeah, terrific. That sounds great. Okay, how much more are you going to pay? Well, we're not going to pay you any more money. You're here for an eight-hour shift. Wow. You do two shows. Wow.

I go, man, I can do two shows. I can do a mediocre job on one show, and then I can do a mediocre job on the other show, but I'd prefer not to. I'd like to do a really good job on both, but you're stretching me kind of thin there. I'm not going to be super motivated to be, you know, if you're not going to pay me any more money.

Well, that's the way it is. Take it or leave it. Now, did I have other, did I pick up the phone and say, oh, TSN, hi, yeah, it's me. I'm available. Did I call Sportsnet? Did I call Global?

No, because there's nothing available because jobs aren't sitting around waiting. We'll hope EBSI calls. Geez, I hope he gets tired at CHCH. No. So you take it like a man. Okay, you bend over and you take it. And then after a while, you can't take it anymore. And and then shit even more stuff happens to you where you're going i'm not sure if there's

a future working here but that company you're referring to was a clusterfuck oh and you don't think rogers is a clusterfuck they're gonna declare bankruptcy and then start up with a number of company in the ashes oh so okay so yeah they didn't stoop to that level, but instead they just say to somebody, oh yeah, thanks for coming out. We can't, we, you know,

we, we don't want you here anymore. But at least they sever you. Wow. Like if you get fired from Rogers after, I mean, you'll get severance. Well,

you know, wait a second. Hold on. There's a difference. No one's getting fired from Rogers when their contract is up. That's it. There's no severance. So they're all on contract?

Aren't some of them on contract? They're all on contract, they're all on contract aren't they're all on contract they're all on contract man right they're on contract that contracts up at see around look think of the number of people on tsn and sportsnet that you see on camera occasionally not on a regular gig basis but every once in a while you go i mean i think they're not part of a panel show on uh you know cfl on tsn or on raptors games or they're part of the pre and post. I'm talking about somebody that shows up occasionally on the desk. Who the hell is this person?

Hebsey, which other major league team is doing what the Blue Jays are doing when it comes to their broadcast? Of their radio broadcast, none, but that's when the season started. But now many of them still are. In fact, in New York, YES is not sending a crew to do the Mets game because YES is only doing one of the three games. There's more than one network. There's Sports Channel New York.

There's the ESPN, whatever. And so in the Jays' case, it was, listen, unless people are really screaming bloody murder. Which they aren't, Merlon. They're not. Because every time Hemsley does that, we're Canadians. Because we're Canadians. But then why did they bring Wagner back and stop the simulcast for the radio?

I think there was enough pushback. Well, no, there was for the radio to have for the radio? I think there was enough pushback. Well, no, there was for the radio to have a separate radio coverage. That's a whole different story. That's right. You know that listening to Buck and Pat try to describe the game when you can't see it is ridiculous.

Yes. In fact, the other night when I came back from the soccer game, I'm listening, I walk home, I'm trying to get the fan on an app, which I can't. No, no, they blacked out right so i'm like okay i'll just listen to the sportsnet coverage i had no idea i'm listening to it right

it's in my pocket i'm not watching as i'm walking yeah that's the work and i hear and i hear this and i hear uh and i hear oh and then i hear a beat and then i hear a beat and i hear struck him out in a fastball. That was it? Yeah. No, I believe it. You know, the bases were fucking loaded and I'm like, ah!

Okay, and forget about matching the score ever. Yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. But again, they're not doing a radio broadcast and that's Roger's fault and that's all that. But they fixed that. But they half rectified it by saying, okay, Ben, you're back,

but we're not going to send you on the road. Right, right. And even so, his calls of road games are very good. Yes. So shout out to Ben Wagner doing a great job here. Before I leave the Buck thing, and I know I'm not, I'm just, I'm just interested in, I'm fascinated because my friend and colleague, Mark Hebbshire breaks this story. And then I don't hear anything about it anywhere else.

Breaks the story. Well, it's true. You had the inside source that fed you the info and you shared it on your show and then I shared it on my show. So why is the buck not being vaccinated and not wanting to be vaccinated? Why is that not a story? Like, why

is that nowhere? Not even Steve Simmons is touching this one. Like, why is that one out of Because nobody cares about Buck Martinez. No. They don't. Yeah, I think that's what it is. No one cares. Yeah. They don't.

He's not. First of all, Hebsie should take a bow. That was breaking news. He doesn't live here. Right? He's not ingrained in the community. He works here. He used to work here before COVID.

Every once in a while. Well, 82 games or whatever. He's a prominent name. I mean, he's a former manager of the Jays. He played for many years. Don't get me wrong. We love him. He's an analyst for Shulman.

We're all in love with him. For many years. He's a name, but like you said, there's no outrage about it. There's no outrage? Was he Vin Scully? Oh, my God, we can't lose him. There's no outrage because most people don't know about it because, I mean, not everybody is listening to Hebsey on Sports and Toronto Mike.

Again, what's the difference? If he's doing a passable job and people are like, you know, are not outraged saying, we don't want Buck. What's the big deal? And let's face it. And the team is winning. And the team is winning. Here's the thing. Like I told you before, if they're smart smart they just wouldn't show buck and pat in a

box with the name of their hometown underneath but then we'd be screaming at them for no you would be no you would be screaming but any anyone that's tuned in knows that i'd rather they be honest about they are honest why do they have to every single night they have to show it why not just in that regard they're damned if they do they're damned no the other thing is that even when they're introducing they have to go now let's join our broadcast crew

it's in Florida no it's it's let's join Buck and Pat meanwhile you got two guys in New York standing on the field

talking to each other right but can't be part of the broadcast like like wouldn't it be great if they was and you know

hey Pat I don't know what's going on let's go to Arash Madani is there I can see him on camera sitting in the Yankee he's in the photographer's bay next to the dugout there he is right there Arash can you hear me oh yeah Buck I can how's the weather in Florida Buck

you got a tornado there in Ohio hey here at Yankee Stadium the weather's beautiful those are raindrops you're seeing by the way and like you know that's the other thing was Buck oh it looks like it's raining in New York what the fuck is that like what is it looks like it's raining in New York. What the fuck is that? Like, what is that? Look like it's raining in New York. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Maybe if you had someone in New York say, by the way, Buck, it's raining here. Right. But come on. You just. So, so, so I'm not saying try to deceive the viewer. No, don't.

What I'm saying to you is, is that don't make it so obvious so that people can go, what the hell is he doing in Florida? Just sort of let it happen organically. And if someone goes, is he at the ballpark or not? Then fine. But if not, don't bring it to someone's attention. Go under the radar with that idea that you're not there. Hey, Buck, what's it been like being away from the team for the last 342 days?

Don't bring it up. Just let him call the game. And then at the end of the season go, okay, we can do that again next year? Hebsey's right. What's going on right now? Bucks and Pat are doing a passable job. That's absolutely right. Yeah. I mean, come on.

And they're winning. You can't blame them for it. That's a recent phenomenon. They're winning. It wasn't that long ago when we were done. But tell me it's not odd that Pat has been to Toronto twice for two different series. To work in the booth with Dan. Yeah.

But then when he's working with Buck, they're both somewhere. That's got to be a... It doesn't make sense. And Mike, you were the one who said they're not going to split them up. There's no way they're going to have one guy at the ballpark and the other guy somewhere else. They sent Pat home. Because it's one thing when Dan's there as well calling the game, but they can't. I think there's an actual audio reason, like synchronizing things and everything.

They need them like, you're either both there or you're not, neither are there. I wouldn't be surprised to see a brand new team next year in addition to Dan Schulman. You know, they're trying Ricky Romero out a little bit. I think they're kind of auditioning him as sort of the color guy. I'd love to see a Dan Schulman in a little

bit, you know, where he can't do games. Matt Devlin could even fill in. Matt's good. Matt's a pro broadcaster, man. He did some good J.K. I know it's a busy schedule for him. Showman writes his own ticket. He's going to call what he wants from where he wants, and then everything kind of domino effects off of that.

Yeah. And listen, I'm sure Dan loves all the action and all that, but he's got young kids too. And I don't know. I think Dan's about in his mid-50s, I'm going to say, maybe in his early 50s, whatever. But it's like, yeah, man, I like to work, but

man, I don't want to pass up spending time with my kids. And he's doing that second marriage thing where you want to make it work. And also, too, he's got a nice sweet deal with ESPN where it's like, do I want to be? If I'm Dan, I'm like, you know, I'll do 70 Jays games.

Right. And I'm going to cherry pick. Right? I'll do these games at home. I'll be home then with my family. But you've got a built-in roster. Yeah. You know, and Joe Siddles really ramped up his game.

Joe's really good. Yeah, he's been great since he appeared on Toronto Mike last summer. Was that the turning point? But here's the thing. He's underused. He's underused. You don't see him enough during the game and hear enough during. turning point? But here's the thing. He's underused. He's underused. You don't see him enough during the game

and hear enough during... I want to hear that during the game. I like that. But if you can't be at the game, broadcasting the game, it's a little more difficult. I got to...

Shame on you, Rogers. You cheap fucks. Raise your game. We don't want passable. Did you know he's going to work blue today? Is that the first time? He's with me.

Drop the F-bomb. He's passionate. Look, I got so much ground to cover, and we got 90 minutes to do it. So I want to ask you, why did I call you Fast Time Milan? Where does the nickname Fast Time come from? It's the name of our company. Been in business for over 40 years, providing quality watch and jewelry repairs, Fast Time watch and jewelry repair.

Proud affiliation with Toronto Mike for a number of years now. Yeah, a one-time sponsor. What have you done for me lately? Wow. Now with COVID and everything, is everything open now? Absolutely. So where are the near, I know Richmond Hill has the location you hang out at.

The GTA, yeah. We have locations all across Ontario. All open, no appointment necessary, and yeah. What's the website again? If somebody has that watch repair they need, they need the battery or they have a jewelry they have to get repaired, what is that URL? Watch, oh sorry, FastTime. You should know this, come on.

Yeah, I should know this. FastTimeWatchRepair.com FastTimeWatchRepair.com Always a pleasure to have you on the show. I have stuff, like you came all this way. I got some stuff for you guys right off the top here, and then we're going to get into the radio side of things, and I got a Macauan and a Vendetta, and, my goodness, we'll get to Landsberg.

So much to cover here. But I have, there's a new sponsor of Toronto Mike, ChefDrop. And if you go to ChefDrop.ca, you can see all the restaurants and the top chefs that are affiliated with this meal kit delivery business. They deliver to anyone in the GTH A and that's both of you guys.

So they're going to actually email you a $75 digital gift card that you can use at chefdrop.ca and Milan I know you're a vegetarian. I was on that website yesterday. You did? Some wonderful vegetarian options. That's outstanding.

Meal kits for you. Yeah. So they're going to take care of you. Hebsey, you're going to eat well with that, my friend. 75 bucks there. And listeners, you get 20% off right now if you use the promo code FOTM20. So try this great, great new food delivery service. Chef Drop.

Go to chefdrop.ca. Use the promo code FOTM20. And I know, Milan, this won't be good enough for you because of the vegetarian aspect, but Hebsey, you're not leaving here today without a large meat lasagna from Palma Pasta. It's frozen. It's in my freezer. That's yours to take home.

Thank you. And there's fresh beer from Great Lakes Brewery. We got Toronto Mike stickers from Sticker U. You guys are going to be well taken care of. It was worth the drive. Glad to see you both. Let's talk radio for a moment here. Let's start by talking about Bob McCowan really quickly because since our last Sports Media Roundtable,

Bob McCowan made some noise that he was going to be his show was on 960. Do you know the station, 960? Saga 960? Yeah, yeah. Can you hear it outside of Brampton? Come on now, come on.

I have been told that there's many programs on that station with people with anti-vax views and they believe COVID's a hoax, et cetera. So there's definitely an interesting angle going on there. But that didn't last long. McCowan's podcast did not air on 960 very long. It was gone very, very, very quickly.

But Hebsey, you were telling me earlier that McCowan's making noise about another announcement. Do you know anything about what's going on with Bob McCowan? You know, here's the thing. With Twitter, for example, it's very rare that I will go to someone and check out their entire feed. There are a couple people that I'll say, you know, what's he been tweeting? But McCowan isn't one of them.

He doesn't tweet very much. And when he does, it's sort of just to promote his, you know, show that day. And so I'm not someone like that. Whereas, you know, there's a few other people where it's like, oh, I got to, you know, like Rob Longley. Like I'll check Rob because he tweets fairly often, but it's certainly if it's Blue Jay season. Right.

I know that if I go through Rob's, you know, timeline, I'm going to get some good stats and some good, you know, talk to Charlie Montoya. He said this about Springer. We're going to watch him run the bases, like stuff like that. Right. But so my Cowans know, so I'm not aware that Bob is making noise. Is he going to be the new afternoon drive host on the fan 590?

Is he? No, McCowan. Yeah. Izzy isn't going to be, I don't think Izzy's going to be. Is he, is he,

is he straddling or who is it? Is he Adler? I don't, but again, I don't, he's, I know he's got his, his podcast,

his daily podcast and all that, but, but I don't know. I have no idea. I've been listening to, like I listened this morning to, the new morning show on TSN 1050. So is this the official replacement for Landsberg and Kuliakov? What does official mean?

Like they've usually, in fact, it's all going to come together here. They were knighted as the new morning show? Greg Brady was like a replacement for Mike Stafford on AM640, Global News Radio. And then this week, it sort of, on Tuesday, kind of announces that this is the new show. Like, I'm now your new permanent. So Greg Brady's on.

Toronto Today, yeah. Toronto Today on 640. Was there a similar type announcement on TSN that there's a new morning show there? No, not that I know of. Who is, maybe start by telling me, who the hell is the new morning show on 10th and 15th? Well, I mean, maybe I'm wrong.

I don't know if it's a new morning show. I haven't been listening. Apparently no one else has either. But I mean, I don't know. I've heard different people on that show. I've flipped on. I don't know. But today, and I'm going to assume they've been on all week and they're on permanently or until they announce a new

morning team. It was Aaron Karolnik and Dave Festchuk. They were pretty good. I think I was lots to talk about too, because they did what I did. They watched the same stuff on TV. I watched last night, right? They watched the Jays, Yankees. They watched Leila Annie Fernandez.

They watched the NFL beginning of the NFL season, the Brady, you know, against the Dallas big finish there. So, but they were engaging, you NFL beginning of the NFL season, the Brady against the Dallas, big finish there. But they were engaging. On the other station, on the fan, it was the same two guys, right? Scotty Mack and Mike Zigamanis. And they had some baseball, but then they

came off commercial and they're like, let's welcome Penny Oleksiak. And I'm like, what's she going to tell me? A great swimmer. But I mean, come on. But not a guest on a morning drive radio. If she won the gold last night, yeah, great stuff. But I mean, come on.

Like how relevant is talking to Penny Oleksiak right now? Do you put any stock from your experience of, you know, some of the summer co-hosts that they had rotation or was it just just, you know. I don't even know who they were. They had Julie Stewart Binks on co-hosting. She's a lightweight. You know, with.

Who? Julie Stewart? They put her on because she's a woman. Really? Whoa. Oh, yeah. Whoa. Whoa.

Whoa. MC, why don't you just drop another bomb on us? Come on. You know it's one of the morning. They're all looking for diversity. Come on. They're looking for diversity. I've had a morning so far. They're all looking for diversity. Come on. They're looking for diversity. I've had this since 920.

Should I have stayed in traffic? No, this is good stuff. I thought there was a missed opportunity, if I'm just going to add here, and I don't know how strong the rumors were about Greg Rady taking over the program director as the fan. I thought that was a great opportunity.

Not as program director. Hebsey's got good insight on this. No, he wasn't. Nobody wants that job. You don't want to be the program director. I thought's got good insight on this. No, he wasn't. Nobody wants that job. You don't want to be the program director. I thought Greg could have added real insight. You know, sort of a player coach, sort of almost. Player coach?

Like Pete Rose. Like you're talking about morning man slash program director? Well, you know, maybe not. That's one foot in the grave right there. Once they make you both, man, you're going to work so hard. You're going to work so hard. You're going to work so hard. You get a nice severance, though. Yeah, great.

But you'll be six feet under. You'll be six feet under, though. You can't spend it when you're dead, right? That's exactly right. You can't spend it. Trust me when I tell you that. I wanted to make more money. Every time was more money.

After a while, it's like, wait a second. I can't. I mean, I can make it. I can spend it. I'll be dead. My stress level's gone way up. I got all this work to do now. What role was he?

I got way more work to do now than i ever did before remember when it was like i love going to work i do my three-hour air shift whatever you know i prep when i want to as long as i'm ready to be on the air now it's like dude you're there for eight hours and you're working every second doing stuff you never did before someone else's job you're doing someone else's job for them because their job doesn't exist anymore who is the program director at five 90 right now? I don't even know the guy's name. Yeah.

He's a new guy after Don Collins. Yeah. I don't even know. Yeah, no, no. It's after what's his name? It was after,

uh, Dale Cadeau, not Dave Cadeau, Dale Cadeau. I hope you're listening. Shout out to Dale Cadeau. Dave Cadeau. I think Greg,

Greg Sansoni is the top cheese. And then the guy that they hired to be the program director is also the program director for the other Rogers sports stations in Canada. Okay, so we don't know this gentleman's name, but Hebsey, on your program, Hebsey on Sports, you were speculating about Greg Brady and the Fan 590. What's your insight there? Well, the insight there is that Greg would love to be,

as he was before on a couple of other occasions, drive the mornings at the Fan 590, Sportsnet 590, the Fan. But he signed a deal with AM640 to be their morning man. And I think Greg believes that in three to five years, the morning show at the Fan will be available and that he would be able to perhaps step into that role. Will there still be a fan 590 in three to five years? Well, how do we know?

With the way AIM Sports radio is done. But listen, you can't, if you're Greg, you can't be waiting around for the ideal situation. Of course not. You take what you can get. And if it's a better deal and there's more security and you've got a family to raise, whatever. And then when the time comes, you know, if the time comes, it's like, well, you know, who are we going to get now? This isn't working.

The ratings aren't there. Do you see wholesale changes coming up, like potentially Macau in the afternoon maybe? No. What about Mike Richards in the morning? No. Any possibility of Mike Richards in the morning? No.

You guys labor under the misconception that this morning show is a big deal, that the traditional radio model is you get as many as you can on your morning show, and then the funnel system allows you to take those listeners from the morning and funnel them during the course of the day. And hopefully at night they're listening to, or on the way home, they're listening to that station. So when they get up in the morning and turn their car engine over, the station they were last listening to is on in the morning.

It's all that type of thing. There's some truth to that, right? There is and there isn't. Here's the thing. If TSN radio can survive, it's not going to be able to survive because its afternoon show is drawing big numbers and making huge, you know, people are spending a fortune, you know, to get advertising on that show.

It's got to come from the morning show. And unfortunately, sports radio morning shows, by and large, just don't generate enough revenue. They just don't. It's rare, all right? So where are these guys making their revenue from? They should be selling ads in the podcasts, right? I mean, I can't listen to all of Overtime, but I'll listen to the podcast. I'll listen to at least an hour of the podcast. I don't hear any ads inserted into the podcast. Well, that's a loss of revenue.

So people still haven't figured it out yet. Why do you think people are listening to my podcast? They know when it is. They can get it anytime, anytime, in whatever format they want to get it in. Sure, on demand. They're going to get commercial free, with the exception of when we start talking. But they're live reads. But these are live reads and they're part of the commercial free with the exception of when we start talking but they're live reads and more importantly they're going to get completely bullshit free

I mean I have no agenda I don't work for the team I don't have any favors I don't have asses to kiss or anything like that and let's face it I want to hear somebody that's going to tell the truth and has some knowledge there as opposed to somebody that's and coming up on the show and by the way welcome somebody that's being... And coming up on the show, and by the way, welcome to the Sportsnet 590. Coming up on the show,

Sportsnet's Joe Blow joins us, followed by Sportsnet's blah, blah, blah. I mean, it's all... It's a whole family affair. It's incestuous. And on TSN, the same thing, and why not? Because you've got your hockey expert. Look, let's bring in Chris Johnston. Oh, he's not our hockey

expert anymore. Let's bring in Nick Kiprios. Oh, he's not our hockey expert anymore. Let's bring in... Oh, he Chris Johnston. Oh, he's not our hockey expert anymore. Oh, we'll get to that. Let's bring in Nick Kiprios. Oh, he's not our hockey expert anymore. Let's bring in, oh, he's, Glenn Ely. He's not our hockey expert anymore. Let's just systematically get rid of as many hockey experts as you need to because how many hockey experts do you need? But the morning show on a sports radio station is still a key revenue driver. No, because nobody wants to listen to that

because there's too many commercials. Nobody wants to listen to that because the discussion's going to end prematurely. We've got to go for a six-minute commercial cluster because we've got to get the news. We've got to get traffic. We've got to get the spots in. Okay? The way to go is, listen. Don't listen to it live. I mean, if you can, great, and you're in your car. Listen to the podcast

of it because it's not time sensitive in the morning. It's not like, oh, I have to listen to this at 6.48 in the morning. You can listen to it at 10 in the morning i'm finding in the afternoon yeah i'm definitely finding myself doing that more you know if i'm listening in the morning time at home i'll and george rossick or someone's talking about sports gambling at seven in the morning i have no interest in that i will go back to that before you know listen to shulman's uh you know 10 minute bite or steven brunt Brunt from the day before or something like that. Wow.

So because we're talking about Hebsey bombs, and he's dropping a couple more on this episode, another Hebsey bomb that I was witness to on Hebsey on Sports is regarding Joey Vendetta. Now, I don't think people, most people know by now that Vendetta had a show on the weekends on 590 and then he sent what i would call a tone deaf uh insensitive tweet on canada day something to the effect of like if you don't like it get out because there's a bunch of people who would love to take your spot or something and then that caused uh quite the kerfuffle and he ended up having to delete it and apologize and then he was no longer on weekends but hebsey your bomb was that they were considering joey vendetta as the new morning show on the fan 590 i don't know i don't think the morning show i could be wrong there but i can

tell you for a fact that joey had a spot in that lineup he was in and you mean like from the morning like the real lineup that pays actual money is morning show to afternoon drive. Not the weekend. I don't know which one it was. Okay. But Joey was going to have his own show. Because Joey's got great contacts. Yeah.

He can lay his hands on just about anybody in the sports and the music and entertainment business. And people want to hear stuff like that. They do. They want to hear, you know, what does Kevin Durant have to say about the Toronto Maple Leafs? But you just said you hated Penny Oleksiak being on in the morning show because she's a great swimmer, but Penny... So you're saying some athletes are entertaining on the radio

while others are not, and you just want to hear from, like, Kevin Durant, for example. Well, wouldn't you? Like, if I said, hey, I'm going to bring on six athletes, they're all boring, but they're big names. No, I wouldn't listen. Or I could bring in one athlete that maybe isn't as big a name, but he's engaging.

No, I think Gretzky on TNT is going to be a clusterfuck. See, I disagree. I think he's going to be great, and I'll tell you why. Oh, Wayne Gretzky? I'll tell you why. Who's got the charisma of, you know, a dead rat. See, but that's what you say. You think he's good.

Oh, no. Because you've never seen him in an environment, in any other environment. I saw him on Young and Restless. That was enough. Oh, yeah. I won't even dignify that. I won't even dignify that with an answer.

He hosts this at an innate live one. But I'll tell you this right nowify that with an answer but I'll tell you this right now but I'll tell you this right now I've been with him when he's had a couple of scotches in him and I'm telling you right now he's a funny guy way funnier than you think but when you have to live up to the great one thing and Walter taught him

and Phyllis his mother taught him and he knew you've got to be super super humble and if that means boring or dull or whatever, just don't offend anybody. And Wayne Gretzky is the greatest in the world at being a non-offensive. Right? Which is kind of boring, to Milan's point. Which is fine. He's a great player.

But you can't have everything. You can't be the most charismatic player and the best player, I guess. But here's the thing. Charles Bark guess. But here's the thing. Charles Barkley. But here's the thing. Nobody expects anything from Gretzky. So I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised because what's going to happen is that they're not going to come

anywhere close to putting him on the air live until he's done many, many, many auditions. And if that means going away for the weekend to a cabin with whoever his mates are going to be on the desk or the Ernie and Shaq and Kenny Smithles well that's the model they will not believe me and i tell and they're not going to put huge pressure on and i'm like okay wayne what do you think they're going to say okay wayne you and mess or whoever it is are going to battle this out or whatever they're not going to put him in any position where people are going to go focus you

ever boring they just won't and the other thing is what you think wayne's going to say just do whatever you want with me? He knows what his strengths and weaknesses are. He wouldn't have taken the job if he didn't think that he could add something to it. Is it going to be as the great one, blah, blah, blah? No, they're going to pay him a lot of money to be Wayne Gretzky. Wayne, when you played, who was the toughest? Tell me a story about blah, blah, blah.

He's not going to start jumping on people going, oh, this guy was a prick. He was an asshole. He was a jerk no he won't but even if he reveals a little bit which he never revealed before it's going to be gold

it's going to be nuggets let me tell you the story about Glenn Sather did I ever tell you this story or someone's going to say to him tell us the Glenn Sather story about you and Messier and Tikkanen and whatever

and now and they lead him to the story and they've rehearsed this already Canadian legend great hockey player I don't want him on TV, though. But the thing is, you're not giving him a chance. You're giving, no.

No, no, you're not giving. I think we've seen him enough. No, no, you haven't, though. This is a US audience. You're talking from a Canadian audience. Listen to me. You haven't seen him enough. Speak and be engaging and be a part of a discussion

and conversation with multiple people. You've never seen it. And now in his 60s, he's going to turn on the light now? No, again, you've never met it. And now in his 60s, he's going to turn on the light now all of a sudden? No. Again, you've never met him before, so you don't know. The guy's funny. It's true.

Hebsey has actually met the man. No, I've not only met him. I've been with him. I'm telling you. I'm telling him and the whole family. I've heard the same thing about Ross Atkins. No, you haven't. Ross Atkins isn't Wayne Gretzky.

Stop it. Just stop. I'm saying I've heard what a great, engaging guy he is when you're having coffee with him. Milan. I've heard that too. Stop it. Yeah. I don't want to hear his interviews though who's talking about interviews though you see i interviewed him many times it was not a great interview but i interviewed him a couple times where he was much better than i thought and surprised me with his insight and with his just being engaging i asked him once between periods of a game where he's sweating

all over me i said what athlete would you pay to watch and he didn't hesitate he says bo jackson and this is when bo was in his prime in the early 90s the nike contract but yeah but what happened was but what happened was gretzky could not get over right how exciting and entertaining this guy was and how enamored he was by bo jackson and when he articulated it to me between periods of a broadcast i was like this is not something that wayne gretzky is known for doing and certainly not in the middle of a game where he's like deer in the headlights like well we're gonna try our best and give it another shot and you know blah blah and that's what most people think about wayne gretzky and i'm telling you right now they would never put him on the air to fail he is not going on the show to fail i hope you're right i love no i know i'm right there's no way i'm with you there's no way that way they would risk it no way that they would risk you know the one time i I love Wayne Gretzky. No, I know I'm right. There's no way that they would risk it.

No way that they would risk that. You know, the one time I remember Wayne Gretzky being interesting was the Olympics, right? When he said he was hot. Was that Salt Lake City? Was it Salt Lake City or whatever? Nagano? Was it after?

I don't think it was Nagano. I think it might have been Salt Lake City. But he says, I'm hot. And he kind of went off on, I guess Canadians were down on the team because they lost a game in the round robin or something to Sweden. I can't remember the details anyway. They ended up winning gold in Salt Lake City. But Gretzky, that was like the only time I remember Gretzky was interesting

because he actually had some emotion and said something. I hope you're right, Hebsey. I'll be watching to find out. Proof is in the pudding. And listen, people will be critical. But again, the expectation is, oh my God, he's just going to be,

not going to add anything. And I'm telling you, however they do it, they've got this planned out. He is not, he's not set up to fail here. If they feel he can't handle a certain part, they're going to dial back

and say, okay, we'll get our feet wet a little bit. You know what I mean? We don't expect you to go, okay, Wayne,

commentary, two minutes, go. It's not going to be like that. No, I'm not expecting him to be Shaq or Barkley. Right. But, yeah, because you can't just okay, Wayne, commentary, two minutes, go. It's not going to be like that. No, I'm not expecting him to be Shaq or Barkley. Yeah, because you can't just

simply change your spots. But Hebsey, I mean, the demographic that they're it's not Canadian sports fans. TNT's paying them a lot of money to bring American audiences to tune in. I don't think he's got enough of a... He's got the name though. He's the most famous hockey player to Americans. Wasn't that Arizona's

theory when they made him coach? Listen, man. Paid him $8 million a year. How did that do? Listen, man. Your expertise is jewelry and repair. And his expertise is something different. You've got every right to say that you're not looking forward to it.

But I'm speaking from a fan's perspective. No, you're speaking from your perspective. Not every fan. Your expectations are extremely, extremely, extremely low. Yes. Yes.

You expect him to be, and okay, Wayne, thanks for that, Mr. Hockey. And I'm telling you, because I've been in the television business before,

and I don't know these executives personally, that there is no way that they're going to fuck this up. There's no way they're going to put him on the air and let him sink or swim. This sounds like a soundbite. They're going to provide him with enough support and they're going to believe me. And I'm not going to say they're going to script it out.

It's not going to be, okay, Wayne, we're just going to wing it. Far from it. Wayne, he's going to start. He's going to do this. He's going to say this. He's going to say this. You're going to go, okay, I agree with you, but I disagree with that. Or however they're going to start he's going to do this he's going to say this he's going to say this you're going to go okay I agree with you but I disagree with that however they're going to do it then we're going to show

a clip then we're all going to have a laugh then you're going to tell the story about you and Messier that's not going to make for great TV there's nothing organic about that whether he's fully scripted and fully protected it's all about context okay I can't tell you what an intermission is going to look like in November on TNT.

You shouldn't either. Just let it happen, man. Just live in the moment, man. Live in the moment instead of worrying, oh my God, I wouldn't have Gretzky. Just chill. Let it happen. And maybe Wayne is really going to enjoy this

way more than he ever enjoyed playing hockey or being interviewed by people like me. Maybe. Mike, help me out here. Well, only the thing is, proof is in the pudding, so I've got to wait to see because you've got to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Fair enough. I don't anticipate he'll be particularly interesting or entertaining. No, people are expecting boring. Like I said, I think he might just surprise you. When we're in the backyard a year from now, we'll see. We'll see. Exactly. We'll pull a clip and say what was Hezzy thinking. I predict

one and done. One season and done. Okay. Now, the big bomb that dropped in Canadian sports media this week is from Chris Johnston. Chris Johnston, until he made this announcement, I had no idea anything was up anywhere. He was a sportsnet guy. He seemed to be

good at his job, hockey insider, blah, blah, blah. And then he announced he was no longer, he's no longer with Sportsnet. And he was doing some, something with like a sports betting site, maybe, that has a some of his writing will appear in the Toronto Star through this

deal he's got. But to either of you, Hebsey, we'll start with you. Do you have any idea why Chris Johnston is no longer at Sportsnet? I would assume it's because he wasn't part of the playoffs, as I recall last year. I don't recall him being part of a panel. Cost-cutting. Yeah, and, you know, look, TSN got rid of Frank Cervelli.

There's only so many insiders. You know, I understand what an insider is, right? You know, you've got the phone numbers or the text, and you can text general managers and scouts, and you know the inside people in hockey. And you're trying to get information out there, speculation for your draft shows and all that. I got it.

But, I mean, how many insiders do you need? Like, you know, ifren drager broke that story right and he broke that story and frank zaravelli broke that story and now it's like look you can't like you can only pick one of these two guys mckenzie is semi-retired so craig button's not an insider but he's the he's a general hockey general manager or whatever they call him a director of scouting for tsn and so at some point you got to go okay well do we need all these analysts now sportsnet has all kinds of them well they have okay they have elliot friedman i guess of scouting for TSN. And so at some point, you've got to go, okay, well, do we need all these analysts? Now, Sportsnet has all kinds of them.

Well, they have Elliot Friedman. I guess he's their top guy. And they have Jeff Merrick over there. He's not an insider, but okay, I got you. So who else? It doesn't seem that... Well, how many do you need? I mean, if Elliot's your number one insider... See, and again, I don't know.

The other thing is that... And I thought Chris Johnson's a very good reporter. But it's And again, I don't know. The other thing is that I thought Chris Johnson's a very good reporter. But it's not like, I don't know, I wasn't like, you know, I gotta hear what CJ has to say on this. It's sort of everybody kind of follows the same. Like, you know what I mean? They're trying to out-scoop each other for, you know, what might be a scoop or might not be a scoop.

Here's what I'm hearing. I'm hearing that the Mitch Marner's camp is doing... Oh yeah, lots of guys. But is it fair to say this is all just we need to uh reduce our uh payroll like these are because because we we don't need a chris johnston therefore let's save this money uh because this was an expensive nhl deal and etc blah blah blah blah i think they realized that once the um chirping had subsided over the Don Cherry firing. And there was none, really. Right.

That really anybody. Yeah. Anybody on that airwaves. Exactly. And if I'm an executive there, I'm going, okay, who are the most popular people here? Let's go. Let's take a list.

Who's our top five most popular people at Sportsnet, right? So Friedman. So Friedman's up there. I don't know if Ron McClain's top five, maybe not top five. Tara Sloan might be part of the top five. Christine Simpson might be part of the top five. David Amber, maybe. David Amber might be part of the top five.

Merrick. Again, so take your top five and say, okay, these people can't be replaced. These people we're keeping. But all the rest, like the panel, like between Anthony Stewart, Jennifer Botterill, Kevin Bieksa, who else did that? You know, Anson Carter I think they had for a while but he's going to probably

go to ESPN and I don't know how many of them are going to be cross pollinated into either Turner or ESPN I know Ray Ferraro

was going full time to ESPN he's going to be an analyst and Eddie Olchek is going to be right but still all these guys

have little freelance things where they can do he won't be doing radio but don't kid yourself Ferraro will still have a presence on TSN. Yeah. For sure. Yep.

Yep. Malone, what do you think about the Chris Johnston departure? No, I think just to add on to that point, I think. You were surprised. Were you surprised? No, not really. Maybe nothing like that. Exactly what Hebsey said.

You know, I mean, Chris Johnston's a terrific reporter, but is he really a name, you know, that's going to cause an outcry? And I thought that, I think the Don Cherry situation was a real turning point when it comes to executives and how they deal with their talent. I remember the Ron McLean.

We all remember the Ron McLean, you know, years and years ago when he was going to leave and the whole fiasco and the public relations at CBC, you know, the hit took. And then they ultimately signed him to a contract. Cherry, crickets, you know, afterward. You know, there was a controversy at the beginning of what he said. Well, there's a certain contingent that's also complaining about vaccinations. Right.

Masks and stuff. You know, and after the Cherry comments, you know, I mean, yes, there was some, you know, controversy about what he said. And then he was off the air. Does anyone talk about Don Cherry anymore? No. Does anyone listen? I don't say anyone, but, you know, it's, and I think that's the same thing. So then good.

I would say much like Mike Wilner, who was surprised to get the call, your services are no longer required. He got the call from Sportsnet, and then he was able to get himself a gig he's quite happy with at the Toronto Star. Chris Johnson, at least when he was notified that his contract was not going to be renewed, he managed to find himself another place to happen. Shout out to the Tragically Hip. And the fact that he will have his writing

in the Toronto Star, it kind of speaks to, I'm guessing that there's a, and Hevzy, maybe you know, maybe the new ownership of the Toronto Star is willing to spend money on sports because they seem to be adding some interesting content to the sports section.

Yeah, I wonder how much they're spending for these guys. I wonder if it's enough to make a decent living, how sporadic it is. I mean, you know, when baseball season is over, is Willner going to be contributing to the star writing baseball stuff? I know that he's gone to some games where he's actually gotten in his own car and driven to Detroit and whatever. Yep, yep.

You know, kind of a thing. He missed TMLX 8 because he was in Detroit. Yeah, and so I don't know. And I don't know what kind of, again, I don't know what kind of money they're offering. I do know that newspapers are bleeding. So, you know, unless the Star's digital platform or subscription has now suddenly made this great turn

where they're once again, you know, the pillar of sports journalism, which I don't think they are anymore. There's just way too many people that they had that they don't have anymore. And they've kind of replaced them with guys who are looking for work and are from a different entity. They're from broadcast journalism, but on the electronic side. But you can write

leads. You've written for websites. It's the same thing. You can write. So there you go. And maybe this bigger part that's going to, it sounds like we'll And maybe this, uh, other, this bigger part that's going to, it sounds like we'll be paying CJ, Chris Johnston's, uh, like mortgage or rent or whatever he's got going on there is this sports gambling part. And maybe that somehow,

uh, pays the star for CJ to be in there. Like we don't know. We're speculating, but there's a lot of deals like that where it's like literally like, Oh yeah. So, and cause,

cause Kiprios is landing after sports. And it was also, uh, I believe it was like a fantasy sports operation, I believe. And then that ties into what's happening on TSN radio right now, which I wanted to ask you guys about. They announced Matt Cause,

FOTM Matt Cause, has a three hour show. It's from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday on TSN radio where he just talks sports gambling and fantasy sports. No, not for all three hours. He's got to have some other stuff there.

He can't all be. He can't. How can you talk for three hours? I haven't heard it. I just read it sounded by the description that it was all about sports gambling and fantasy. They're not going to be talking about Lalo winning. It would be more like.

Are you sure that's not a wine show? He's doing a wine show in one hour? Because to me, Matt Cause is the chameleon of sports radio this guy could host a show on anything and it doesn't have to be sports related it's like well wait a second we've got like it's almost like we've got a time slot here matt would this is matt's time slot it doesn't matter what the subject is but between one and four we got matt on and's very engaging. He comes up with a lot of good stuff, right? But I just, I've got three hours on gambling?

He must be an expert gambler. He must know about every line. He must have bet on every, I know his father, Luke Hawes, one of the great authors, wrote about the horses for many, many years. So I'm thinking Matt is up there when it comes to gambling. I'm not just talking about no hold on poker.

I'm talking about pro line, odds, parlays, the whole deal like that, man. Is this sponsored content? It's got to be. Of course it is. It's got to be. I bet you all three hours are sponsored by Bodog or something like that, right? You know what? I'm willing to bet that's the hook right there.

Yeah, for sure. And that it exists because it's being paid for. Brought to you by, exactly. Is it daily? Daily. It's daily. One to four. 15 hours a week. What's five times three? Is that still 15? That's 15 hours a Daily. It's daily. One to four. 15 hours a week.

That's five times three. Is that still 15? That's 15 hours a week. That's insane. It's not insane because you're looking for your niche. And if one to four is a dead slot during the afternoon, then why not have a niche show where at least you're going to get people who wouldn't normally listen to sports radio going,

hey, before I make my bets for tonight's game... Pepsi, who's going to listen to this? For 15 hours a week of this. Wait a second. Just again, Milan, you're just, you know, there are people that are right into it. Milan thinks every fan is exactly him. Like wanting, you know, bring Cito Gaston back

to manage the Blue Jays. You know, when you want. By the way, I'll say this. Two weeks ago. No, I guess the gambling. I get the gambling thing. But 15 hours a week? Come on, guys. But it's all about dineros. Like, it's all about. No, I get it this. Two weeks ago... No, I guess the gambling. I get the gambling thing, but 15 hours a week? Come on, guys.

But it's all about dineros. It's all about... No, I get it. If that's not a revenue-generating spot on sports radio, and it's judged by the radians, which we're going to get to, but it sounds like TSN Radio

took a nosedive this summer. I don't know if that means anything. Yeah, but here's the other thing. Wait, wait. Yeah, okay. Summer radio ratings. When I first started in radio, the first program director ever says,

don't pay any attention to the summer. People's listening habits are completely different in the summer. Yours, mine. And hosts take vacations all summer. That's the way to do it, right? Because there isn't as much going on with radio. You're not putting too much credence into it. It's Labor Day.

The day after Labor Day, time to get serious. That's right. Exactly right. So no one has ever said, we're very sorry, but the summer numbers were bad, and you're gone. The reason for that is that most of the regulars weren't even working in the summertime, so they can't be blamed for the plummeting numbers.

There just aren't as much. But what happened to TSN where they're going, wow. Because basically Overdrive is their big moneymaker and it took the entire summer off. Right. And the reason it took the summer off is it's generally a hockey-based show. Right. And it's been on for many years. Right.

It was always this way. What do we, someone in the first year, what do I want to hear these guys talking about baseball when they're hockey guys? Right. And I think it's unfair because Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan may not know as much about baseball as hockey.

Of course they don't. Right. They're former hockey players. So come on. But to say that, oh, they have no knowledge or i'm not interested because what do they know about basketball or golf or whatever is nonsense and brian hayes to me is an excellent host and can talk about any sport at all so the fact that they're off all summer long sure no matter who you put in there people are you know they're just not listening generally and it's like well i don't

know who these two guys are or who's hosting today. And this is one of the problems you run into. And it's like, who's on today? I don't know who that voice is. I don't know who that voice is. Is that the permanent duo? Are they going to be on in September? You know, all that stuff. I'll respectfully disagree, Hepsi.

Good. Yeah. You know, I think the morning show, like I'm a big fan 590 guy, you know, as you know, and Scott McArthur does, it's sort of, you know, he does the Brian Hayes does. He does a lot of the heavy lifting, but I don't want to hear Mike Zygoman is talking about basketball and baseball.

He, he doesn't know enough. His, his questions, and it's all due respect. I think he's come a long way. He's a great hockey guy, but his questions appear to be scripted.

And as a listener, you know, when I'm listening to somebody, I want them, I want to feel like they know a lot more than I know about sports. The host, do you think the host should know more? Absolutely. Ask the right questions.

Both. Of a guest. Well, no, I mean, it's different. If you're interviewing a guest and the focus is on your guest and what your guest's expertise is. If it's part of a round table and your guest happens to be, like, look, when I used to watch, what was that show, where they'd have people from different walks of life talking about uh you know different thing bill mars show politically

incorrect i'm a big fan of right i love it okay i i'm i'm look if someone is intelligent and articulate okay and has a viewpoint then fine the fact that mike zigaman has never played basketball if he doesn't know enough about the sport to be weighing in then you're right he should not be weighing in but if he's weighing in and he you're right. He should not be weighing in. But if he's weighing in and he's got a legitimate question and it's a good question, then fine. The focus isn't on him. The focus is on the response from your guest. But if he's part of a two-man team that's just going back and forth, then yeah, he better know what he's talking about.

Right. Because then you need a better two-man team. You need a better co-host. Scotty Mack can lift his weight. But then I want to hear a Hebsey or a Greg Brady or somebody else as a co-host. It doesn't necessarily have to be a player. He's not complimentary what you're saying is to Scott McArthur.

Yeah, and I don't want to... Zig O'Manis doesn't compliment. I don't want to rip on Zig. I feel every time we do this... But he doesn't compliment. He doesn't make Scott McArthur better because the team is better. That's what you're saying. There's a chemistry issue and I think there's a lack of sports knowledge issue. Alright. But there was a chemistry... With Ashley Dawking, clearly there was a chemistry issue and I think there's a lack of sports knowledge issue with Ashley docking clearly there was a chemistry issue

and Ashley was showing the door so you're saying there's still a chemistry issue you know what happened there I told you what happened there I told you what happened there to the point she can't get another job on terrestrial broadcast

hang on a second is she that good do you know of anybody that said wait a second why isn't ashley talking working at like really she knows her basketball i know that big big basketball fan like crazy basketball fan never really heard her talk baseball know much about baseball i'm not sure she knows that much about hockey i don't know didn't appear to. She's got her niche for sure is basketball and women's sports, right? Because you're an expert, because you're a female, I guess.

But I never thought that, like, what's so great about, like, why? Because she's a woman? I'm going to give her the chance. But was she that good? Were other stations just going, hey, we got to get her. So tell me in all honesty,

what was the big appeal? What was it? Was she that good? Was she it? Was she that good? Was she funny? Was she super knowledgeable? Did she know the players that well? Did she have a patter about her? They were going, man, I like this girl.

She's got some spunk, Mary Richards. I hate spunk. But anyway, what was it? I think if she was given the opportunity to grow into the role, like Zigamanis or somebody else. No chance. Oh, absolutely. No way.

No. There was a lot of potential there. You know what? Potential only goes so far. If she was that good, she'd be working on the air. There's no women, barely any women

working on the air. Forget women. If she's that good, she'd be working on the air. I didn't say on the fan. Okay? And it's like, you're that limited?

Oh, you're going to be the fan or it's 1050 or that's it. There's no other media. I can't do anything else. I can't appear on camera somewhere or do my own bloggy or thing. You're like, well, come on. If you're that good, people will find you if you're that good. And if you're not that good, and like I said before, and I hate saying this

because these are people that went into the same profession as I was in. Was I good? I worked pretty hard. I think I did okay for myself. Am I the type, can I say categorically that that person has talent and that talent hasn't been harnessed properly and she unfortunately has been saddled

with the wrong people? If she would have been saddled with this person, they would have been great together? Hey man, that's a lot of ifs, ifs, and ifs. If people are that good, believe me, program managers will find them and they'll put them on the air. And if they're not that good, no matter how long they worked. I ran into a friend of mine.

You know who this is, Mike. You know who this is as well. I won't mention any names. Former broadcaster. Worked for the fan. Very popular. Okay? Really down on his luck now.

Really down on his luck. Figured, hey, man, I'll be on the air forever. Why not? Very popular. and then one day you're not working there anymore, and the phone isn't ringing. You know, there aren't a bunch of other stations that are going, hey, we want your services,

especially in Canada. Doesn't work that way. Remind us, though, Hebsey, why did Ashley Docking leave the fan? Well, the program director at the time was given an ultimatum according to my source the ultimatum was from someone on the morning show

saying that they would not work with her because she was difficult to work with she goes or I go was the ultimatum yeah just wanted to remind listeners who might have missed that Hebsey bomb. Now, now, now, now, hang on.

Now, I understand the possibility is someone is part of the morning show and not necessarily someone who was on air. It could have been the producer or the executive. But it was this.

It was like either she goes or I go. And there's only a couple of choices in there. So draw your own conclusion. You got to get Scotty Mac on the air, Mike. He's probably not going to talk about that until he's no longer at the fan 590 because he's not stupid.

But I'm just saying, look, there's lots of talented people out there, and there's lots of people out there who have been exposed. We've seen or heard these people on the air, right? And so naturally, if we think they're on the air in Toronto, it must be pretty damn good. Right. You can't be some schlub that gets on the air, right? And so naturally, if we think they're on the air in Toronto, it must be pretty damn good. Right. You can't be some schlub that gets on the air in Toronto. But more and more these days,

there are people that really don't deserve or haven't put in their time, haven't had the experience. And boom, they pop up in Toronto, and people naturally think, hey, Toronto, man, you've got some experience. You've got some chops. Maybe they just came out of the College of Sports Media.

I don't know. But it's just not the same. It's interchangeable now. That's the problem. They don't want you to have a name anymore, like a Hebsey. They don't want your name to be bigger than the call letters. That's right. Because then they lose the power.

That's right. Team control. It's under team control. And then once you have a Bob McCowan, and he's demanding this kind of money, it's almost like you need to cut him out in order to preserve the... Do you miss the Bobcat, Hebsey?

I do. For the 15 hours a week? In Hebsey's career, if you look at his bio, he replaces Bobcat all over the place. Well, no, twice. Well, still, that's more than most people. I replaced him on his talk show, on his radio show. And then I replaced him on Sportsline. Essentially, I really didn't because he was there.

Jim came along. And then I guess Bob asked for too much money or whatever the case was. And they said, okay, we got Hempshire waiting in the wings or something. We wanted to go to a two-man show anyway. And Bob, I don't think, wanted to do a two-man show. And I don't blame anyone that's worked solo. If you go to that person and say, by the way, you're going to be working with someone else, how do you think wanted to do a two-man show. And I don't blame anyone that's worked solo. If you go to that person and say, by the way, you're going to be working with someone else,

how do you think they'd react? Wait a minute, I'm not doing a good enough job on my own? And now they're going to think that this person that you're putting them with is an interloper, is going to cut into your fame or your salary or whatever it is. So naturally you're going to feel that way. So McCallum was like, wait a minute.

I've been doing this show for almost three years by myself. Now you're telling me I've got to have a co-host. So Hebsey, we know sports radio is sort of struggling in the Canadian market especially. A bunch of radio stations being chopped last year. Is there any name you think you know, pretend there's no

budget. Is there anyone who can change the landscape? Is there a Howard Stern sort of Canadian sports media that can sort of transform sports radio? No. In today? No. No one will allow it.

I'll tell you the best way. Like when growing up, Pat Marsden was the savior. I'll give you an example. I'll give you an example. There's somebody out there somewhere, and I don't know who it is, that's got, I don't know, maybe a few thousand or a few dozen thousand followers on YouTube

or wherever, on social media, that loves sports, that talks about sports, that has a passion and grows an audience, and someday that person is going to have a couple of million followers, and their YouTube show is going to be the equivalent of a primetime show that was on television. Because all the cord cutters are going to go, oh gotta watch youtube tonight at nine o'clock to hear what

hebsey has to say about charlie montoyo but it's not me it's going to be someone younger and someone that's built up an audience by saying stuff that's gonna be hebsey's son i gotta hear what what they have to say and that person is going to be the equivalent of the radio talk show host on terrestrial radio. Gents, I'm going to, uh, I need to ask you guys about, uh, Michael Landsberg, but first I just want to tell listeners that there's a great podcast called the CEO edge podcast from the good people at McKay CEO forums and their fireside chats with inspiring CEOs and thought leaders. Every week I share the latest episode from the CEO Edge podcast. So if you go to torontomike.com, you can find it. I urge you to subscribe and listen.

They're great partners of the program. And if you're looking to buy and or sell in the GTA in the next six months, Mike Majewski, he's the real estate agent who's ripping up the GTA real estate scene. I used to say he's in the know in Mimico. And then I found out that he actually does a lot of work outside of Mimico, so I shouldn't limit him like that. But you can go to realestatelove.ca and reach out to Mike. Just tell him Toronto Mike sent you.

Thanks again to Mike Majeski, who bought 40 beers for the FOTMs at TMLX 8 at Great Lakes Brewery. That was a great gesture. And again, thank you to Palma Pasta for feeding everybody. And I want to thank the pillars of this community. You're in New Toronto right now. Ridley Funeral Home. They're at 14th and Lakeshore. They've been great partners of the program for quite a while now. Brad Jones, he's a great FOTM. And you can pay tribute without paying a fortune by going to RidleyFuneralHome.com and

having a conversation with the good people there. Thank you, RidleyFuneralHome.com and having a conversation with the good people there. Thank you, RidleyFuneralHome.com. Not long ago, guys, I had Michael Landsberg on Toronto Mike for his exit interview. And I wanted to find out what happened. It seemed like a very sudden announcement. Michael Landsberg, who had been at TSN for 30 something, he was a day one-er, I believe. He'd been there forever. And then suddenly, it was like, okay, your last show is Friday, and he was gone.

What happened with Michael Landsberg at TSN Radio? You're asking me? Yeah, what happened? I think the time was right. I think you reach a certain age in this business now, too, and you've got to be prepared for any eventuality. Michael, I think, was at that age in this business now too, and you've got to be prepared for any eventuality. Michael, I think, was at that age.

And, you know, I think once you've spent that many years at a place, 37 years, 43 years, 32 years, it's sort of all as kind of, that's a long time. It's a long time. It's a long time, and, you know, I think that they probably said, look, how do you want to do this, Michael? Right. Right?

Remember, he had a very successful show off the record for a number of years. Right. And then I thought, you know, however it ended up working out, he landed, you know, on his feet, certainly doing the morning show on TSN radio, which was not something that anyone expected.

No one really expected Michael Landsberg to be a morning show host. And, you know, the controversy that he would, you know, drill up and that type of a thing. So, you know, is it unexpected? Look, it's never, you never want to see that, but just go back over a number of people our age in the sports broadcasting business. Cost cutting? Sure.

Yeah, I guess. Because he's spinning it that he decided time to do something else. But I don't know many people who just walk away from like a gig like that without severance. And if severance is involved, I don't know how it could be you initiating it. I've worked in the business world

since the late 90s. Like if you say, I'm going to go do something else because, you know, my wife just did this. They don't say, okay, here's some money on your way out. They say, good luck

in your future endeavors. Thank you for your service. And they say goodbye. Maybe you get a cake or a party or whatever. But when they tap you on the shoulder and say, um, I think it's time that we figure out how to discuss it.

Yeah. I had a discussion. How do you want to do this? How many, how many dollars, unless you work for CHCH, how many dollars, you know, you need to,

to, to go away and be happy and everything to be fine. And then you have that negotiation. Right. So it's the latter, right? I, I would think so. I would think that, you know know not a mutual agreement it's like look michael how would you like to do this right you know and maybe it might have been two years before and he says look give me give me another two years give me whatever it is okay five years

on that up to this point up to this point here and then and then at that point i'll you know we'll say thank you very much and you'll you know you'll pay me the rest of the contract or however that worked and no hard feelings and no hard feelings and yeah and all that type of thing for sure it has to eventually happen the fear is at what point does someone reach a point in the career where you you you waited too long and now something could happen that could really you know besmirch you mean. You mean Don Cherry? Someone's reputation. Or just even the fact that you know from history that the older someone gets, the crankier they might get. An incident may happen that may cause them to do something or say something or react a certain way that may not reflect well on the company.

Right? And so you go, you know, this could happen. And maybe there was a sign of it. And I'm not saying that was the case in Landsberg's case. But at some point, somebody goes, you know, we could happen. Then maybe there was a sign of it. And I'm not saying that was the case in Lansbury's case, but at some point somebody goes, you know, we really have to start talking about the next generation. Who's our next Howard. Is Michael going to earn us the money that we want on the morning show?

Maybe not. Should we get someone else? Is his salary too much? All that type of thing. And then, and then, yeah. Then the corporate, you know, cutters come in and say, you know, listen, we're better off with this. He had to have seen this coming once. Paying that.

I think so. I think when it's happening around you. But he's such a key part of the... No, but when Off the Record went off the air and now you're being shifted to the graveyard of sports media, TSN radio. Wait, listen, here's the wild card in all this. I think this is what I did.

You know the end is coming soon. How important has Bell Let's Talk Day been to Bell Media? Like, to me, the important has Bell Let's Talk Day been to Bell Media? Like, to me, the face of Bell Let's Talk Day, to me, is Michael Lansbury. Well, that doesn't mean that Michael Lansbury won't still be the face of Bell Talk Media. It's just he's not being paid to do a broadcast. I don't know. It'll be interesting to see if he is.

He does like to spread awareness. He has Sicknog Week. That's the name of his charity. He runs there. But it'll be interesting to see how involved he is in Bell Let's Talk Day when February comes around. So, yeah.

And again, I just want to point out the fact that he was the morning show guy for five years and he's gone. And Carlo Koliakovo's gone too? Like, is he still on the radio? I don't know. I didn't see anything. Like I said this morning, I listened.

It was Aaron Korolnik and Dave Feschuk. Now, we're talking about a Friday. I don't know if they've been on all week long or they're this week's flavor of the week. I don't know. I haven't been paying that much attention. But this is a very prime time ratings period now in September. Well, you would think that everyone's back to school now

that if you don't have your lineup intact, that there's something going on. Just getting back on that radio lineup, do you see any major changes coming to the Fan 590 coming up? It should be, they've been speculating about now, right? Well, I mean, the way I understand it is the afternoon drive show is going to

be a baseball central show, but after baseball season, what are they going to do with afternoon drive? Are they still going to continue with this simulcast? No, no, no, no, no, that's out. Tim and Sid, you mean? No, Tim and nonsense? No, no, no, no, no. That's out. Tim and Sid, you mean? No, Tim and Friends. No, no, Tim and Friends is strictly a TV show.

Strictly a TV show now. Okay, yeah. Well, yeah, because Baseball Central is on. Shockingly, that didn't work. No one saw that coming. But that's a good point.

And there's another name I just want to throw out there because he was on the Fan 590 working with Greg Brady and then he went to Vancouver and then, of course, the station he went to in Vancouver,

which was a Sportsnet station, turned into like a business station. So he lost his job. Andrew Walker is, I believe, he's an unrestricted free agent out there. Is there any possibility that Andrew Walker would return to the Toronto sports radio lineup anywhere? That was the last of the heyday with Brady and Walker in the mornings, right? That's when they had their highest ratings. And they moved out for Blundell, right? That was a Blundell thing. How well did that work out?

It didn't work out at all. And then they got rid of Brady and then they eventually brought him back for the morning show, but they just had Andrew Walker solo one to four. Like Hebsey said, the list of unrestricted free agents, unfortunately, it's a long list. It's a long list. Hebsey, what do you think about Andrew Walker?

Would he ever resurface in this market? I don't think he would move the needle, if that's what you mean. Right. I mean, I'm sure that he's, you know, very employable and, you know, solid talk show host. But, you know, you had asked me before, is anyone going to move the needle? McCowan would move the needle. So how come no one's, how come he's not in the conversation?

Or is he? I don't know. I just always wonder. I don't know if he'd move the needle anymore, the conversation? I don't know. I just always wonder. I don't know if he'd move the needle anymore, Hebsey. I don't know either, but again, is anyone? Who's going to move the needle? He's the only one I can think of. You're going to get someone to come up from the States?

You're going to go that route there? Let's get an American to come up here. Maybe you can get people shaking hands. And I think Bobcat's smart enough to realize the more out of sight, the more out of mind he becomes, it's going to get tougher and tougher. But again, here's the thing. 960. Yeah, do you want yeah do you

want to be is it is that where you want to be do you want to be on sportsnet on tsn right is that going to get you the most eyeballs the most you know i mean look what's how many different people can we name that have been on tsn and sportsnet? Different on-air people. I'm talking about anchors, reporters, experts, desk jockeys, analysts, play-by-play, color commentator, rinkside commentator, sideline commentator. Think about it. There's tons. Tons.

Right. Tons. We already just talked about Chris Johnson today, CJ and Frank Cervelli. Those were two. I didn't even mention analysts. I did. Or insiders. right tons we already just talked about chris johnson today uh cj and and frank cervelli those were two i didn't even mention uh analysts or i did or or insiders add the insiders add all the cfl and nfl games and they're going to do a lot of nfl this year tsn's doing a show with carol wagland and uh davis sanchez that's going to be before every single fricking football game, Thursdays and Sundays. So yeah, there's tons of shows,

soccer desk shows, not so much anymore. Right. But you know, for the international games there's just so many people and, you know, ask yourself a question. What are these, some of these people, what do they do all week? You see them once in a while on the desk. What does Corey Warren do all week long? What does Glenn Sheeler do? Like, what do some of these people, Sarah Davis, what do some of them do? I know they've got some digital properties as well, but boy, there's a lot of people there.

They're on the air a lot. They've got a lot of shows. Speaking of digital properties, how is Kayla Gray's show doing? That was a digital property, right? No idea. But I tell you what, I saw her the other day. She was on with Jermaine Franklin doing the late night. I don't know what night it was, the sports. She was really good. Like she blew through like a whole series of highlights. She did right up to a sound up a couple of clips. Never saw her face for like 15 minutes, but I knew it was her. But yeah, did a really good, like is really good on the desk doing that fast paced, you know, sports center highlight after highlight, highlight, highlight, highlight. Here's a hero board with some stats, boom, into another series of highlights.

That's not easy to do. Right. To keep your energy up, to not mispronounce names, to know where are we? Seventh inning, second half, you know, know the players, did a really good job. Very, very, very impressed. Way better doing that than doing that other show that she does. Now, here's a couple of quick hits I was curious about. So one of them is about Joe Bowen. And I'm just curious, does it matter that the voice of Maple Leaf Hockey

is so publicly and proudly supporting Conservative Party leader Aaron O'Toole? Like, just a simple question for you guys. Does it matter? To me personally no I want to see what kind of job he does on the air that's what I'm concerned about I mean there's a fine line you know but what are the views I get

too overboard right like Don Cherry again he comes up often but he was overtly for me personally no it doesn't bother me but you know it's not going to, once he mentions something that maybe is a little bit too, quote unquote, right wing for, you know, maybe traditional taste. What is the line?

So him supporting the party doesn't bother you. It would be like if there was a certain like, I'm going to just say, let's say he denied climate change. Would you care about, I'm not saying Joe Bowen denies climate change. I'm saying, like, if he, there's a line. If he was an overt, like, Supported Nazism, for example. Right, well, who's the Marlies goaltending

guy that they let, Emu, from Los Angeles, you know, supported the January 6th, and they let him go within 20. You know, there's a line. There's a common sense line, I think. What is it nowadays? But him proudly supporting Aaron O'Toole is not an issue for you, Malone. No.

What about you, Hebsey? Does it matter? No. I honestly could not care less. Until you told me. What anyone's feelings are about that. You know, I mean, Joe's a hockey play-by-play broadcaster.

Let's not, let's not make this into something bigger than it is. Joe Bowen is a hockey play-by, he's the Toronto Maple Leafs

hockey broadcaster. That's it. I mean, he's a father and a husband and a, but he, you know, it's narrow casting here.

So, so to think that what Joe has to say about anything but the Toronto Maple Leafs is going to be relevant and people are going to perk their ears up is just not happening. He's not influential in that way at all.

So I don't care. Is this a big news story? No, no, no. It was legitimately like, I was just curious if it matters. I'm not bothered by it either. I was just legitimately curious if it matters that he's such a flag waver for the

Conservative Party. What if I told you that Brendan Shanahan and all the Toronto Maple Leafs hierarchy are supporters of the same party and perhaps encouraged Joe or made it worth his while to maybe That would be a whole... If he was encouraged to keep his employment, that to me

is an issue. What if Shanahan came out and supported the... Yeah, but he hasn't. What if he did? I would say that would be surprising for Shanahan to be overtly in favor of a particular... But we've seen Wayne Gretzky make the rounds for Stephen Harper in the past, right?

But I was curious whether it mattered that your play-by-play guy was overtly... It's just simply a question. Well, who's your favorite U.S. American play-by-play guy was over. It's just simply question. Well, who's your favorite us American play-by-play guy. And what did it matter if he was a Trump supporter? Like maybe, like,

I feel like Trump is a little bit different than being an Aaron O'Toole supporter. So maybe like, it's just interesting how. And Trudeau is so great. Of course. I'm not saying. But if he was supporting Trudeau,

if Joe was supporting Trudeau, same thing, you'd think the same way or no. Well, I don't think anything on this. I'm not saying... But if he was supporting Trudeau, if Joe was supporting Trudeau, same thing? You'd think the same way or no? Well, I don't think anything on this. I'm curious what you guys think about it. Well, you can't not have an opinion. It's your show. You can't not have an opinion.

I'm not bothered at all that Holy Mackinac Joe Bowen is a proud member, a supporter of the Conservative Party of Canada. Not bothered at all. I have a question about FOTM Rod Black because at TMLX8, it was good to see you there, Hebsey.

Disappointing I didn't see Milan in the crowd, but I'm going to forgive you. What were you doing that Friday night? Stuck in traffic, probably. You couldn't make it out to the finale of the Pandemic Friday episodes of Toronto Mic'd. But Rod Black joined us from Calgary, and he was in Calgary because he was calling

the Women's World Championship of Hockey there. And we all, I'm going to guess, we all watched the Canada versus U.S. gold medal game. Let's call it a match. I guess it's a game. But did you watch Milan, Canada versus U.S.? No. Really?

You didn't have an itch to tune in and see how our women did against the U.S. in the gold medal game? No, it was probably working, I think. Okay, you were correct. But, Hebsey, you watched, right? I saw the overtime. It was pretty slow, you know, very deliberate and no shots on goal

or anything like that. Very different than the men's game. Okay. What did you think of Rod Black's performance? Because I got a bunch of notes. Like, literally, again, I really like him. He's a highlight of the Pandemic Fridays because he's hilarious.

He does a great Charles Barkley, by the way, but he's hilarious. He's a really funny guy and really because he's hilarious. He does a great Charles Barkley by the way, but he's hilarious. He's a really funny guy and really engaging, but a lot of people are like, is Rod Black drunk? Like, what's going on here? I was curious if you had any, Milan, you're off the hook on this one. You didn't watch, but what did you think of Rod Black's performance at the

Women's Championship of Hockey? Rod does a great job every time. Why? Why do people say he's drunk? Yeah? Why do people say he's drunk? Yeah, why do people say he's drunk? I don't know. They thought he wasn't drunk, for the record. Did you ask him about that? Rod?

No. I haven't talked to him since the gold medal game. Wait a second. So maybe he had a few pops. I think he's a professional. I feel Rod Black. Wait a second. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

You're confusing two things here. Yeah. You don't think broadcasters have ever had a couple of pops calling a game? I'm not. I don't think they have. Whoa, baby. I don't think. Hey.

I don't think. Hey, you're looking at him. You kidding me? But you know, I mean, I know. You kidding me? At this point, as a. As a pass up the wing, it's a car. You're kidding.

A couple of pops make it sound a hell of a lot better. Well, Marsden. Marsden apparently did a fan morning show. Not apparently. Come on, you guys. Where were you guys. Weren't you guys born yesterday? Seriously.

I'm not saying no drinking allowed. And I'm saying that there's a fine, you got to know, you got to know yourself. Like I personally know exactly what Great Lakes beer, like how many of each unit before I get that little tipsy feeling or whatever. Like I've got that down to a size. So I know if I'm drinking my sunny side, I'm good to go. If I have a couple of Hayze mamas, for example, I've got to be careful, right? Like I know myself. Mike, have you ever done a show inebriated?

I don't, I think there have been, like there have been live events at Great Lakes where maybe by the end of the show, I'm at a point where I'm glad I'm on a bicycle and not a car because I would not get behind a wheel. But I don't get drunk. No, I don't, like I never go and take down... Were people suggesting that Rod was drunk?

Yeah, I had some feedback. I was curious if you had noticed anything of Rod. I don't think Rod, as a professional, would ever drink to a point where he was drunk. I think he's fantastic. No, no, no. He certainly wouldn't. He certainly wouldn't.

But I'm just saying that. It's happened on occasions where, before the game, a little nervous, before the game, a little... Who are these sources, Mike? No, i'm just saying that i mean it's happened on occasions where you know before the game you're a little nervous before the game a little uh who are these sources like no i'm just saying i've done i've done it i know i'm just saying that you know it's happened it's like you know you know calm down a little bit okay a little something before look i know for a fact many people when they go to do a speech if they're emceeing a banquet or whatever yeah they got to have a couple little little before they're before. Exactly, before they're talking to a crowd of people. And don't think that just because you're a performer

and you're on radio or whatever, that the same thing may not apply. Right? And don't think that if you go to work that nobody ever goes to work or has ever had like a little nip or something like that to calm them down. Happens all the time. And you cover the Leafs all those years, Mark. So you, you, I don't blame you. Ballard years.

Don't kid yourself. You can do a good, sometimes you can do a very good broadcast if you've taken the edge off. Sports life? Don't kid yourself. Oh, yeah. Really? Oh, yeah. Final question, unless there's any... 11.30 at night? And working with Taddy, right? Unless you have any burning.

Stop it. Come on, you know they golfed together in the last couple of years. Yeah, yeah. I've seen photo evidence. We're going to be on a podcast together. I'm jealous of that because I've been trying to get you guys on a podcast. You could have arranged it. I tried. Jim Taddy took a pass.

So whose podcast? Can you reveal that? I can't. I've been told. I can't. It's not official yet. It's not official yet. Not official yet.

I just want you to know when I do listen to you and Taddy on a podcast, I will have what I call envious listening. Like I will be thinking like, oh, that's the one that got away because I've been trying for years to get Jim Taddy

and Mark Hebbshire on Toronto Mike together. We'll see what happens. Taddy has said no every single time. Why? He doesn't, he just nicely,

like he's polite about it. Right, of course. But he just, he takes a pass. Once he told me, he just doesn't want to, like what's the point of talking about the past? Like the past is the past. You know, he just, nicely, like he's polite about it. Right, of course. But he just, he takes a pass. Once he told me, he just doesn't want to, like, what's the point of talking about the past? Like the past is the past. You know, he was like, I look forward or something. I got a whole spiel like that. And I said, okay, I respect that.

And then I just got like a polite, like, no, thank you. Interesting. So yeah, Tim Taddeus said no to all my requests. He's not enough, like he's never been on the show. Like that's a glaring omission, if you will. So we're going to wrap up because I promised Hebsey 90 minutes. The last question is, in this fantasy world, this does not happen, but let's say Felix Auger-Alassime wins the U.S. Open, let's say.

And let's say Leila Fernandez wins the U.S. Open. This question for each of you is, who is the Canadian Athlete of the Year? Damian Warner. Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. So over Andre de Grasse. Yeah. Oh, yeah. What he accomplished in those 10 events, incredible. Fantastic. Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. So over Andre de Grasse. Yeah. Oh, yeah. What he accomplished in those 10 events, incredible.

Fantastic. Yeah. Wow, but it's good conversation. You guys both have a clear answer there, but I was wondering, like, that's quite the discussion to be had with the number of candidates we have for Canadian Athlete, if those two things happen. Wasn't it 200?

In a meter time, it would have been one of the best in the world. Yeah, it would have been top five in the world. Top five. Like, that's insane. Here the best in the world. Yeah, it would have been top five in the world. Top five. Like that's insane. Here's the thing, Mike. Yeah. Someone says, who's Canada's top athlete of the year? You say, okay, how are we defining top athlete?

Right? Someone who performs in a sport at the absolute highest elite level and is the champion of that sport over anyone else in the country and what their accomplishments were. Damien Warner. So right off the bat, you're going, well, how do you compare this gold medal with that gold medal with Penny Alexiak's medals? You know, all that type of thing, right? Is it the greatest individual singular performance by an athlete?

Or is it that athlete's, the year that that athlete had? Like if, you know, the year Wayne Gretzky scored 215 points, would it have mattered if somebody won six gold medals? You know what I mean? It's just really difficult. And regardless, even if Conor McDavid had won the Stanley Cup, and during an Olympic year, it always goes to an Olympian. Yeah, it just seems that way.

So in this particular case, the word is athlete. So not only the canadian athlete of the year right but maybe of the world right maybe the world's greatest athlete because he over everyone else over 10 events yeah was the champion and set a record with point i mean the whole deal like that that to me is you could pick any sport and say damian warner do you think you could do this and he would be able to perform at an extremely high level at all of the disciplines. That's remarkable.

Yeah, and it's amazing. Look at the group of athletes we have in Canada now compared to when we were growing up. I know. And I would still give it to him even if those two happened. Yes, because unless those two, unless they beat the world's greatest, unless Djokovic gets beaten by Al Yassim. That might be the great moment if that ever happened.

But boy, you can't take away gold medalist decathlon. Phenomenal. You guys sold me, honestly. Damien Warner, that's the answer. But a lot of great candidates this year. You guys were fantastic. I love these. We got to do this again next quarter.

I love the Hebsey bombs. And Milan, Fast Time Milan, remind us, where do we go to get our watch and jewelry? Yeah, visit FastTimeWatchRepair.com. We have a location in Richmond Hill. We've had a lot of Toronto Mike customers visit us. So please visit us, 120 Newkirk Road, Unit 6 in Richmond Hill. Or visit our website, FastTimeWatchRepair.com

to get your watch, jewelry repaired with us. website, fasttimewatchrepair.com to get your watch jewelry repaired with us. And that brings us to the end of our 913th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Hebzy, who did a double header, has been

yakking with me since 9.20 this morning. Well done, Hebzy. He's at Hebzyman on Twitter. Follow him. He's a great follow. And make sure you subscribe to Hebsey on Sports, which I actually get to co-host. I'm so lucky. And that's every Friday at 9.20,

and it's fiercely independent sports commentary and insight from Mark Hebbshire. Do that. Hebsey, remind me about the Twitter handle for Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair. At FastTimeWJR. Yeah. What did I call him?

You asked me. It's Milan's handle. But I was looking at Milan. Yes, you were. At FastTimeWJR. Yeah. What did I call him? You asked me. It's a Milan's handle. Yeah. But I was looking at Milan. Yes, you were. Yeah. At FastTimeWJR. It's been a long day already.

It's been a long day. No worries. Chef Drop. Chef Drop is at GetChefDrop. Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. McKay's CEO Forums are at McKay's CEO Forums.

Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Hebsey, don't leave without your lasagna. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH. And Mike Majeski's not on Twitter. He's on Instagram, at Majeski Group Homes.

See you all next week. Because everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold but the snow is cold. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.