Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Tom Harrington's Exit Interview: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1710

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

In this 1710th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Tom Harrington who has retired from the CBC after 44 years. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball, Yes We Are Open, Nick Ainis and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

They're just great and we received a lot of mail and that's the reason why they're back. Ladies and gentlemen, The Sanderlakes! Welcome to episode 1710 of Toronto Miked, proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Yes we are open an award-winning podcast from Monaris hosted by FOTM Al Greggo. Toronto Maple Leafs baseball. The best baseball in the city outside the dome. Get to Christie Pitts this summer.

Check out a game. RecycleMyElectronics.ca, committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. Building Toronto Skyline, a podcast and book from Nick Ienies, sponsored by Fusion Corp Construction Management Inc. and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today, returning to Toronto Mike for his exit interview as he retires from the CBC

after 44 years. That must be a typo. It's Tom Harrington. Michael, how are you doing? Good. Welcome back, Tom. Very nice to be back. It's interesting to be in your basement rather than the backyard. Right. You came over in August, 2021 in a,

there's a brief period of time when I wasn't allowed to have guests in my basement. Right. The COVID pandemic. Do you remember the COVID pandemic? Oh yeah, I heard about it. You have some memories of that. Okay. So let right off the top, before we get into it, it's great to see you. It's to see you too. I'm going to read the description. So if people want the A to Z, so we covered everything.

Like people are like, I need more, I don't know, reach for the top talk or something like that. Okay. Really haven't had enough of that. Okay. Go to episode 896 of Toronto Miked. And here's the description I wrote Mike chats with CBC's Tom Harrington about singing on the Tommy Hunter show

Remind me to get back to that though because I played that Sanderlings off the top there being on reach for the top Joining the CBC as a sports journalist switching to news Appearing on marketplace and the world this hour and the state of news in this country. That episode was about 90 minutes. We talked about everything, August, 2021 in the backyard. I apologize right now, Tom. I think the backyard is just a nicer vibe.

Am I right? It is kind of. Yeah. I have to admit it. It was kind of nice back there. You want to move this show back there? Sure. I got all the time in the world now. All right.

Unplugged. Why? So you, okay. Where do I begin? Maybe first let's talk about the cold open. I played it off the top. I know people can go back to eight 96 and they will, but let's give them a bit of the greatest hits here.

I'll tell you, Tom, that just a couple of weeks ago, I had over in this basement, I had Donna Ramsey Anderson. Do you know that name at all? I do not. So that's a country music legend who, uh, her and her husband, Leroy Anderson would play on Donna and Leroy Donna and Leroy. Okay.

That I know. Hey, don't shit. I got to build them by the brand here. So Donna and Leroy played on the Tommy Hunter show for years and years and years until Tommy Hunter hung up his mic there or whatever. But please remind us that voice, those voices we heard at the beginning, the Sanderlings, who were the Sanderlings and what the heck would you, Tom Harrington, have to do with

the Sanderlings? So, Sanderlings is the eventual outcome of a musical group that my mother created in St. John's, Newanland in the 1960s, 1964, basically for a Christmas concert, I believe. So it was myself, I was the youngest, my two sisters, Beth and Denise, and four other kids, or seven of us. We did some Christmas shows, people liked it in St. John's, and so we kept, we were the little carolers to begin with, then we became the little singers because we started performing more beyond the Christmas season, again in St. John's only. We started performing on CBC television and CBC radio back then.

So I was connected to CBC, the first time I was on CBC television was 1965. I would have been seven. I was seven years old. So and then the group kind of emerged and became more and more popular. We started getting gigs or requests to do bigger events. We did a show at the Arts and Culture Centre, which is the big theatre in St. John's Newfoundland Seats, about 1100. We sold out. And around 69, my father, my late father, who was

a newspaper editor and a Newfoundland historian, came up with a name for the group, changing it to the Sanderlings, which is a little kind of little shore bird you see in Newfoundland on the beaches there. So that's how we became the Sanderlings. Uh, I was the, as I said, one of the seven members of the group was a vocal group. We had a small group that played with us, a band

that played with us, we were vocal. So we do like three part, four part vocals, that sort of thing. So we're kind of, people said, you're like the Osmond brothers. No, never really. But, um, we had costume changes and we, but let's put it this way.

We got the Tommy Hunter show in 1970, um 1970 because we were discovered by a producer who worked for that program. He brought us on in October, November of 1970. And it was such a hit. The show was, it was set a ratings record for the Tommy Hunter show. Wow. So they said they brought us back for the Christmas special that year and brought us back again the following spring for another show.

It was to run three times in one season, which I think is kind of unusual. Uh, and we were the first group, I believe, from Newfoundland to ever appear on the program and people who don't know Tommy Hunter show was the biggest variety program on Canadian television at the time. It was on Friday nights. Everybody watched it. Uh, it was huge. So for us to be on there three times and that summer, a 71, we recorded an album, uh, which had a couple of singles that charted in the top 10 in Canada. Um,

and then the group broke up in September. I searched, you know, far and wide to find like a studio cut of a Sanderling song. Right. Do you have this in your like personal collection? I don't have, I actually have. Okay. So what I have is the, I couldn't find anything. I have the CD of the album, uh, and I have, okay, so what I have is the- Because I couldn't find anything. I have the CD of the album, and I have the 45 of one of the singles we released in the summer of 71.

And actually, if you do go on YouTube and look on, what's it called? Lovin' You is Just Like Walkin' Through the Sunshine, Sanderlings, you'll find, you don't see us, but you hear the song being played over images of Newfoundland, actually, because that's where I'm from. Um, yes, things go loving you. It's called loving you. It's just like walking through the sunshine. I believe the title of the, okay, we're, we're going to do this live everybody.

You don't often, you don't often get, haven't they suffered enough already? Loving you. Hold on here. Sanderlings. Uh, I want you know, no, no, no, I want, you know, okay, Sanderlings, I want you know, loving you like love in the wind. No, that is the silver, silver. I know. I know what's on there. Cause I found it. Like I did a pretty thorough search.

Okay. Maybe it's not there anymore. It's the reason it has such a short clip off the top is because I had to take it from like a CBC thing and they had it in the background, but they only did a few seconds and then you some, some guy named Tom Harrington talked all over and ruined my, you never shut tight here, but I'm like somewhere I've got to find some Sanderlings. So I'm striking out here to be very honest with her. You got my phone. I can do a quick search, but we don't want

to. Okay. Well, you know, uh, this is not the CBC. You're going to pick that up very quickly here, but let's not bury the lead. Let's address the, uh, this off the top here. Uh, by the way, did you win reach for the top? Yeah. When the national championship. So everybody gets your butts to episode eight 96 for the gory details. In fact, if I can add Mike in last summer was the 50th anniversary of us winning the national championship and the four of us, the form team members are still

alive and kicking and we got together for union here in Toronto in August of last year. So one of the guys lives in Cleveland, one lives in St. John's and one lives in North End of Toronto. So we got together at my place, went for dinner and spent the weekend together. It was fantastic. That is fantastic. So not only do you have this golden voice, you're on the Tommy Hunter Show. By the way, Tommy Hunter is still with us. He is. And you know what he isn't like? He isn't on the cannabis walk of fame. I've nominated him twice and he's not, he's not there. It's ridiculous.

They just announced the new nominees, not begrudging anybody else. But the fact that he is not and that show alone introduced Canadians to Shania Twain and Gordon Lightfoot and many, many others. Tom Harrington. Well, yeah. Uh, you know, he should be on there.

Anyway, that's, sorry, I digress. No, no, that's what you're here for Where else can you just share something like that? So yeah, that sounds like an oversight. We need to correct that but but You was it 44 years? I know you had your appearances on earlier as a Sanderling But you know professionally speaking was it 44 years of service at the CBC? Yep. I started in Calgary in May 81.

I was right out of journalism school at, from Western Ontario, did the master's program in journalism there, which doesn't exist anymore. Um, and in those days they had a training program. It's a bit like a hockey draft. They would go to the journalism schools

across the country, uh, looking for young reporter talent or whatever to, um, to be trained in Toronto for a couple of weeks and then sent to regional newsrooms for the summer. The idea being, being if they worked out, if they had some skill, if the opportunity was there, they would continue with the service. So I got picked for that program, uh, but it's

brought to Toronto in May of 81 and, uh, trained for a couple of weeks. And then I was sent to Calgary, um, the May long weekend that year, the Victoria day weekend and, um, the rest were sent, one was sent to Ottawagary, um, the may long weekend that year, the Victoria day weekend. And, um, the rest were sent. One was sent to Ottawa. I think one stayed in Toronto. One went to Saskatoon, I think.

Uh, I can't remember where everybody else went, but two days after I arrived in Calgary, NABET, the technicians union went on strike for four months. So anybody who worked in a newsroom that relied heavily on what they call ENG, electronic news gathering, videotape, um, we're out of out of luck because all those technicians who do work with tape, the camera people, these were two men crews, they were not available. So I went to Calgary and it turned out that I could work because there was only one ENG

crew, we had three film cameramen who were in a different union, the film editors were in a different union so they were working And the film processing was outside the building. So we could process, shoot film, process it, bring it back in the building, crossing picket lines, and have it edited and on the air. So I worked the whole summer, unlike my five colleagues. None of them worked. I'm the only one who did that summer.

Did you have a job before CBC? I did. I worked at, well, interesting. So I graduated university. I have the, I'm proud to say I have the honour of being rejected at all 15 law schools in the country. And, um, so I was kind of at wit's end.

So I went to work in the real world doing, um, I should, I, uh, yeah, so close at Tip Top Tailors in St. John's for about a year and a half. Oh wow. Yeah. Just something to do, you know, and make some money, still living at home, 21, 20 years old or whatever.

Um, and just hanging out with different group of guys. Uh, I was pretty good at it. I actually set a sales record one time. I said, sold $10,000 worth of clothes. You're like a Renaissance man. Anyway, that was a bit of fun, but so, but here's the little, uh, 10,000 watt radio station, Fresno, California story.

So I was working in this, in this station or in the, um, in the tip top tailors downtown. And I decided I was interested in media. I'd grown up in, in the house with house with, my father was a newspaper man, even though I didn't connect the idea of me doing that as a career. I love sports. I used to do sports casting, play by play, street hockey from the window of my house on a tape recorder.

And I watched everything in sports and I read sports magazines and all that. But I never, like, how do you go from, how do you get to there? Where's the A to B there? It's like being a lawyer, doctor, other professions. So I kind of wrote it off. And then I started doing it. And I was like, how do you go from, how do you get to there? What's the A to B there? There's not,

it's like being a lawyer, doctor, other professions. So I kind of wrote it off as a childhood fantasy. And um, but I don't, I was always interested. Last forward, I was thinking about, um, my career, law school didn't work out just as well. I would have been a huge mistake for the legal profession as well as me. And so I decided to, um, I had an interest in media. So there's a nighttime course being offered by the university. So I went, I would take, I took that course in the winter of 80, 81. And, um,

the guy teaching it was a former CBC reporter. And one day he walked into the store. This is probably January of 81 and he, um, 1980. And he said, um, I thought he wanted to buy a tie or something. And he said, he talked to me and said, I want you to commit an audition for a job at a private radio station in St. John's called Q radio. And I said, really? He said, yeah, yeah. So I did. But a few days later I had to operate the board, had to operate the mic, had to punch audio carts, like press, which carried the audio, the sound, that had done none of that in my life. Uh, it was like a, you know, I could,

I can't believe I didn't implode anyway. He hired me. I was hired off the street like that. Uh, I went to work the next week and within a month I was writing and lining up and reading the five o'clock news on this station. So, but I'd already applied to Western to go to journalism school. I wanted to get out of Newfoundland. I wanted to go off on my own. I was, you know, 22 and really wanted to make my own mark kind of thing. Um, and so I got, well, and there's a story behind Western as well, if you're interested, but.

Well, what do you think you're here for Tom? Of course. What's your first sign? I might be interested. By the way, do you think that guy you office hires you knew you were a Sanderling? Maybe he, I think he knew my brother who actually worked at CBC St. John's at the time.

Uh, but I, I don't know whether he saw saw I don't know what he thought he may have seen something I might help grease the wheel or whatever it might have who knows but either way I got in and I was doing okay And but I had applied to Western so Probably the spring of 80 in 1980 I got a letter from the university from Western addressed to me. I said okay This is it open it up and with the letter was addressed to me. I said, okay, this is it. Uh, opened it up and the letter was addressed to somebody else, another student. Oh, mistake. Yes.

And the applicant, that particular person had been accepted. So I said, okay, what did I, so I decided I'd phone the university. So I got found my way through the, to the journalism department and the receptionist to the, they're, um, picked up the phone, explained who I was and what had happened.

She was quite apologetic. And I said, well, what do I, where, first of all, where am I? Am I in, am I out? Or, you know, she said, oh, you're on the waiting list. I said, okay, what does that mean? So we were on the way. That's your ninth. Okay. What does that mean? Said, well, if eight people ahead of you decide not to come or people in the class decided to come, you'll move up the list and eventually get in. I said, and this is a less than a month away from the program starting. So I said, what do you think I should do?

And she said, well, you could talk to the, write to the Dean of Admissions at the School of Journalism. I said, okay. So that day I sat down at my father's typewriter, I wrote a two page letter about why I wanted to be a journalist. And a week later I got an acceptance letter. Wow.

And I went away. Because you showed some initiative there. I wanted to do it. Like that's, you know, The first first line is I was a Sanderling. I had to reach the top national champion. Yeah. No, Tommy Hunter. I didn't even talk about those things I don't think. But it does goes to show you kids, you know, if you really got to, if you want something, you got to go for it. So anyway, I got in and it was a one-year program. Went from May until April of 81 and it was a great

experience for many reasons, including the fact that I met my wife there. Okay, and that worked out too. Yeah. Okay, good. We're hitting home runs here. I think that's great advice. Like not to be passive. Like it's easy to just wait for the phone to ring or wait.

But if you actually show some initiatives, be proactive and do what you did, like writing a letter or making the phone call and everything. I think the person, if it's a hiring for a job or accepting into a program that that carries a lot of weight. I think so. Like you have passion in the belly Tom Harrington. Well and you know this is the days of snail mail and and long distance phone calls you know so it's a different era a different time and but what doesn't change is ambition and a desire and it's something I really decided I

wanted to do it was I made the right call because I had a great career and loved what I was doing every day. And you bumped somebody down on that list right so there's hopefully if you were nine you were ninth you said? Yeah. So that's what eight people eight people ahead of me and some of them may have gotten in as well who were on the waiting list like me but there are people who didn't take the the course as well I suppose but and in the end I finished in the top like five or six of the class and they, at the end. And then it's from Western to CBC. Into Calgary, yeah.

Into Calgary where it all begins there. Okay, 44 years ago. So we are going to touch on some highlights and I pulled some audio and we're going to have a good chat here. But what made you decide it was time to hang up the headphones? I'm assuming this is all 100% Tom Harrington's decision to retire.

100%, yeah. So a couple of things. One, I was 44 years is a long time. I'm 67 and I've got a great career to look back on. So I'm not gonna, and the job I had, which I enjoyed and my colleagues from my loved, um, I wasn't going to be changing jobs. I wasn't going to be moving into another position at this point in my career.

So it was that for as long as I wanted to do it. Um, so, but I didn't want to hate the job. And I know over the years, you know, I certainly met and people outside of the industry who had hated their job and counted the hours till it was over and people in my own, the CBC who were counting the days who didn't like what they were doing. And I never wanted to be in a position of hating the job or the people I work with. And that wasn't the case.

I liked my work and the people I worked with when I left. Secondly, it was personal because I have a grandson since we saw you last. So, and our daughter and our grandson, live with us full time because of the circumstances, which are not worth getting into, but it's just, it's an unfortunate circumstance. However, they're with us full time. So my wife and our full time grandparents, and when he was born in January of last year, I took some

time off to be at home to help out, um, just to have basically holiday time and, um, for about three weeks, I think, um, no, actually five weeks. And then I went back to work, um, just to have basically holiday time. And, um, for about three weeks, I think, um, no, actually five weeks. And then I went back to work, uh, and felt weird about going back to work under the circumstances. And then, so I took a chunk of time off.

I had a surgery last spring, then took the summer, took about two months off in the summer. Cause you know, when you work as long as I have, you bank time and you have a lot of vacation time. So I used all of that, almost all of that up to be at home. And when I went back to work in August of last lot of vacation time. So I used all of that, almost all of that up to be at home. And when I went back to work in August of last year, I just said, I can't do this anymore. There's too much to be done at home, too much work.

My wife's got some health issues, which make taking care of a rambunctious, 17 month old really difficult. And I said, you know, I think it's time to, to hang it up. So I approached the people at CBC and said, you know, if there's any possibility of leaving, at certain point, I'd be open to it. Well congratulations on a heck of a run. Thanks. Tom, that's amazing. And 44 years at the CBC, quite well.

I'm, you know, since we last met, so you've got some developments in your life. I am now a CNN correspondent, Tom, so I feel like we're now equal. We're both journalists now. Fantastic. I saw it. I didn't see it. We'll have to look it up, but I saw the reference. I'll send you a link. All right. That's good. There's two CNN appearances. Wow. I know. Hard to believe. Apparently, if I get a third, they're going to send me, they won't send me lasagna, but maybe they'll send me a CNN shirt. Jake Tapper will send you a Philly cheese stick or something like that. He'll sign a copy of his book.

Okay, so now that I'm a journalist, I need to ask you, was it in your mind at all, so in federal politics, until, I don't know, until Donald Trump started talking about the 51st state, okay? Whenever that was. Is that when you were on though? I thought that was one of the reasons that the CNN talked to you.

Yeah, so this is un-CNN related now. We're talking about you now. All right. Hmm. Whenever that was. Is that when you were on though? I thought that was one of the reasons that the scene had talked to you. Yeah. So this is uncnn related now. We're talking about you now. All right. Okay. So when, uh, Donald Trump started talking about the 51st day up until that moment, it really did look like a foregone conclusion that Pierre

Poliev would become the next prime minister in Canada and the conservative party of Canada would win a majority government and form a majority government. Pierre Poliev said, anytime, anytime you ask him, he was very consistent, he wanted to defund the CBC. Did that at all play any role in your decision that maybe now is the time to step away?

None, not at all, no. A couple of things, one is that it was a good fundraising comment for Mr. Poliev to say, defund the CBC, you can raise a lot of money off things like that. Sure. And say, defund the CBC, you can raise a lot of money off things like that. And the hashtag defund the CBC was very popular on social media, that sort of thing. And he, to my recollection, he kind of backed

off a little bit during the election and certainly came back around a bit again to it. Either way, I wasn't so concerned about that. You didn't play a role in your decision. No, and I actually didn't think it would happen anyway, even if you won, because it's too difficult to defund the CBC. It's almost impossible because there's too much involved. The French network too connected to the CBC English network. There are unions

involved. There are billion dollar pension funds involved. It's just too complicated. I think it would have been impossible to do what he might have done some cuts to the budget and you know which would have been red meat to the people who hate the CBC I think that's maybe as far as it would have gone. Okay here's hoping because who knows what the future holds. Just one point too on this Mike. Yes sir. You know in 40 years ago so in like whatever 1985 the appropriation from the federal government to CBC was a little over a billion dollars like a billion The appropriation for the federal government, the CBC was a little over a billion dollars, like a billion, billion, 400,000, no, a little over a billion. 40 years later, it's 1.4 billion, which in allowing for inflation is a 50% cut in the appropriation

from Ottawa for the CBC. When I started in 81, there were about 11,000 employees on the English services, radio and television. Now there's about five and that's doing, that's doing way more with multiple services, platforms, digital, you name it. So we're doing more with honestly less money and I think some unfortunately I think we're that we've seen the effects of that. Well we should we should give more money to the CBC. I don't disagree with that at all. One of the people who worked for the CBC back in the the 80s was a guy named Steve Pakin.

Do you know Steve Pakin? I know Steve very well. Okay, so Steve, so you're here, an exit interview of sorts. We're saying goodbye, not from this wonderful planet. This is not a shout out to Ridley Funeral Home, but you're no longer going to be in our headphones coming, you know, that voice of yours, we'll get back to it. But you know, Tom Harrington, I had a guy over this morning named Larry, and I just asked him off the cuff, like, Hey, you listen to CBC, right? He's like, Yeah,

I listen to CBC. I go, Do you know Tom Harrington? And he's basically told me about how much his love his wife loves Tom Harrington. I got a whole story. Well, I'm not saying Larry doesn't like you. I'm just saying his wife loves you. Okay, that's very nice. But you know, you become a you know, when you're in our homes for decades, you become a member of people's family. Like they're like, Oh, Tom, you know, and to just be gone after 44 years, we need to celebrate that. And this is your exit interview, but I brought up the bacon because he came over. Was that last week? Or it was very recent. He came over for an exit interview of sorts because the agenda is coming to an end.

He's got a new deal. He'll do a little like podcasting. We had lunch about two weeks ago. You got the full update there. Okay. So he told me he's, he's going to be making about 75% less money is what he, uh, he told me he's going to be doing at least 75% less work as well. But I asked him about you and here's what Steve Bacon said.

Tom Harrington and I have been pals for a long time and he is one of three Harrington siblings that I have worked with during my so-called career. Not only Tom but also Beth Harrington who did entertainment reporting at CBLT when I was there more than 30 years ago and Denise Harrington who was Queens Park reporter for CBLT when I was there. And so he's, you know, there's one of three, I've worked with three Harrington kids and I'm sure there are more and maybe I will look forward to working with one of them someday. So just so I understand here, how many members of the Sanderlings work for the CBC at some

point? Actually, well, the two sisters he mentioned, Beth and Denise and I were in the group and my brother Paul also worked for CBC. So at one point we were all working for CBC in like the late 80s, early 90s. My brother Paul, he was a reporter for many years. Then he became a host of Land and Sea, the broadcast that people may be familiar with in St. John's. Then he went to the mainland, came to Ottawa and was the executive producer of, or was

the senior producer of their Ottawa Supper Hour TV newscast. Then he became executive producer of On the Road Again, that was Wayne Rostad's travel show. He did that for several years. Then he ran Marketplace for five years, long before I got there. Then he went into CBC Sports and did documentaries there for CBC and then retired and left and became Brian Williams producer at CTV and TSN. The time here in London is 221 local time. So there were four of us. Denise went on to become a national reporter on Parliament Hill. Beth was a budget cut at CBC in the mid 90s, but she was, well, her history with CBC also

goes back a long way. And so yeah, so there were four of us and I was doing sports in Montreal at the time. So four of us were at CBC all in different areas of expertise all in television. I think that's a fun fact for people I'm not sure I knew that for example. I don't think it came up in the first may not have the first chat Yeah, but you know Payken. He's a forever a journalist. He's filling me in here. Good guy and a great broadcaster Well, I was gonna ask you about the fuck. So I know you're friends of him So how will how will Tom be unbiased? But what, what do you think of Steve Paikin as a broadcaster? I think he is a Canadian icon, even though he works mostly in Ontario, because most people

in Canada don't see him every night, like they can in Ontario. But they saw him moderating a federal debate recently. And he did, and he did them several more years ago as well. Steve is very capable. he's very smart, he's also completely self-effacing, it's never about him when he does his programs. Like he'll do interviews and you don't even know who did them, which I think is a testament

to how good you are when you all, it's like in a hockey game, you don't know who repped the game, all you know was a really well-read game, and Steve's talked, he's used that analogy a lot too. He doesn't want to be known for the guy who ran the debate and was all about him. Plus he's a huge sports fan, which is how I first got to know him because I was on basically studio

two as a sports panelist back in the early 2000s or like over 20 years ago. That's how we became friends and his passion for sports and he takes every opportunity to wear sports paraphernalia when he doesn't have to wear a suit. And so he's just a really well-rounded broadcaster and a good person. So his three sports, sorry, his three teams are the Hamilton Ticats, Oski Wiwi. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that. I can't remember the rules, but I just did. The Toronto Maple Leafs. So Steve and I have that in common. It's the one thing we have in common there. And the Boston Red Sox. What's your favorite sport to watch on the television? I would say, you know, this would probably upset some people,

but I watch hockey, but I'm not a Leafs fan, sorry. I wasn't born in Toronto and I grew up a Rangers fan and then kind of lost interest after they won the cup in 94. So my two favorite sports to watch and teams to watch are Liverpool Football Club in the Premier League and the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL. I've been a Chiefs fan since 1972, don't call me a bandwagoner, I've been a Chiefs fan since

72 now. So I went through a lot of frustration before they came through and won in 2020 and a Liverpool fan I became because me and a bunch of friends go to England every couple of years to watch football matches and we decided to pick teams back in 2008 or 2009 and I picked Liverpool because I grew up reading about the great Liverpool teams of the 70s. So those are my two that I thought maybe because you you like the Beatles. Well, I do like the Beatles for sure. But this was a good year for Liverpool. It was they won the Premier League. Yeah. And the Chiefs got blasted in the Super Bowl trying to make do the three P but I'd rather be in the game than not. So I was upset disappointed

in the loss but you know two out of three ain't bad. You've had enough success lately. Yeah, exactly. They hit us all anyway now. So, wow. OK, so shout out to Steve Bacon. If you're listening, you mentioned Marketplace earlier. So I just want to play a little teaser here. This week on Marketplace, they are harassing us.

This is Sam from Duck Cleaning Service. Telemarketers. From hell. Sexually harassing people over the phone? That's disgusting. We're out to catch them breaking the rules. I'm on the do not call list. And boldly go where we've never gone before.

Taking you undercover, half a world away, inside a call center that might have called you and we take your complaints to Canada's watchdog we've talked to Canadians on the doing our call list they're frustrated and exasperated and angry Marketplace every time I, you know, Marketplace, I think of Peter Silverman on city TV, who I grew up watching with Silverman helps. And he would say, watch it buddy.

Yeah, I've heard of him, uh, having not lived in Toronto in that period, I didn't see him on the air, but I'd heard the name. Right. Uh, no longer with us. Uh, but we missed the great Peter Silverman but you were at Marketplace for five years. Yes, I was. I had been doing sports for many years although I had been doing lots of other work as well like on The Current and As

It Happens and programs like that and then Marketplace approached me if I was interested in working for the program back in 2010. I was getting ready to go to the World Cup in South Africa to cover that for the national. And I just done the Vancouver Whistler Olympics. I was in Whistler in 2010 for CBC as well, CBC News in those days. So and yes they came they approached me about joining the program and because Wendy Mesley had left and I was flattered and of course I had history a little bit because knowing my brother had run the show 20 years before and I was flattered. And of course I had history a little bit, because knowing my brother had run the show 20

years before, um, and I was flattered and then, give me a little insight story as to what happened with that job. Yes, please. So I was, they were trying to recruit me and, uh, we were talking outside the building and sort of on the QT and this sort of thing. I was working at the national at the time.

Um, and then in June of 2010, I got a call from the producer saying they were going to be posting the position, which is what you do at CBC, it's called like posting it, and then boarding people, which is the job interview, that's the term CBC uses. So it's literally a board, like a panel of like five, six people who ask you questions. And I said, well, I'm not gonna do that.

I've done multiple boards in my career, I've gotten the job, not gotten the job. I said, you are the ones who recruited me. Um, I, uh, I'm not, there's nothing more in a job interview you're going to learn you don't already know. So I'm going to pass and I'm going to have to go to the world cup. I'm going to be there for over a month and you do what you have to do.

If you find somebody you like, no problem. If you don't call me back. And, uh, I'd never done anything like that in my career, but I'd kind of had it. CBCs can be very bureaucratic. And, um, so I decided to do that. I went to the world cup, um, and when they came back to Toronto, my wife and I, and took our daughter to New York for five days for a trip.

And then I got back to Toronto and I got a call and they said, um, are you still interested? And I said, sure. And he says, okay, job's yours. Wow. Yeah. It worked. Yeah. And, uh, well, it worked or not, but I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I Toronto and I got a call and they said, um, are you still interested? And I said, sure.

And he said, okay, job's yours. Wow. Yeah. It worked. Yeah. And, uh, well, I haven't worked or not, but I just, I just wasn't going to do my, subject myself to that kind of.

I'd say it worked. Yeah. So in those days, marketplace, the year I joined 2010, 11, uh, marketplace was in kind of a rough spot. It had been a Titanic program in the 70s and 80s, like huge audiences and like a brand that was nationally known. By 2010, it was in trouble.

The year I was on, we did nine episodes, normal TV seasons 22, 23. So there was some pressure as well to keep the show moving around on the schedule. So that year, the show was on Fridays at at 8 30 after Rick Mercer's rerun, which never made sense to me because why would you sit through a rerun if you saw it and come back and watch it? It's 8 30. So they flipped at eight o'clock, which was smart. That's the hour to tune in prime time. Well, that year, I'm not saying it's because I was there, but the year that the ratings went up 35%. That's my first season.

That's a jump. Yeah. And the second season, we started hitting a million viewers in an episode. It was still not, it's still like a half a truncated season. Season three, the CBC decided to give marketplace back a full season, which never happens. They, once they start pulling away, right. Once you start losing the beach head, if so to speak of being a regular network program, it's hard to get that back. So they went, in the third year I was there, the show went from nine episodes to 23,

which I'm very proud of. I don't, you know, I'm not, you know, we had a great show, fabulous creative producers. Erica Johnson was the co-host at the time. Like we had a really good team group, very, very talented and hustled and very creative. But I'd like to think that I had, I helped, um, that, uh, there were episodes that we had that

struck a million week after week, which also hadn't happened in eight, in years. And so by year three marketplace was back. And by the time I left in 2015, it was one of the most popular, it was in the top 10 in Canada, actually. So why do you leave in 2015? Well, you know, when I, when they approached me about the job and I was excited to be doing television

on a big network show because marketplace was a big brand, but it was consumer journalism and which was something, first of all, I knew nothing about. Second of all, it's a bit like a, it's very narrow, even narrower than sports in my opinion, at least in sports, I covered all kinds of issues. I did documentaries on doping and spousal abuse and fighting in hockey and insurance in the, horse racing, you name it. And I covered the Olympics and I did

Docs and Donovan Bailey and Clara Hughes, people like that, so I'd had a wide range. I recorded with Donovan yesterday. Go on, okay, we're supposed to do lunch at some point because we were kind of buds for a while. You want me to broker that deal? Sure thing. Anyway, so I had done a lot of different things in sports, a lot of kinds of subject

matter and that kind of thing, a lot of different assignments. So the consumer thing kind of worried me, but so I said to myself, I'll give myself five years, see how I feel after five years of doing it. And if I still like it, great. If I'm kind of getting bored or whatever, I'll think about it. So by year four, I was already having those thoughts. Not that I hated or anything like that. It was a lot of fun and we were doing really well, but the material, the story, the subject matter

was becoming a bit for me, repetitive. And so by season five, I was kind of done and I really wanted something different. And at the time, Bernie McNamee, who you've had on your program, uh, loved my chat with Bernie. Yeah. He's a tremendous guy and hell of a broadcaster.

So he was retiring as the voice of the world this hour. Now in those days, world this hour was 10 minutes. Not the, it was on the hour in the afternoons, but it was like, we'll report it at 10 minutes as opposed to four and a half, like the hourlies do now, or the world this hour does now. So anyway, he was leaving, he was retiring, and the CBC news management offered me the position,

and I took it. So that's how I ended up there. I speaking of audio bits I searched for and couldn't find because I wanted to play it on this program. Okay, so I wanted to find your sign off your so your last day of work. What was it? March 28? What was your last?

Yeah, March 28th, March 28th, 2025. The world this hour. There's a time. Actually, your world tonight. That's the six o'clock show. Yeah. Okay. I did that on Friday. That Friday nights. I did the world this hour of Monday through Thursday. Yeah. Okay. But so I just, I was just trying to find your, your sign off, uh, came up empty. And I mean, to me it's like, Oh, well this is a pot. I literally could show you my phone right now. Like I'm subscribed to these shows as a podcast,

but it seems like only X more recent shows are in the feed and everything else gets like deleted from the server. Not your problem now. But anyways, I desperately tried. But what I did find, and I'm just gonna play it. I actually found this, I think it was a Facebook group for like fans of the CBC. So this is not your final sign up,

but I do want to ask you about this. For Friday, February 14th, I'm Tom Harrington. Thanks for listening tonight. Stay safe and take care of each other. So the stay safe and take care of each other, was that a COVID thing? Yes. So I'm not a big into finding signature, finding signature things to say like, like,

And that's the way I see it. Right. Right. Walter Cronkite or Lord Robertson and, uh, and, uh, and, uh, and even Bernie, like Bernie, when he was doing world this hour, he would do sign-offs, uh, or at least sign-ons. It's such a, such a time in like Bonavista, New

Finland or whatever, those sort of things. That was him. And I wasn't going to try to imitate that. So I didn't do anything like that in, um, in the first number of years I was doing the program. But, um, during COVID, um, where it was brutal and depressing, uh, and particularly doing, um, and also I was going into work with a handful of people during COVID, like the building was virtually empty, but we did,

we kept broadcasting from the building. So I would go into work every day. And, um, at one point, I can't remember when it was, but there must, it must have been, uh, an event in particular that would sort of struck me as like, go for the love of God kind of thing, more of this. Um, I made a Canadian story about maybe a tragic death or something.

I don't recall. All I know is I just decided to say that to stay safe and take care of each other. And, um, I told the senior producer that I was going to do it. And he, he was, he was skeptical, probably because things like that can sound kind of model and it can drive and all that sort of thing. But I, if there's anything I pride myself on Mike is that I, I,

I feel like people think that the kind of guy they hear on the radio is the kind of guy they'd meet on the street and that they, like, I'm a real person. And I'm like, so trying to be a human trying to be human on the broadcast is a big part of my of my belief in doing it properly so I didn't think I'd be taking a chance by signing kind of well people's control souls in it like they did like isn't I did not know how much it would affect people but the way it did but it really did and it's reassuring to have that familiar voice. Like this is why I like, you know, and be it, I don't know, we'll pick on FOTM Peter Mansbridge, but somebody you're just comfortable with when something terrible is

happening or something, getting the news from that familiar, trusted voice, uh, is invaluable. I think so. I don't think it's something when you're doing it, oddly enough, it's a bit like what you're doing now. You put a podcast out there, you're assuming people are listening to it because what was the, what would be the point?

I'm not recording this time. Oh, okay. Great. Take two. Um, so when, so when you're putting out a newscast day in, day out, hour after hour, like I did with the world this hour and your world tonight, world at six, on Fridays, you're putting it out there because you want to inform people, but you really don't know how it's reaching or affecting people. It's a bit, it's not like you make something in a factory that you see at the end of the day or making it like there's a tangible outcome to your work day. Ours isn't tangible.

We just put it out there and hope people get the information. So you don't, on one level you don't really know if you're getting through. And I re there are times obviously when I hear things that there'd be posts on social media after the show, that were after the program, that I said something or whatever that were very kind and, but that was occasional, it wasn't constant. And, um, but when I announced my retirement, uh, and then did my last broadcast, the reactions, the comments were unbelievable.

There are people who wrote to me and said they were driving around listening to my last newscast. Some people said they were in tears and I go, oh my God, really? Like I me and said they were driving around listening to my last newscast. Some people said they were in tears and I go, Oh my God, really? Like I didn't think it was a rough period for so many, so many Canadians. Like we, you know, looking back now and we're

talking here in June, 2025, but he was tough. It was this pandemic. Oh yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. So I mean, the people were very emotional and there was that feeling of what's going to happen next. When can we get back to this normalcy we've had forever?

Yeah. Yeah. And I, and I think that's why it apparently it did stick and I didn't know if it would. And I know I've colleagues who, you know, who said that they, they, they felt they couldn't do it or they wouldn't, it wouldn't be in their personality. I felt it was kind of something I would kind of do in ordinary circumstances anyway, so it didn't seem like a stretch.

But the fact that it meant so much to people and it stuck and it made them feel a bit better about the situation, because I was saying it every Friday, and I only did it on The World at Six, I never did it on The World This Hour, I'd say thanks for listening on The World This Hour, but only on World at Six, and I only did it on the world at six and never did it in the world this hour I'd say thanks for listening on the world this hour but I would on the only on world at six and I did it or the world tonight if I was doing it for a month I did it every night if I was doing it Friday nights

only that that period of time I did it then either way it was always present and and so that's why incorporated into the end of my final newscast as well and so people went on March 28th yes yeah, yeah. I brought a sort of- The one I'd play right now if I could find. I know, I'm kind of surprised. You got it in your back pocket? Yeah, I don't. I'm hopeless at that kind of stuff.

And I was going, because you know, be it Reddit or there were different threads where people were talking about Tom Herring. Yeah. Beloved journalist Tom Herrington hangs up his headphones. And- Presses the button off. Right. And I kept thinking, well, somebody,

cause that's the kind of thing I would do. I actually disappointed myself. Cause just for posterity, like you'd archive it and you'd be like, maybe you'll throw it on your YouTube channel or like the final sign off of Tom Harrington's career. So the fact that I couldn't find it, it ticked me off that in real time,

I didn't have the wherewithal to archive it. It is my role, Tom Harrington, to archive these things. Yeah. You know what? The only thing I might have tried, um, was CBC radio archives exists and it is accessible to the public. I believe, um, it might've been there, but that would take some time to find it now. I think if, and I'm going to guarantee it is there, even though it may, maybe I do find it. I'll play it on a future episode. Okay. Fair enough. Trying to make thanks. So to switch channels here back to the Olympics for a moment here. Maybe, maybe worth the posterity. Well, you know, if I do find it, I'll play it on a future episode of Toronto Mike. Thanks.

So to switch channels here, back to the Olympics for a moment here. So were you at the gold medal game where Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal? I was not because we didn't have the rights. That the games in Vancouver were CTVs games and TSN. So we weren't, I was there, I was in Whistler actually, when the game was being played that Sunday.

And working on something else actually for the national that night, you know, when you're not the rights holder and you know, CTV knows cause for years they weren't. And uh, when, when you're not the rights holder, your access is really limited. Not only to the video, uh, you can't use most of it. 90% of you can't use it all. No, you got to show like that still or whatever. You show stills and things like that. So you have to, or you can use a little bit with permission and with. No, you gotta show like that still or whatever. You show stills and things like that. So you have to, or you can use a little bit

with permission and with the credit, you know, crediting all over it. So it was a real challenge in 2010 was the first games we'd done since 94, since CTV had gotten out of the games was they had 94 Little Hammer and then they were done. So we had Atlanta 96. That's when I started doing the games.

Okay, so I'm gonna get back to 96. One thing I's when i started doing the games okay so i'm going to get back to ninety six one thing i know is when i watch the four nations to react in i noticed that the rogers presentation okay and i know is the which they had you know they were showing all the iconic canadian moments you know paul henderson sure and maria leviou you know you know that you know the regs are not in

the ones that they can you could tell when it came to cross the we never saw footage like you know it's basically like all Crosby, we never saw footage. Like, you know, it's basically like, Oh, they can't, they can't show footage of the golden gold because it was noticeably absent. It's also, it's, it's probably, um, CTV, but mostly the IOC, the international Olympic committee is really difficult on rights. Like they own this stuff for basically an eternity and getting access to it is extremely difficult.

And they're, uh, they're not exactly under the radar over there at Roger Sports Net. So they got to be careful there where I maybe have to be less careful. But I do want to ask you about 96 here because I mentioned I do produce Donovan Bailey's podcast, which is called Running Things of Donovan Bailey. Cool. Co-hosted by Jason Portwondo. We recorded last night, about 8. last night, we recorded an episode and I'm wondering were you there for the two gold medals that Donovan Bailey won in Atlanta? I was not. So this was my first games for for CBC Sports and which that in itself was a huge moment in my career but in terms of those two races I watched

the first one that when Donovan set the world record and won the gold in 94 in our hotel because getting access to the building and plus I had to, I think I had to like a shoot first thing the next morning. Anyway, it was just logistically not that was too difficult. And the Saturday he of the relay, I was at another venue working, I think, and I couldn't, I don't even think I saw the race in live real time I did see the 100 final in real time on TV but not the the relay and the thing is a little tidbit here so when CBC at least does the Olympics the broadcast is CBC's feed is pumped into the athletes village so the Canadians

can athletes can watch it so they want when they're not playing or competing they can sit back and watch their fellow teammates compete at the village. And the same thing with the hotel. The hotels we all stayed at also have the CBC feed so we can see what our people are up to. Okay, now I have a question. Now that you're not with the CBC, I can ask you. So what were the rules when you were at the CBC? What were the rules if you were asked to appear on a non-CBC show. So I'm curious, like, is there like a process at CBC where you need to ask, I don't know, you file a request or something that will be either accepted or denied? Let's be very specific here. Let's talk about Toronto Mic'd, okay?

Okay. So you were on Toronto Mic'd. Yes. And I was going to pull the exact date to be smart. Yeah. August 2021. Right. How could we forget episode 896? It was a great one. So did you need to request permission to be smart. Yeah. August 2021. Right. How could we forget episode eight 96? It was a great one. So did you need to request permission to be, uh, in my backyard to be on my, my airwaves, if you will. Yes. So every, every appearance that's not a CBC appearance has to be approved by CBC news management. And so that involves, that could be anything from your podcast to making a speech somewhere to appearing in even like, you know, like in a different, in some kind of different venue, uh, that, or even appearing

on what would be considered a competitors, um, um, program. So all those things had to be considered and there are rules about what you can and cannot say. They don't like, they know what you're talking about politics. You don't like talking like internet, you know, national politics or whatever. They don't want you talking about internal CBC workings, um, policies, things like that. And so there are some pretty tight guidelines. It's the same as with like, for example, um, you have something called the journal that the, uh, journalism, practice standards and practices, JSP, which governs everything that we do,

everything from hidden cameras to social media and how CBC journalists that not just reporters, but producers, camera people, everybody has to conduct themselves when they're working for the CBC. So there are a lot of guidelines, people don't actually realize that and they're actually public, you can go on the website and look at them. And so we are guided by pretty stringent policies about what we can and can't say. I don't know if you saw that story the other day about Terry Moran, the ABC News reporter. Yes I Yes, I did. So if I had posted something like that about say the Prime Minister and or a senior advisor without CBC knowing, I just posted on my feed on this late Saturday night, a drunk tweet

or whatever, I would be suspended at least and potentially fired. It'd be hard to be fired because like the CBC, if you're a staff person, the union gets involved and there's a process that could prevent you from being fired. It'd be hard to be fired because like the CBC, if you're a staff person, the union gets involved and there's a process that could prevent you from being fired. The fact of the matter is, I'm not surprised that happened to him, honestly. I know people that say, oh, he said what the truth is. You know what? Half America voted for the guy. So it's not necessarily their truth. And he's a national correspondent. You can't really do that. It's the optics, right? Yeah. So I mean, so getting back to your point, yes, I had to get approval to be on your program and any other podcast or any other program or any other publication, even if I was being interviewed for a newspaper article, those sorts of things,

and I, I'd have to get approval from the CBC. Okay. Obviously they said yes, because we recorded that episode and you is what about like accepting gifts? Again, under the JSP, I'm not allowed. And what about like accepting gifts? Again, under the JSP, I'm not allowed. So there are limits. You can, there's literally a dollar limit on certain things, but I can't like take, I couldn't take free tickets to a hockey game or something like that. From a sponsor, like it's one thing to do with your brother-in-law or whatever, a friend. But if you're dealing with a, if a sponsor or something offered me, I'd say no.

If I was given a gift, usually what happened in this goes back decades when I was at CBC, if I was given something like, let's say, maybe a fancy mug or something for him, I would donate that to this Christmas draw. So, and all the gifts, all the swag, all the graft that CBC reporters and people got would be rounded up at the end of the year and there'd be a Christmas draw

and you could regift it to somebody else. But it wasn't, technically speaking, it to somebody else. But it wasn't technically speaking it wasn't yours. So it all got thrown into a pot. So there's a dollar limit, right? Like you can accept under. Yeah. So a mug would be under. But what do you know? Do you know what that number is? I can't remember what it is, but either way. Are we talking like $200? Oh God, no, less than that. Much less than that. Yeah.

Like $50? Maybe. Okay, okay. Under a hundred for sure. No, I'm just, and again, I'm just curious because I give every guest, uh, you know, what I give them. I give them a large lasagna from Palma pasta. Yep. I have one for you today. Yes, I see that. Thank you. No, it's, uh, yeah, it's in my freezer. Okay. For sure.

One of this one we're running a bit until yeah, that one's just for the cameras. Yeah. But, uh, I do have fresh craft beer for you from Great Lakes brewery. Right. And I have a book for you on Toronto Maple Leafs baseball. They play at Christie Pitts. Nice, I know they do. Everybody do a Leafs game? We did a, I have not, we did a documentary

when I did a show called Sports Journal at CBC back in the late 90s, early 2000s. And we did a piece on the history of the club and on Jack. Domenico. Jack Domenico. Yeah, they named the field after him. Yeah, well we, there after him. There he is. So he was actually featured.

He was still around then. So yeah, so the Leafs history I know very well indeed. Yeah. Rob Butler, by the way, told me that Jack would suppress his batting average so nobody ever batted over 500. So he told him, so this is very recently, Rob Butler, who now manages the Trommate, but they have new ownership now, and now they wisely sponsor this very program because they're wise people.

I got to throw out the first pitch a couple of weeks ago. Oh nice, oh I think that's why you're posted on that. You can find that on YouTube. You get a catch up here, okay. CNN first pitch loss has changed here. But like he said he had a stretcher, he went 12 for 13 and his average went down. Oh Jack, he was something else.

He was something else. I also heard, sorry, he would pass around like a, you'd be all sitting on the hill at Christie Pitts there and they pass around some kind of a cup or something for people to donate money or whatever. That no longer happens everybody. So it was a mom and pop operation basically for decades. It was incredible, tremendous. So incredible baseball there.

I just urge you to go there, but these are the types. And also, I mean, I don't know what the value of this is. I think it's more money than you'd ever imagine, but this is a Ridley funeral home measuring tape for you, Tom, courtesy of Ridley funeral home. So to make sure I fit in the box when I'm ready to go. Yeah, you got to measure yourself for the casket. You get a kiss casket or something like that.

Okay, so beer, lasagna, book, measuring tape. I'm gonna say in my head, I'm gonna do quick math here and say, if you're looking at, let's say that's $80 worth of stuff, you'd have to say no, thank you. Maybe, so remember, you offer me this last time I was here, you remember, obviously I had pasta, I didn't have the, there wasn't the book.

I didn't take the beer cause I don't drink beer. I don't like beer, even though I was a sports guy and hate beer. Uh, but I did take the pasta cause it was whatever that was worth. And I, I don't think I even disclosed that I took the pasta and frankly, they wouldn't have really upset them so much. Let me know if they do. It's not like it's really ultimately it's about preventing much larger conflicts of interest. Sure.

Of which, you know, we've had a few over the years at CBC. So it's things that the higher profile stuff, a box of pasta is not gonna really upset a lot of people, but the kind of stuff that's red meat for the opponents of the CBC, that's the kind of thing you have to avoid. Right, and now that you're retired,

I can get all the real talk on all this, right? Like I feel like I can ask you the question. I will shout out FOTM Simon Dingley. Do you know Simon? Simon's a buddy of mine. Okay. So Simon came by, I think his last day was Friday. I listened to it.

May 3rd, actually 2024. Okay. But he dropped by on like the Wednesday. I want to say he had two days left before he was retiring, right? Him and Jeannie Lear having the time of their lives. I see these photos on social media. I had a good time.

Okay. And he said, even though I have two days left at the CBC, I will not accept these gifts. That's the kind of guy Simon is. Didn't accept any of the gifts. Yeah. So here he and him turning down beer, and he won't mind me saying this is an extraordinary sacrifice. Simon, now that you're retired for, you know, over a year now, come by and I'll get you your Great Lakes beer. Hey, let me do this quick plug of something exciting happening on June 26th, and then we'll get right back to that.

I want to invite you, Tom, and you can bring the whole family and anyone listening is invited. Simon, bring Jeannie. I think they live nearby for goodness sakes. Great Lakes Brewery, which is 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard, which is down the street from the Costco in South Etobicoke, not very far from like Royal York and Queensway. That's what we're talking about here. They're going to host us for TMLX 19, the 19th Toronto Miked Listener Experience from 6 to 9 PM on June 26th. That's a Thursday. It's coming up and not only is your first beer on the house, courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery, butma pasta is gonna feed everybody who comes nice like free food free drink

No ticket required come by hang out say hi meet some fellow FOTMs that are in attendance that's happening June 26 tmlx 19 19 1919 that's Paul Hardcastle. Do you remember this song? The average age of the Vietnam soldier was 25, but he was 19. 19. That's a deep dive. Yeah. Paul Hardcastle. Okay. So where do I pick this up? We were talking about the Olympics. I'm just going to check my nose because I know exactly how I wanted to close this. Oh yes. A few questions on your retirement. One is, are you friendly with Heather Hisscox?

I am. She's retiring. She is in November, I believe. Yeah. So again, I'm going to put you on the spot here, Tom, but I feel like now that your second visit, we're like buds now. Okay. We're buddies now. Could you somehow introduce me to Heather so I could invite her maybe this fall she comes over for her exit interview. Well, she won't do it until she's done. I'm sure. So it'd probably be,

probably probably be December. If that the earliest, I can wait till December. While I'm on this point, did Scott Russell come home? No, but he said he would. Okay. And then he became like, what is he in charge of a university or something? Yeah. That takes him out of town a little bit, but yeah. So I would have, I would have zoomed with him, but he agreed to an exit interview. I did recently have a fantastic visit from Devin Haru.

Oh yeah. And it was, he, we were talking about summer Macintosh and I think it was last night. Yes. Basically she did everything he predicted. She did everything that, uh, Devin predicted she would do. Right. So three world records in five days. We're talking about just sky's the limit and now working with the coach of Michael Phelps.

Right. So anyways, what's happening in summer is unbelievable. I can't wait for the next Olympics. But Scott Russell was a highly desired, sought after guest of mine who said yes and then disappeared into the abyss. Okay. So I can plant the seed again with him. Plant some seeds for me here, brother.

Like Heather, I'll do it after she's done. Obviously I could do it in 2026 if she wants. Scott Russell, it's not too late. Let's make all this happen. Sure. And they're both, um, uh, Scott's a Western grad like me. And I think so is Heather too. Heather worked in London, Ontario.

So, um, yeah, no, I think, uh, Heather would be a blast. He's a tremendous, tremendous career for CBC. So, um, I'll, I'll do my best, Michael. Do you want to perhaps shout out, I'm just curious, like along the way you're 44 years at CBC. So I'll do my best, Michael. Do you want to perhaps shout out, I'm just curious, like along the way, you're 44 years at CBC. I'm wondering, who were your mentors? Like who is it that you looked up to

on your way up the last 44 years that maybe we could shout out here? Oh boy, I would say... Tough questions here, Tom Harrington. Yeah, I want to say, because 44 years is a lot. Um, there were, there are people in Montreal, uh, broadcasts as I work with who were also friends at Ivan Reno, who did the late night news in Montreal with me for several years,

really talented broadcaster and absolutely freaking hilarious. Um, we did, we'd made mayhem at late night and had a, our late night show was higher rated than our six o'clock show actually. Um, and he, so he's a friend rather than the mentor, I guess. Um, I had, um, in radio, I hate to say, but sadly, uh, began in Peter Leo, who actually died during COVID on his birthday in 2020.

Uh, Peter, um, he was the, he was running world this hour when I arrived in 2015 and I was coming from TV and you know, radio and TV there's there, we get along, but there's always a little, sometimes a bit of tension. So the TV guy kind of comes in a big foots of radio and comes in to do the radio job. It can be a little bit uneasy. At least I was worried it would be and it wasn't and mostly because of him and we became

really, really good friends. We used to go to TFC games together and we we talked to NFL all the time. And he made me the backup host on the World at Six and put me on election specials. And I really believed in my talent. And surprisingly, Mike, then a lot of people were like that for me at the CBC. I didn't have a lot of real mentors who took me under their wing and sort of guided me towards places. Most of what I did, I earned. I didn't have people on my shoulder saying, get this guy, get this guy. So Peter stands out because he was one of the few champions that I had. And that was late in my career.

Um, so over the years there, I'll give you, I'll tell you a story though. Very beginning of my career, literally the beginning in Calgary. So I had started in May of 81 and the idea was during the summer, you sort of check in with the bosses to see how you're doing. I was 23 years old, ran out of school. That was working pretty regularly getting stories on the air. And one day the, the senior producer brought me in for a meeting with the assignment editor. The assignment editor was new and she had worked for the senior producer for a

long time and wanted, I think wanted to impress him. So she was really being hard on me. I thought it was just me saying, I like, maybe it's not just me, but it turned out it was. And my colleagues in the newsroom noticed it and it was really difficult. It made, it sort of made me feel nervous and my confidence was shaking. I'm trying to prove myself. So then one day, I think it was July, she, um, he called us into a meeting, just the three of us to watch a show, uh, a documentary, a five minute piece or whatever.

And it was, I think that was the ruse because he really wanted to get us in the room. After it was over, we talked a bit about the story and then I said, well now that I have you here, part of this program is to get some feedback of how I'm doing. And the assignment editor cut me to ribbons in front of him. Basically said, like I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't think I had, I don't know how you, you're not, you're not really a committed journalist. You're not doing the things you're supposed to be. Anyway, a lot of it went out of my head because I got that ringing ear when you're having a panic attack. I was almost in tears because I thought this was my career.

And you're 23? Yeah. Yeah. And so I thought to myself, I'm done. And, uh, it was pretty bad. And the, uh, so I walked shoveled out of there and spent the rest of the day kind of careening around wondering what I'm going to do next. Sell shoes, I guess, do something. It's not going to be, um, going to be doing television news and the next day I was called into the boss's office and he closed the door and I said, okay, here we go. And, um, he had some tape of my,

some of my stories and that I'd done that summer so far. And then he turned to me and he said, you know, give me some tips. And he said, I think you've got a lot of talent. I think you're really gonna go far and just keep doing what you're doing kind of thing. Vaguely, that's the, and I nearly cried. I nearly cried in the office

because I thought my career was over. And he really pulled, he literally pulled me out from under the water and saved me. And I've never forgotten that. And I mean, I'm doing the math. If you've been, if you're 67 now, that's the very beginning of your career. Yes, it was like literally the first two months I was on the job. Yeah. And he saved, like he saved my career. So there are moments like that, that I don't forget, both bad and good. And they sort of shape you as a person and as at least my line of work, a journalist,

and also shapes your outlook on the industry. I certainly had a much more cynical, I'll say, view of the business. Like three years later, I was in Montreal doing radio sports. A year, just a year after I arrived, I lost my job in a budget, in budget cuts in the December of 84, two weeks before Christmas. I got a letter, I got a note saying I'm

not going to be, I'm going to be out of a job as of March 31st, 85. And out of the blue, I've been in Montreal about a year, a little over a year, doing radio sports and having a blast and kicking ass, I thought, but I was going to lose my job. And then a few months later I got it back because the Montreal Expos, remember them, And the Canadians and the Montreal Concordes football team and McGill University and Concordia and Bishop's University all wrote

letters to the CBC's leadership saying they should not cut this position. It was a radio sports job, afternoon job. So I do the sports in the afternoon show and do game coverage at night for the morning show. I was just working my ass off and having a blast and doing pretty well. Anyway, they saved me. They saved the job. Two weeks before I was, you know, uh, just working my ass off and having a blast and doing pretty well anyway. They saved me. They saved the job two weeks before I was supposed to leave. The job was reinstated. Wow. Yeah. Do you believe in miracles? Sometimes that was, that was one. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Now I'm wondering if, uh, there are any moments we can shout out on her, cause I know how I want to close, I actually want to close on a musical note. Are there any moments through these 44 years that really stick out as you reflect back

on your, I'm sure you've done some reflections since you stepped away in March, 2025, but any moments, any particular stories you worked or any, anything you want to shout out from this 44 year career at the CBC? Yeah, I would say The first one that comes to mind I tell a story a lot is my first games in Atlanta in 96 So when I was there, I was doing feature pieces with Scott Russell Chris Cuthbert Scott hook Uh, we're all doing items like feature pieces that would run during the coverage and we're also preparing for our sports for those games.

And, um, my initial assignment was to do field hockey the first week and a flat water canoe kayak the second week. Then the week of the week before the game started the Monday before the game started, I was told I was changed from field hockey to softball women's softball, which was a new sport in the games. And Canada was favored to win the gold medal and they decided we were going to have you do that instead. Now here's the thing. There was favored to win the gold medal. And they decided we were going to have you do that instead. Now here's the thing. There was no research done.

I didn't even know all the teams in the tournament. I had no color commentator and we weren't going to be in the ballpark. We're going to be in a booth smaller than your little area here by my, like on a TV screen about the size of your monitor, calling the games off the TV live. So I said, okay. So I spent, while I was cutting my stories, I spent the week trying to find someone to work with me. I did find a guy named Darrell Joy, worked for Softball Canada. I got some information on the teams are playing and the the stars of all

the Americans, the Chinese Taipei was another one. Cameron, all the teams, I think Dominican Republic was one, Canada, the United States. So fast forward to the Friday, the middle Friday of the games, Canada was playing the United States in a big game, key game in the tournament. And it was supposed to start at 7.30 Eastern time in Columbus, Georgia. And remember I was in a hallway,

a tiny little phone booth size booth in the hallway in the broadcast center in Atlanta. And by the way, I'd lost my color guy because he wasn't allowed to work in the broadcast because he worked for Softball Canada. So I was doing this by myself. So the Friday night, there was a, the game was supposed to start at 730

and they were gonna come to me to do play by play and do some coverage. We waited and waited, rain delay, rain delay. Games didn't start. It finally started at quarter to 12, quarter to midnight Eastern time in Columbus. So we signed on at midnight. And in those, during the games they were doing like a, uh, Brian was hosting,

Brian Williams was hosting a live highlight show from midnight until 2 AM Eastern, but it was on in prime time in BC, but it was actually broadcast across the country. So we got the wee hours in Newfoundland, et cetera. So anyway, he signs on a midnight saying, you know, bonus coverage, softball, live softball from Columbus, Georgia, here's Tom Harrington. So I called that game from midnight until 1.30 in the morning

by myself off the TV across Canada. And that was my first Olympics and my first week at the Olympics. And so at one point I was, it was in a commercial break and I had a moment where I remembered as being a kid watching the Munich Olympics when I was 14 and thinking to myself, I want to do that someday. I can do that. I could, I'd like to work at the Olympics.

Right. And I started getting emotional and then they, in my era here, 30 seconds and suddenly snap out of it. Um, and I pulled myself together because I was thinking about it. I'd arrived and I signed off the game ended Canada lost the Americans. I came out of the little booth and the base off the game ended, Canada lost the Americans. I came out of the little booth and the place is empty except for the crew putting the late night show on. They sign off at 2 a.m. Eastern. They come out, the senior producer came out of the control room,

saw me in the hallway, walked over and hugged me and he said, they said, we couldn't believe what you were doing in there. Said, it was like we were all listening saying he sounds like he's in the ballpark. How's he doing this? And he's got nobody with him. He's calling him up the TV and as you know, I was cracking jokes and saying, Letterman's a rerun when you shoot, watch and solve. Well, I was doing all kinds of crazy stuff. I figure what, what chat, we know, what's there to lose. Anyway, it's one of that's certainly one of the top moments I'll ever have in my career.

Baptism by fire. Totally. Yeah. It's like, it's, it's working without it. It's on the high wire without a net, you know, and uh, I didn't know another one. If you want, I can give you another sports one. Yeah. Um, it's like it's it's working without it's on the high wire without a net, you know And I did another one if you want and give you another sports one. Yeah It's this is why did freestyle skiing, you know, the moguls and aerials things sort of thing for sports for like five years So in in 98 before the Nagano Olympics We did a bunch of World Cup events on CBC building up to the games because Canada was favored to win a whole bunch of medals in freestyle genre press are people like that and so we did the event in Montreux Blanc and on CBC building up to the games because Canada was favored to win a whole bunch of medals in freestyle, Jean-Luc Brassard, people like that.

And so we did the event in Mont-Tremblant and, um, the, it was the first time CBC was doing same day coverage of freestyle. They'd never done it. That's how big they, you know, they were literally investing in it. So it was Terry Liebel was the host, one of our Olympic hosts, Anna Fraser was the color

commentator and me. So we were on the hillside and it was during the ice storm in Quebec in 1998. Um, and so we were at Trompe-Lan, the power went out in Trompe-Lan. Um, and we were using generators from refer in cause our mobile side generators, anyway, long story short, we, they switched the schedule. So the moguls, which is what Brassard skis would be on the Sunday. Normally it's Saturday and the aerials are Sunday.

They flip the days. So on Saturday we recorded the it's Saturday and the aerials are Sunday. They flip the days. So on Saturday we recorded the aerial competition. Saturday night into the early morning on Sunday, we recorded the tracks for the, like to the play by play calling off tape, looking at it and calling it, recorded that. That first hour would run while we're recording

the second hour, which was the moguls at the same time. In other words, as soon as the aerials ended on tape, the tape of the moguls would then air. I don't know if I'm explaining that very well, but it's all on tape, but we're recording basically live. And we can't screw up. So it's a nice storm. We get to the booth, it's windy,

the wind is blowing the rain, the icy, the sleet into our booth. It's like our papers are all running, the ink is running, we can't read anything. And then just before, literally, it's like when these things, 30 seconds, we're going to start recording, the power goes out, the monitors go black, and so we can't see anything. So all we can see is the bottom of the hill. So the senior producer was in our ear and as the competitors came down the hill, he

would tell us who it was, we had the start list, and he'd say what trick they did. And so he would, then the color person would do parrot what he said and then I take them down the bottom of the hill when I could see them with my own eyes and across the finish line. We did that for all the entire finals. Live to tape basically. And you know what? You wouldn't have been able to tell the difference and so we signed that off, we run downstairs, we do a piece to camera with Terry to close the show on, the show goes on two hours live, boom, done. And that, I got a letter from the head of CBC Sports

about a week later saying, congratulating me on that, handling that situation. So those are the things in our line of work. It's when everything's going fine, it's, you know, any monkey can do it. It's when it's going down the chitter, that's when you find out if you got it. And I had it. That's one thing I always, people always said about me in my career,

nothing else was. If it's going to hell, let's have Tom on the chair. So I've always been proud of that. Well, you should be. That's awesome here. So by the way, you mentioned the softball in 96. I was thinking maybe I should, if you don't know already that there's a woman pitching for the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team this season. I don't know if you're aware of this. Yeah. Ayame Soto, who's a Japanese phenom. She's been, I've seen her pitch myself, my own eyes, three times now.

Two of those three times she was lights out. She got lit up a bit in the second appearance I saw her make, but because she doesn't have a lot of velocity on the fastball, but that ball's got some movement to it. She's a very effective pitcher. No reason why they can't throw a curve or a screwball or anything else. Right. Exactly.

So it's been kind of an, an interest in this can be a woman's baseball league starting up, I think it might be next year, uh, that this all ties together. I had this, this was also in the Rob Butler episode I teased earlier, but, uh, just interesting. You go to Christie Pitts and watch Ayami Soto, Soto pitch for the Leafs. Awesome. Pretty cool. OK, so I mentioned there, Tram, Maple Leafs baseball. That means I can just remind everybody that the most recent episode of Toronto,

Mike, before this one is Al Grego kicking out the Jams. Al's actually turning 50 years old tomorrow. So happy birthday to Al the big five. Oh, and Al, the big five oh. And Al, of course, he's the host, the award winning host of Yes We Are Open, which just dropped all the episodes from season eight. And if you want inspiring stories

from small business owners, Al went to Regina, Saskatchewan. Tom, how many times in your life do you think you've been to Regina, Saskatchewan? Once. Did you enjoy your experience in Regina, Saskatchewan? I did. I was only there for a couple of days. I was shooting I think for, I think I was shooting a documentary for sports. I've been to Saskatoon, been to Regina, been to Swift Current, Prince Albert, I think. Yeah. Well

Regina is where the Rough Riders play. Indeed. Yeah. No, I used to, that's the other thing I did is that's, you know, again talking about... Well we're looking back here. Yeah. So it's like, you know, even though I worked at CBC for 44 years, I had multiple careers at the CBC. I did so many different things. I, you know, I did, um, I did Hawkin eight Canada games. I did blue jays baseball. I did CFL and CBC. I did marketplace. And I did the current as it happens and cross-country

checkup. And I did, um, I, the only thing I never did was the national never hosted the national, but other than that, I did. The only thing I never did was the national. Never hosted the national, but other than that, I did everything else. And so, and there's no broadcaster in North America I could have done that with, nobody. I could, there are very few in the world, but certainly, certainly not in North America.

So even though I did work to the CBC for 44 years, I never had the same career for 44 years. And I worked just in- No, you did a lot of different things. Yeah. But how come I don't remember you, when were you doing Blue Jays baseball? So in 1990, I moved here from Montreal in 1994, my wife and I, and I was doing some

freelancing kind of with CBC sports at that point. I was, I'd been on the Canada games and Kamloops in 93 and I moved to, and I did a couple of other sports specials that winter. So we moved here in June of 94 and they reached out and asked me if I would host a couple of Blue Jays games because back when we had the rights they had kind of a host role a bit like Ron McClain and Brian had on different broadcasts right Ron doing say hockey and Bob Brian doing football. So I was asked to come in and do that and it was it was the Tigers it

was a Friday and Saturday the first first game, by the way. So the first game I ever saw the dome I hosted, um, cause I never seen one at the dome prior to moving to Toronto. So I hosted the telecast with Brian and the late John Saruti. It was a wonderful guy. Um, absolutely. Yeah. I watched a lot of Blue Jays baseball with, with, with, uh, John Saruti doing a color.

Yeah. So I was the host basically for, excuse me, the Friday and the Saturday games against the Tigers. And so that was, I did that role. I was, you know, they brought me in with the production meetings. They gave me an idea of what my role was. I'd, you know, I'd watched some Blue Jays

blue baseball, obviously, in CBC before. So, and Brian was great. Like he pulled me aside before the game and he sort of said, you talked a bit about what, how it rolls and what the job is. And he said, you're going to be great and all that kind of thing. And he came up to me afterwards and congratulated me very kind. Uh, and so then I did the Saturday game. And of course, about a month later, they went on strike and the season ended. But, uh, yeah,

so that was my Blue Jays big baseball experience, but I did a couple of it just few CFL games and I did some Hawking in Canada playoff series, uh, and a couple of regular season games as well. So yeah, what a what a what a life, right? It's a wonderful life Yeah, you can borrow that sure. Okay, so By the way, I recently revisited a game. I watched live at the dome. I was at the dome for the final game I think it was 98 Season with the final Jays game of 98 season and Roy Halliday, young Roy Halliday, because this is 98, was on the mound and he took a no-no, 8 and two thirds.

So 8.2. I remember this. Yeah. And I'm watching it because I was there live, but I was going to talk to Keegan Matheson about this because it's the closest I've ever come to witnessing a no-hitter. And we were going to have a long chat about Dave St Steeve who still has the only no-hitter in Blue Jays franchise history here. So Roy Halliday, Bobby Higginson hits a home run and ends this no-no with two outs in the ninth and Brian Williams was

calling that game. And the fun fact I dropped on Keegan because I think it's wild is in the bullpen there's a guy who's making a comeback as a reliever for the Blue Jays. He's in the bullpen and he ends up catching the ball that's wild is in the bullpen, there's a guy who's making a comeback as a reliever for the blue J's. He's in the bullpen and he ends up catching the ball that's hidden to the bullpen. So with the home run ball by Bobby Higginson that broke up the no hitter that Roy Halliday was pitching there in the late nineties, who do you think caught that ball making a comeback as a reliever for the Toronto blue J's?

1998. Yeah. I'll just throw a name out. Jim Clancy. No, he had been, I think he'd be way too old. I think. But yeah, but no bad guesses on this program. Dave Steve. No, cause Dave Steve made a comeback. Yeah. He had this, uh, next chapter in the reliever. That sounds sort of familiar, but yeah, that's amazing. And he ends up with the ball. Yeah. And uh, yeah, by the way, there is an episode coming up. I think it's in early July where I have two gentlemen

from the Today and Dave Stebe history account that you can see on X and Blue Sky. We're gonna make the case for Dave Stebe to be in Cooperstown in the Hall of Fame. You know what? I'm with you on that. You gotta tune into this one. Look at his numbers on it, you know, in those days, yeah.

Yeah, two things worked against Dave Stebe. Well, three things, in those days. Yeah. Yeah two things two things worked against Dave Steve Well three things but no two I'm gonna say two one is he was on a lot of bad blue jays teams They didn't win a lot of games So he didn't get a lot of wins No, like they the whole thing guys like to see 20 wins and all that crap back then Secondly Dave Steve was a two people like you covering the the team a little bit of a jerk So I didn't cover the Jays But I certainly know people

who did who would agree with you that he was not a very nice person. Well I co-hosted a show of Mark Hebbscher for five years and I got lots of stories. Yeah, yeah. So, and well Steve Carlton didn't even talk to reporters and he got in the Hall of Fame. I don't know, I mean Ted Williams was the same.

He played in America. Yeah, and the other thing was I think the third thing is he played in Toronto. Yeah, you're right, he was the third. That was certainly a mitigating factor for Steve. But the wins is the single biggest thing holding him back. His complete games, his ERA, strikeouts, all the rest of it, and the no-hitter, all of that have our Hall of Fame quality, but it's the fact he doesn't have the wins.

So we're going to close with a little music, but I do need to shout out two more sponsors. One is Nick Ienies, hosts building Toronto skyline tomorrow morning That's Friday morning. That's Friday the 13th We'll be recording a couple of new episodes of building Toronto skyline I urge you to subscribe and support Nick because Nick supports Toronto Mike T stepped up to help fuel the real talk and last but Not least Recycle my electronics dot. That's where you go, Tom. If you have old cables, old electronics, old devices.

I think I've used them. Yeah, they're very, it's very good because you put in your postal code and they say, drop it off here. Yeah. And then it's properly recycled so that the chemicals do not end up in our landfill. Tom, off the top of this program, we heard you singing as what were you 12? What were you back then? I would have been I think just past my 13th birthday. It was the last time we were on. It was on the third episode. Was that before the voice

changed? Probably. Yeah I think I was singing alto at that point. I wasn't singing soprano anymore. Okay there's a famous Simpsons episode when young Homer is singing in the choir and Abe Simpson's like that boy is gonna make me rich or something and then Homer's voice changes in the middle of the Christmas song and then that was it for Homer's singing career. I'm just curious when you're chilling out because now you've been retired since March like what are you listening to like what would be a the type of music Tom Harrington would would turn on when you wanted to hear some what would be a the type of music Tom Harrington would would turn on when you wanted to hear some jams? So my go-to generally speaking is jazz now

and that's old and new. It's everything from you know Oscar Peterson to to Go Go Penguin. That's a band from Manchester England and so I've got a really wide range of jazz on my playlist on my phone. On the rock side, I'm a bit of an iconoclast. I tend to go for older stuff. Not super old, but it's 70s, 80s. I'm a Steady Dan fanatic. It's probably my favorite band, Talking Heads, and a band called XTC. I don't know if you've ever heard of them.

Of course. Dear God was a big one. Oh, huge, yeah. Those are kind of my go-to bands, but I don't listen to a lot of- Senses working overtime. Time, yeah. Tons, yeah. I think they're all the hits.

Peter Pumpkinhead, yeah. There's tons. I mean, those are my three kind of favorite bands. But the main thing I play is a lot of jazz. Okay, we're going to a song that's a little older than the XTC you're listening to there, but... How deep is the ocean? How deep is the ocean? I lost my way, hey, hey, hey I'm a rock in a landslide Rollin' over the mountainside

How deep is the valley? How deep is the valley? It kills my soul. Hey, hey, hey. I'm a leaf on a windy day. Tom Harrington, what song am I playing here? It's called Till I Die by the Beach Boys. It's from the album Surf's Up. It's one of the few songs the Beach Boys. It's from the album surfs up it's one of the few song not few but

Brian Wilson wrote and that song wrote and arranged that song just him not all the other band members and That I was too young to get into pet sounds at the time. This was 71 I heard it a few years later just not I don't have the record. I bought the cassette many years later. And this song in particular stays with me because Wilson was going through a lot in that period, psychologically and emotionally. He was a bit of a wreck.

And this is a, it's kind of a dark song actually. It's called Till I Die, but it's very haunting. It's very beautiful. And the use of harmonies and then singing it in unison in the back and forth is really interesting and so I posted that yesterday when he died because it's one of the songs that came to me. People go to God Only Knows which is fantastic, it's a masterpiece but this is a really to me sort of kind of sums up the life of Brian Wilson, kind of tortured, gifted, bit like Mozart you know, kind of like the up the life of Brian Wilson. Kind of tortured, gifted, a bit like Mozart, you know?

Kind of like the Mozart of the 20th century. You wrote, this meditative piece haunted me when I first heard it and it still does. The way he describes despair and sadness and how it seems unrelenting and how deep is the valley, along with the wind blow, when will it end kind of thing, it'll end when I die. It's pretty dark I know, but it's very powerful, very moving. The first song that came to mind when I heard the news yesterday. We lost the musical genius. Absolutely.

And CBC has lost the genius as well. Do you know Tom Harrington has retired? Okay. So you've been retired since March now. That's over a couple of months now. How's it going so far? Excellent. I don't miss it to be honest to God. You look relaxed, you look good. I'm like, oh, retirement is suiting Tom.

Yeah, no, it really does. I'm busy with my grandson and I'm having lunch with friends that I never get to do. And I'm going out in the evening doing things that I wouldn't have gotten to do. And I get to do things with you. Well, when you said you and Donovan were and Donovan were going to have a lunch or something at some point, uh, he'll take it via Allegro, which is by Sherway

gardens and they have this like massive wine cellar there. It's unbelievable what they've got going on there. Just make sure that's where he takes you. Okay. Cause that's where he takes people. He likes, I'm just letting you, that's a pro tip for you. But I liked this very much and I really appreciate you taking some time dropping by in your retirement and to tell us why you left the CBC, reflect on your 44 years and enjoy retirement, man.

You deserve it. Thanks, Mike. Good to talk to you as always. And that brings us to the end of our 1710th show. 1710. So your two numbers are 896 and 1710. If you double the 896, we get to 1710. That math works. Okay. You're blowing my mind over here. my goodness gracious. Go to torontomike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs. Tom's going to do that and find the clip of me on CNN and then he's going to review me. How did I do during my CNN appearances? Stay tuned to find out. Much love to all who made this possible. That's Great Lakes Brewery.

Tom's got his beer. He's allowed to take everything now. He's not at CBC anymore. Palm of pasta, it's in my freezer. Toronto Maple Leafs baseball. You've got your book right there. RecycleMyElectronics.ca. Building Toronto's skyline. Minaris and Ridley Funeral Home. You have your measuring tape. Everybody, there's a episode tomorrow with FOTM Sky Wallace. She's got new music. We have a lot to discuss. I love Sky Wallace. That's tomorrow.

See you all then. I'm going to go ahead and get started. So So I'm going to be a good boy. You