Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Toronto Mike'd #30

Episode Date: April 2, 2013

Elvis fills in for Rosie and chats with Mike about the Jays, the Leafs, The Wire, Four Christmases and when he realized there was no God.

Welcome to the 30th episode of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from TorontoMic.com. Filling in for Rosie this week is my good buddy Elvis, and hosting this audio file are the good people at Core Fusion. Welcome Elvis. Hi. Do I sound like Rosie? No, my brother did the same friggin' thing. Oh, good. Great.

This is episode 30, so episode 27, my brother co-hosted. He did the same bit. Awesome. Great. Good thing I listened to that before I actually let up with that. When was the last time you listened to Toronto Mike? It was in the teens. You've missed a lot.

Yeah. And there's one episode you missed that I'm going to call you out on in a minute, but I want to hold on to that one for just a little bit. You know what? I got tired of not either being on the show or you not talking about me. So unless I'm on the show or you're talking about me, then everything else is irrelevant. How do you know I didn't talk about you if you didn't listen?

Well, because I figured that someone would call me out on the blog. Maybe no one listens. Have you considered that? You know what? I did want to ask you this question. This is something I was thinking about on my way during my preparation for the show, which was on the way here. Do you know how many listeners you have compared to Humble and Fred? Yes, I do.

Because I would suspect that there could be a direct correlation to the amount of people who are listening to your show and the amount of people that are listening to theirs. I have access to Humble and Fred's stats and my own stats. We're actually on the same server, so it's the same stats. And I don't know about correlation. You don't have to give away numbers and stuff. Oh, no, I'm not going to give. Because, you know, who wants to tell you,

who wants to know how many tens of listeners are listening to this thing? But is it a decent-sized number for both shows? Humble and Fred have more listeners. But is it by a significantly high percentage? I'm going to guess no. I'm going to tell you as soon as we stop recording. All right. I'll tell you.

Fair enough. But I can't put it on the record. But they're doing well because they have some other ways they make money. They don't really have a tie to their downloads because they sell ad space and they're on terrestrial radio. They're on like astral stations like CFRB.

Right. Toronto Mike is not yet on terrestrial radio. We're talking, but there's not yet. You don't want to be on terrestrial radio. No, I don't. It's dead, man. Because then I'd have to sell ad space and that sounds like work. There was somebody on the blog, and I wanted to bring this up,

because there was somebody on the blog, I can't remember who it was, last week, who made the argument that terrestrial radio is not dead. And their argument basically, I believe, was centered around the fact that they liked one show. And I don't think you can make an argument that terrestrial radio… Well, it can't be dead, because Chum FM is still making a lot of money like chfi like millions and millions of dollars for more sophisticated people like ourselves oh yeah it's dying radio is is is a place where you can go and listen to music and commercials but we have another medium two other mediums that we can go to and listen to music without having commercials right and that would

be satellite radio and our own music collections which are significantly different options than what we had in the 90s when we sort of were much cooler than we are today no absolutely there's so many more options so for me terrestrial radio isn't an option at all whatsoever i i really never have my radio on at all in my car and that's really the only place that i would listen to it so in your car car, you got a satellite? I have either a satellite radio playing off of my phone or I'm listening to my own music. Because you have a Bluetooth connection. Correct. Because Monica's got a Bluetooth.

And when I'm in there, I noticed, man, it's slick. Like on my phone. My phone is my radio. And in my car, my 1999 Mazda Protege, with the manual windows, I still find I'm on CBC Radio 1 or 590 to hear about the

upcoming Blue Jays season or the Leaf Gamers. Because my options are just much less. Yeah, you can't really replace listening to Joe Bowen on the radio when you're listening to a play-by-play. That's right. Even sports talk is something that I've gravitated to. Because you want it live.

Yeah, you want it live. And sometimes, yeah, sometimes I think that's where terrestrial radio still has a place. But it's a very small place. Yeah. Like, I mean, when you listen to Howard Stern talk about his influences as a kid, when he was in those years deciding that he wanted to become a broadcaster, I mean, radio was just a huge influence on him and even the world, right? I mean, when something happened,

you would turn on the radio. And we just don't do that anymore. And I find it funny that people still cling to that idea that that still could happen and it just doesn't. I mean, people don't even go to their TVs anymore when it's a big news story. Where do you go? Where do you find that out?

You generally find it out on the net or Twitter or something. We all go to Reddit. We all go to Reddit. We all flock to Reddit. Well, I go to TorontoMike.com. Yeah, because I go to Reddit. We'll cut out the middleman. Right, exactly.

No, TorontoMike.com is a great place for breaking news. If something's going down in this city, that's where I go to find out what's going on. Because I can read the comments and Elvis will chip in and say, this is happening in my neck of the woods, and maybe CQ will tell me why, some convoluted way, why we're all crazy and wrong, and then maybe Argi will tell me

why the Muslims are to blame, and it's pretty good stuff. You know, I didn't want to talk about CQ, but I think if he's listening, it's important for me to let him know that I read his blog. I don't necessarily understand it. And I go back to my very first point and interaction with CQ is that he really needs an editor because he obviously has opinion, right?

So a big problem with a lot of bloggers is that they have no opinion. He has an opinion on over-the-air antenna reception of TV, yes, and other things. You know, for some people that's really relevant. And the late fee he was charged, I can't remember who charged it, Rogers? It was 12 cents, I think it was. Yeah, Rogers, I think. No, Belcana. No, Belcana, yes.

So he certainly has opinion. I think just the way in which it comes out on paper, so to speak, is obviously... I agree. I have to read. When he comments, I read it three times trying to understand what he's saying. I don't think he's listening, so I can tell you. And I've never met the man

in the real world, and I'm sure he's lovely, but his writing style, it's very difficult to follow. Yeah, I would agree. It is difficult, but it's also fascinating

for me to read. Yeah, because that's a broken mind at work. It's kind of like reverse engineering. Like, what brain outputted that message? Right, but we all

have broken brains to a certain extent. What say you now? Hey, speaking of broken brains, I might be a little tired. I apologize. I actually was, I woke up at 5.30 in the morning today.

Normally I wake up at like 8.30. 8.30? Yeah, because I work here. You're in my working space. So I sleep like at like 8.30. 8.30? Yeah, because I work here. You're in my working space. And I sleep like down the hall. This is your first trip to the Toronto Mike Studios. Right, yes. Because last time you've been on two shows,

but they were at the old studio. The studio audience here is quite impressive. I'm really impressed with the amount of people that make it out to the... And they're well behaved. They keep very quiet. I like that. It's quite impressive though.

So I did a podcast with Rosie, my regular cohost. And we talked about another friend of mine who would text me at like four in the morning. I don't know why he's up at four in the morning and it would wake me up. And I never knew how to tell him, like, I treat texts like phone calls. Like my phones, my only phone, I don't have a landline is by my bed and texts make a notification sound just like a phone call does. And I get them in real time. So if you're sending me something like, can we do it at 11 don't have a landline is by my bed and texts make a notification sound just like a phone call does and i get them in real time so if you're sending me something like can we do it at 11 instead of 10 that should be an email because i'll wake up and check email but if you send it at 5 30 if you send me a text i'm now awake at 5 30 because i heard the notification and i'm reading your text that's

why i'm replying so why do you text somebody at 5.30 in the morning? Well, because I'm awake. You don't think text is going to make a noise? No. This is the debate we had. Rosie agrees with me. My phone is silent. It doesn't really do anything. But if I phone you, will it ring?

If you phone me, it'll ring unless I have it turned off. I would argue most people have text notification just like a phone call notification. Absolutely not. Why would you treat text like email otherwise why not just make it's email if it's not because my phone is smart and i can turn it off when i you know my samsung galaxy is a smartphone it's not like rosie's phone this is a smartphone okay does she still have that phone that phone is yeah she's still got that phone it's a bit of text but uh my argument is uh when you text somebody you should assume

this they might hear this so you should not text somebody at 5 30 in the morning if you think that might be like that's the witching hour for me i'm sound asleep no i would and monica woke up too you woke up two of us with your 5 30 texting well my argument should be that you should turn off your phone during those times next time that's an, my friend. Your phone should be on silent. No. Okay. Well, maybe if listeners can leave a comment on the entry about episode 30 to let us know what they think about text messaging. Should it be treated like email or a phone call?

I have mine. My notification is out loud. Now, some people have a notification for emails too, you know. To me, that's insane. It's ridiculous. you must have your phone in a different room or something like it's my own because or underwater yes my phone is my only phone so like if my kids if something if james is sick if anything's wrong in the middle of the night that's my only phone so they're going to phone that number so it's right by my bed and i always hear it even a text message at 5 30 in the morning is responded to. That's how

freaking alert I am. You know what? To your credit, you responded in full detail with the question. Well, yeah, because I'm a man of action. I'm the guy you want. When shit goes down, I'm ready. Let's go. Because you responded with Z, right? You were sleeping, but then you gave me all the information. Well, the Zs, by the way, because this is Canada. The Zs right? Like you were sleeping, but then you gave me all the information I was looking for. Well, the Z's, the Zeds by the way, because this is Canada. Right, sorry. The Zeds are to tell you, I'm freaking asleep right now, you asshole. And the response is because I don't want to have to

deal with it later. Let me get ready. I said Z's because it was multiple Zeds. It's still Zeds. It's still Zeds. I'm guessing it would be Zed. Okay, so this is you. You do apologize for the 5.30 text message. No, not at all. I demand an apology.

I do not offer any apology. If I had called you, yes. But no, not for a text. Okay, we'll see what the readers... Yeah, we'll see. I'm interested to see what people have to say. Okay. Today is the opening day for the Toronto Blue Jays.

I wanted to... Huge....share some thoughts with you and hear your thoughts. You're a big Jays fan? Yes. I am excited, but I am not planning that parade yet like everybody else because we haven't actually won a game yet. I feel like the hype, it's different now. We can't have 1993 hype because in, it was a 10-year build. I was there for it, okay?

We saw in 84, we were in second place. And we contended. In 85, we won a pennant. We had this slow brew. And we kind of built up. And we built up prospects. And then we added pieces in 92. And then we kind of had this natural, organic rise.

And then, bang, 92 were ready to go. And we do it twice in a row. But now it's like, we were shitty last year, and all of a sudden, off-season moves, bang, instant contender. Now we're ready to win a World Series. To me, it's too much too soon. We need to start winning some games on the field before

we start planning some parade in October. I can agree with you in the sense that these guys may look like the best team in the major leagues on paper, but that doesn't really mean much of anything. These guys need to play with each other. We don't know what it's going to be like for them to play. We don't know what it's going to be like for Dickey to be up against American League hitters all year round.

Sure, he was 7-0 in interleague play, but he's never played here in the American League. So what is it going to be like against the big bats in the American League? Right. We have a lot of unknowns together, if you will. So all these guys look great on paper, like you said. And I think, I'm cautiously optimistic, and I'll be very disappointed if

we're not playing meaningful baseball in September. I expect to be in the playoffs. But at the same time, until I see a good start or a solid start, I just feel like this hype. Maybe it's because we have so many Rogers stations. Like 590 and Sportsnet have been 24-7

Blue Jay hype for months now. I've never seen anything like it because I told Manu, this is what happens when your damn team is owned by the damn cable company and the networks. It's just too much too soon. But I'm excited.

Well, Toronto, we desperately need this, or they desperately need this team to win. It's been too long without having any contenders in Major League Baseball for us. 20 years. I can't believe it's 20 years. I still remember going to both of those parades. It was pretty awesome. I got kicked in the balls for my Blue Jay flag after the 92 win. I jumped out

of my chair in 93 when Joe Carter hit the home run and landed on my friend's balls. That's a good story. That's called foreplay. It was with my mouth. I know. No, it was... It's good to be excited about the team, but... It was with my mouth. I know. It's good to be excited about the team.

You know what? I had a cue to start that about five minutes ago. So pretend I played it five minutes ago. All right. I'm sorry. What's the point of having this if I don't play it? I'll turn it down and let you continue over it. Go ahead.

That's a great song. Do they still have BJ? No. BJ was... Are you kidding me? He was fired like almost 20 years ago. Right. Here's the problem. Yeah.

He was fired because he was owned by a Shanahan, I think. I think like Brendan Shanahan's brother or something was BJ Birdie and owned BJ Birdie. And they fired him because they... Blue Jays own Ace and Diamond. That's right. And they replaced BJj of ace and diamond but as i tweeted yesterday where the hell is diamond okay diamond just disappeared they erased diamond a few years ago like nobody would notice and nobody seems to freaking notice but i notice

it's all ace now you don't see diamond anymore is diamond buried under the sky down where's diamond yeah that's right so i think we should be excited, but I think you're right. There's a couple of things that are going to play big keys into this team is, pardon the pun, Jimmy Key. How well are these guys going to play with each other? And how well can these guys last the entire season with, or how long can these guys last without any major injuries, right? Of course. Dickie is an old guy. He's, what is he, 36?

He's my age. 38. 38. Yeah. So, I mean, I know he has the type of pitching arsenal that allows him to pitch later into his years. And no UCL. Right.

But, you know, can he realistically put together seasons like he did for the Mets for us at this particular age? There's a lot of questions. A lot of variables at play. And then what leverage or what power does Anthopolis have to be able to make any deals later in the season if we are in first or second

and we need that extra player? What happens if we need that Dave Winfield or the Ricky Henderson or all of those guys? Literally, we need to bring those guys back. That's right. At 60 years old. Because they look good in 93 in all those classic World Series games. I mean, those guys look pretty good.

Yeah. But I do think what's nice about this perfect storm is that the Yankees suck. Horribly. This hasn't happened in a while that we could say the Yankees suck. They just look horrible. And they got killed by the Red Sox, who don't look that good either. Farrell might have beat the Yankees, but the Red Sox look like they're weakened.

The Yankees look like they suck. Baltimore, everybody will tell you, they can't win that many one-run games again. So what are the odds of them doing that again? Tampa Bay is a good team and all, but on paper, we're better. So the East is sort of parted for us. We should be able to drive up the middle if anything comes into place.

Do you think we'll win the East? I think we'll win the East. We'll get a wild card. I think we'll win the East. I think we'll win the East. I actually think we'll win the World Series, but all this is cautious optimism and a little homerism

because that's what I do. Right, of course. I picked the Leafs to win the Stanley Cup the last four years in a row. Just the last four? Just the last four. Right, of course. I mean... I picked the Leafs to win the Stanley Cup the last four years in a row. Just the last four? Just the last four. Oh, wow, okay. Brian Burke would be happy to hear that prediction.

I actually wanted to talk about the Leafs a little bit. Okay, well, you can dive in. Enough about the Blue Jays. Talk to me about the Leafs because I wanted to talk about them. Someone raised a question. I can't remember where it was that I read it, but I thought it was an interesting point

that we may want to discuss. Is it too early for Don Cherry to call in Nazem Kadri on Saturday night and give him a kiss? Is it too early? He anointed him the next one. Now, let me give you some stats about him. Okay. He is only the second.

He's the first Maple Leaf to score two hat tricks on the road in a season since 92-93. Wendell Clark did it. wendell clark did that and he is only the sixth leaf in history to score uh two hat tricks in a season under the age of 23 or something like that alex steen did that yes see i know my shit so uh we obviously are reading the same yeah same publications yeah um is it too early for him to bring him into the studio? First of all, come on. Because when he did that with Dougie, that was in the playoffs, was it not?

Yeah, of course. That was in the playoffs. What does it matter? I mean, who cares? Like, Don Cherry anointed him. I think he is. He's 23. He's sixth in scoring.

He's so exciting. He's so likable. I love this kid. I love Kadri. I love how he plays a loophole. Let's face it, that hat trick, though, loophole deserves 80% of that hat trick. Well, I mean, you can argue that for a lot of hats.

Sure, of course. Yeah, I mean, Brett Hull made a living off Adam Owens, but that's fine. So the way I look at it is, is it too early? Of course. You know, one good season, you can't just make him the next. He's not Gilmore yet after one good season. But I think it was the right time and the right mood,

and we were all crazy. It was the most important win in so long. It was a nice magical moment when Don planted that. I was worried he wasn't going to do it because they cut away. And then they came back.

And I was like, where's the kiss? Because of course we're going to get the kiss now. And they cut away and I'm like, what? And then they came back because he was ready.

You know, I thought it was a nice touch because it wasn't just a hat trick. It was a natural hat trick. It was a shutout. Against a division rival that was two points ahead of us. And you bring in the two guys that are protecting him in Frazier and Orr. Colton Orr.

So I thought it was fun. And really, that's what Don Cherry is supposed to be. I like Don Cherry. A lot of his opinions infuriate me, but I enjoy hearing what he has to say he's entertainment okay that's what he's there for and he's he's a guy i like disagreeing with him like we disagree all the time but i enjoy hearing his opinion like absolutely you know and you have to admit a lot of times he is right sometimes he's right on the hockey related stuff yeah not so much on the whole like you know french stuff or european stuff and blah blah blah but yeah or uh he has predicted

things yeah sometimes to his chagrin that is going to happen where he is you know he said like French stuff or European stuff and blah, blah, blah. But he has predicted things, sometimes to his chagrin, that is going to happen. Where he said the fact that he doesn't think that you should be wearing a visor doesn't necessarily cloud his judgment as to whether or not visors are actually going to become mandatory, and he believes that they will. And sure enough, I think it's only a matter of time.

And he was saying this a decade ago, right? So I think he's right in a lot of things. Yep. I enjoy hearing his opinions. So, with Kadri and Lupo clicking like this, and I actually happen to be since two years ago, I've been a big James Reimer booster. I like James

Reimer. I know people knock his glove hand and this and that, but I watch almost every single Leaf game. When I'm around, I watch. It's like scheduled appointment viewing for me to watch my Leafs. It's fun to be like that again, isn't it? It is. It was a bad period, and now we're out of it, and it's fun again. Exactly. And we're always competitive.

You know, we're always competitive. And we win more than we lose now, and when we lose, it's competitive, and sometimes we get caught near the end, but we've had a good few weeks now where that hasn't been too bad. But James Reimer is the goalie I want in net for the playoffs this year. Now, here is a similarity. Wait, what time is it? Hold on.

So it's 11 a.m. on trade deadline day. So by the time people hear this, it's quite possible Kiprasov is our goalie or Luongo, who knows? Like, what's going to happen today? We got until 3 o'clock, I guess. A lot of stuff could be going down. Go ahead. I think that's where you get the similarities between the Jays and the Leafs. In the sense that

we don't know how Reimer is going to react in the playoffs. And you never know until you give him the opportunity. And the question I think that Dave Nones is asking himself is, do I have enough time for myself to be able to take the chance on an inexperienced goalie in the playoff?

How do you get experience in the playoffs, Elvis? Like, other than, you know, Felix Potvin, I think he's the most recent example, because otherwise it's been all Cujo and Eddie DeBelfort and all those guys. But, like, how do you get playoff experience without playing? Since nobody actually thinks we're winning a cup this year, right? So let's, isn't this the natural progression of James Reimer? Maybe he'll win a round.

I feel like if we win a round, depending on Winnipeg, we're going to win a round, I feel. I feel confident with Reimer and Scrivens, given the fact that they've both gone deep in the AHL playoffs. So they're not completely inexperienced in that sense. Did you know Scrivens lives in a basement apartment? In this building, right now? did you know there is no basement apartment in this

building scrivens and his wife live in a basement apartment in i think etobicoke or something but yeah just a fun fact for you so i'm i you know and and down goes brown has been pretty vocal on this and some of the other guys is the toronto sports media uh guys as well, Jonah, about this being potentially the worst trade ever. And there's been a lot of bad trades in the history of the Leafs if they go after Mika Kipersov or Luongo based on what it is that they're going to have to give up. And everyone keeps talking about Bozak having to be the guy who goes. I'm not necessarily sad to see Bozak leave the team, but...

For a 30-something goal when we'd rather have Reimer than the 30? Why do I want to pick up a $6.5 million guy for the next 10 years? No, we don't. I don't. All day, my biggest fear today is we're going to score a veteran goalie and I don't want to pay anything for a veteran goalie.

But would you take Kipersoft for a third rounder? No, I don't want Kipersoft because that means Reimer can't play. No, no, no. I think he would be brought in as a backup. So what you don't get is Scrivens on the bench. I think that would be the plan. Why would we want that contract on the books?

Why would we give up anything for that? I don't see it as a... I hope it doesn't happen. He's got one year left after this year. Do you hope we land Kipersoft to Kipper today? No. For a third round, I think that I would probably take a number of goalies.

Right. Um, but I don't think that's our priority. I, I, if they don't make the deal, I'm okay with it. If they make the deal,

you know, I'm okay with it. I'd rather we dealt for Nick Kiprios. Who grabbed my ass once. Did I tell you that? You did. That's a true story. You know what Kipper,

let's, as, as a veteran broadcaster myself, I have to commend Kipper for becoming, if not the best, one of the top three Toronto broadcasters in hockey. Is that true? I think he's fantastic.

But you listen to Fan 590 a lot. Is that right? Yes. So you hear a lot of Kipper because they can't put TSN guys on that show. I feel like it's weighted because he's the best Rogers guy. But there's a lot of good hockey guys on the sure side you just never hear him because who listens to 10 50 okay let me qualify it yes not he was not a professional

broadcaster when he started that's true so the guys on tsn and sportsnet that went to journalism school actually like bob mckenzie and those guys and darren treger and all these guys well i guess even i'm not even sure if they have a professional broadcasting background, but they've been in it for a hell of a long time. Kipper was – and I think you would admit this – was really bad when he started. It was very awkward, used the wrong words in places. Do you know who influenced the Kipper's career? It was Humble and Fred. I've heard him.

I've been in the room with him for like Humble and Fred broadcasts where he tells them that he used to jump on the Humble and Fred show just when he was at the end of his career and when he started in broadcasting, and that's where he got his taste for it. He used to jump on their show back in the day. He's a big fan of Humble. He takes their calls. He's one of the few people in Toronto that still takes their calls.

I have a lot of time for Kipper on the air. I think he's great. I like him too because he grabbed my ass. Hey, you know what you suck at? I don't mean to move off from the Leafs. We could talk all day. Oh, did you want to just make a quick note? So Jerome McGinley is a penguin now.

Do you have any thoughts on that? You know what? I have no problem with that. We're in the day and age where a guy's not going to be with his team forever and ever. And it seemed like the owner was on board with it, not so much the GM. At least that's what you read and what you hear about. You know, go for it.

Win a cup, man. He earned the right. He earned the right to have a contract that gave him right of refusal or whatever. You can't complain about that. Yeah, he employed his right that he earned in his contract. I think it was all good. We all loved it when Ray Bourne went to Colorado.

Right. But the only thing concerning is players are not allowed to interfere with other players under contract of other teams. Sidney Crosby is not allowed to talk to a Ginland and say, come here. It's called tampering. There's actually a rule against it. Is he allowed to talk to him? I guess as long as he doesn't...

He can talk to him. Like a friend, how you doing? But he can't say, hey, why don't you come here now? They're not allowed to tamper. How do we know that that actually happened? And I don't care it happened because we don't know what happened. Except that I think I saw Ron McLean ask Jerome McGinley about it. And McGinley said he seemed to insinuate there was tampering.

So that's the only part that's a little bit off. I find it silly that we would think that players didn't actually talk to oh i know i agree except it is against the rules it's it's there for a reason but yeah they all do it i think sure yeah hey you know what you have you have awful taste in movies uh i just want to take this opportunity again terrible i just want to say like so what is it this time i'm it's going back to four christmases so hold on i just wanted we've never did this like you were on the uh podcast twice and we didn't get to this because Rosie's such a class act. I didn't want to humiliate you in front of her.

But she'll never hear this, so I'm going to do it. Four Christmases was, what's her name again? Illegally Blonde Girl. Come on. She's a cutie. She was in the Johnny Cash movie. Come on. What's her name?

I don't know. Okay. That very famous actress that we can't remember her name. And she was married to Ryan Felipe. Do you remember this? Was she really? I don't even know that. Yeah, I remember this.

They had kids or whatever. She had a big chin. She leads with her chin, like Jay Leno style. Okay, so she was in this movie with the guy. Reese Witherspoon. Yeah, and the Blackhawks fan. Vince Vaughn. Yeah, Vince Vaughn. That's allpoon. Yeah, and the Blackhawks fan. Vince Vaughn. Yeah, Vince Vaughn.

He's a Blackhawks fan. He plays the same character in every movie. He's kind of like ACDC. He's got it pegged, and that's all he does. Yeah, and you like that, obviously. So they're in a movie called Four Christmases, which came out, I'm going to guess, that was four or five years ago.

I can't remember now. Sure. But I saw it. It was horrible. And you saw it and said it was the funniest thing you laughed from a to z and i just want you to know that your taste in movies sucks well i'm pretty sure that i didn't say it was the funniest movie ever what did you say my wife and i it is now were you high it is now no no all right it is now holiday viewing we watch it every holiday

wow just like along with Christmas Vacation. Oh, that's fine. I like that too. I find it funny. There's a lot of really funny... It's not... Jon Favreau's in it, who's great. There's a lot of...

And who's that... It's an older woman. She was... She's really... She's milfy. Can't remember her. Oh, Meryl Streep. No.

The opposite of Meryl Streep. Rose Nyland. No, I'm going to look her up. Who played her? She's a lawyer in Philadelphia, the movie. Okay, so she's in this. Okay, fine. I'm looking it up.

You can look it up. Anyway, I don't think that I have bad taste in movies. I think that we have actually very similar taste in movies, but there are certainly some movies. All right. In the Venn diagram, sometimes you've got four Christmases on the edge, I guess. Yeah, it's great.

Don't matter who did what to who at this point. Fact is, we went to war, and now there ain't no going back. I mean, shit. It's what war is, you know? Once you in it, you in it. If it's a lie, then we fight on that lie but we gotta fight that was slim charles in the wire and i just want you to know because i know you've watched it on my recommendation

i that the wire has ruined television for me and this happened to me four or five years ago where i was in the middle of some series, like one of the series I was in the middle of was Dexter, and there's a couple others, and I was enjoying these shows, and then I watched The Wire, and I actually was unable to go back to Dexter, because it seemed so silly to me, like Mr. Ed or something. A lot of shows were ruined for me, down to so few shows I can stomach. I'm still in Breaking Bad, and I do The Wire, I don't know, I do Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Mad Men. And that's pretty much where I'm at right now because the wire has ruined me. Oh yeah. Yeah. She's

married to Ted Danson, wasn't she? Yeah. Yeah, she is. Mary Steenburgen. Yeah. Yeah. She is a, she's a hottie. Love her. She's the hottest over 60 year old there is. Her and Joan Rivers are the only two I would think. She's just turned 60. Yeah.. Yeah, she's hot for 60. Okay, so what did you think of The Wire? Loved The Wire. It was fantastic. I bought all the seasons and watched them while I was traveling, and it was fantastic. It took TV to a whole new level.

I agree. So for me, if I were to put TV shows on my Mount Rushmore, The Wire would definitely be up there. Seinfeld would be up there. I still think that is one of the greatest sitcoms ever. And I also would include Breaking Bad because that was something that was recommended to me. But you will admit, when you do Breaking Bad next to The Wire, you have to admit, Breaking Bad is very fantasy and silly compared to the realism and complex layers of The Wire. The Wire almost seemed like it was a movie, whereas Breaking Bad definitely does seem like a TV show.

And things happen in The Wire, I mean, sorry, things happen in Breaking Bad that just wouldn't happen in The Wire because they're kind of ridiculous and you just sort of take them with a grain of salt. But that's what makes Breaking Bad really great, too. And I like Breaking Bad. You're talking to a guy who actually,

it's one of the two shows I'm actively engaged in in the drama world. And I'm looking forward to the last eight episodes. But I'm just, and your point's valid because that is a good show. But The Wire, you will agree that it's on your Mount Rushmore. Would you put it as the best show you've ever seen? Well, it's hard for me to say that

because I have so much love for Seinfeld that I would probably say it is the best drama. Fair, because they're different shows. It's very, very different. One's a comedy, one's on real TV, the other one's on pay TV type of thing, so you can swear and see boobs and stuff. And Cuddy can get blazed.

But the characters in The Wire are fantastic. And the other thing I liked about The Wire is that they weren't afraid to kill characters either. The characters had significant faults, right? Not that other shows don't, but these guys had very, very severe faults. And it's, you know, both in The Wire and in Breaking Bad, you feel really attached to the characters and like to see where they are now, right? And sort of every time I see an ad for a new show and it's someone from one of those shows,

I'm like, there he is. There's, you know, so-and-so, right? I texted you the other day because I was re-watching 300 and realized that McNulty's in that movie. McNulty's in that movie. Is he drunk in that movie? No, I wish he was.

Because drunk McNulty's the best McNulty. I did want to say that there is a show that I'm excited about that's coming out, and I'm not sure what station it's on, but I read the book Under the Dome by Stephen King, and it's a fantastic book. It's probably the longest book I've ever read. The story of the 2013 Blue Jays.

It's Under the Dome. 1,100 pages, the longest novel I've ever read. Wow. But they're coming out with a TV miniseries. And Walter's brother-in-law is in it. Oh, yeah. The guy who looks a little like Bruce Willis. Yeah.

A little bit like a Bruce Willis thing going on. Balder than Bruce Willis. And heavier. Not quite as hot as the great Bruce Willis. Balder and heavier, if that's possible. He can't be balder, but he can be heavier. He's in it. And I had that moment where I was excited about the show.

Dean Norris. Right, but then I saw him and I was like, ah, there he is. I don't watch The Walking Dead, but I see promos for it occasionally, and I'll see Cuddy there. And I'll say, I wish I watched The Walking Dead just to see Cuddy again. I was a big Cuddy fan. Facebook has ruined Walking Dead for me. I won't watch it because everyone tells me how excited they are.

I tried it and I was bored to tears. Were you? I love zombies, and I'll watch zombie Cuddy fan. Facebook has ruined Walking Dead for me. I won't watch it because everyone tells me how it's second nature. I won't watch it because I tried it and I was bored to tears. Were you? Yeah. I love zombies and I'll watch zombie movies all day long. You should try it because my sister-in-law loves zombies and she loves The Walking Dead. I don't love zombies the way you do, so I didn't love The Walking Dead. I love zombies. I've seen tons of zombie movies.

I love 28 Days Later, although it's not really a zombie movie, but it's close. Sort of those end of the world type of situations. Apocalyptic things. Dawn of the Dead, all that kind of stuff. Love it. Yeah, it's not really a zombie movie, but it's close, sort of those end-of-the-world type of situations. Apocalyptic things. Dawn of the Dead, all that kind of stuff. Love it. Yeah, it's all good. I prefer sometimes more realistic fare. Like Lincoln.

Did you watch Lincoln? I was bored by Lincoln. It was kind of boring, wasn't it? I find it kind of like a slow historical drama. Yeah, he was good as Lincoln, and there were some inspiring moments, but the only thing I liked about that was Gale from Breaking

Bad and the guy he's in the newsroom in Wire and I can't remember his name I know David something David C whatever he was in that and I was like oh Gale because he's also in Flight of the Conchords I was going to write about him because he's in Flight of the Conchords, The Wire and Breaking

Bad and I thought that was kind of an interesting not many guys can have a resume like that. There's a lot of people in Game of Thrones that... I've heard about this. But I think I would like that one. I think so, too. Because I studied that type of history in school. Of course you did.

So obviously this would be like a nice sort of Hollywood version of it. But there's a lot of people that are in that show that have been in other movies that are like that. I'm actually convinced I'd love Game of Thrones, but I refuse to start it until they complete it. Yeah, I'm with you on that now, too. Oh, thank you. Not many people agree. We got hooked on Homeland.

Someone suggested that we watch Homeland. And so we watched the first season. And the second season is not yet out available for download. And I don't do the illegal download thing. No, you don't. and the second season is not yet out available for download and I don't do the illegal download thing. No, you don't. And the third season comes out on TV for real in the fall.

So we're really far behind and I didn't like that. So I'm not going to watch a show until it's off the air. I made this decision, yeah. Six Feet Under. Six Feet Under, which by the way, probably no joke because I love The Sopranos and everything and Breaking Bad, but Six Feet Under is my second favorite show of all time. Wow.

Yeah. And I made Ryan watch it. My brother Ryan watched it, and he came back and said, holy shit, because he didn't think he'd like it because there's not a lot of gunplay. My brother likes violence, and there's not a lot of it. And he came back and said it was amazing. He loved it. Is this the one that likes Bargnani or not? Yeah, he's the Bargnani guy.

Who is a Bargnani guy? I'm Italian. I'm not even a Bargnani guy. But I assumed he was an Italian would be a Bargnani guy. Who is a Bargnani guy? I'm Italian. I'm not even a Bargnani guy. But I assumed he was an Italian would be a Bargnani guy. No, I'm a Raptors fan first. That's a Raptors fan. You don't want this ridiculously horrible player on your team. I saw my brother, Ryan.

I moved him on Saturday morning, and Bargnani came up again. I think he's sick of it. He's sick of it. But every time I see him, all I see is Bargnani. and he came up again. I think he's sick of it. He's sick of it. But every time I see him,

all I see is Bargnani. That's all I say. One time he mentioned to me top 10 center in the league, but then he always tells me it's from a fantasy perspective. But I think my brother's brain with fantasy and real sports, those wires have crossed

where he's unable to differentiate appropriately where I don't see fantasy at all. I only see real sports. So I see the Raptors are a better team when Bargnani is not playing. That's what I see. I watched quite a bit of Raptors this year because they were almost exciting for half the year. Ryan sees fantasy statistics

and how he could win his league with whatever Bargnani does. See, that to me doesn't make sports fun anymore. I wrote about this as recently. I just did this. You did. I agree 100%.

It ruined sports for me because suddenly you're cheering for that guy on the name of an obscure team, the Golden State Warriors. You're cheering for this guy. To me, it taints the whole thing. I cheer for laundry. Unless there's another reason.

I will cheer for Calderon because I have warm fuzzies for Calderon. Even though he's on Detroit, I'll cheer for him. But mainly I cheer for Laundrie, which is the players donning my favorite jersey, Raptors, Leafs, go on. It's true. There are certainly some players that you get attached to,

but it's because you got attached to them because they were on your team. Or Crosby. Like, I cheer for Crosby. There's going to be players that are just like all-stars. But they also played for Team Canada, too. That's a big deal. I could never like

Ovechkin because he plays for Russia. But Crosby? I've liked him since he was 15 years old. Right. It's not much to not like about him. Great guy. Although, I don't know. I have to see that new smile of his before I like him now. My wife has asked me why't know. I have to see that new smile of his before I like him now. My wife has asked me

why he doesn't have a girlfriend yet though. That's an interesting question. He's married to his job. I guess so. He's taken a page out

of Mario Lemieux's book I think. Like the nuns who are married to God. So my question for you before we wrap this up. We're at like 37 minutes now.

I don't know. I guess I make my own rules. Where's my publicist? Tell me Italian man. I know you know. I guess I make my own rules. Where's my publicist? Tell me, Italian man, I know you're the only Italian I know who was not raised Catholic. Do you know that? And I know a lot of Italians. I went to half of my high school. 40% of my high school was Polish, 40% was Italian, 20% were guys like me who were lost in the woods. And you are the only Italian

guy I know who was not raised Catholic. I was raised in a mixed household, and in fact, back in the day, my parents were probably considered as close to being mixed race as possible without actually being black and white. My father is Italian and Catholic. My mother is Newfie and Anglican, and they actually had a really tough time trying to find a church that would marry them because that was something that wasn't really allowed back in the day, to have people from different marriages getting married,

even though they were both Christian and essentially Anglicism. And they're both white. Both white, and they both believe in the same God, and both religions are virtually the same. So silly. So I was raised in sort of that household, but I went to a Catholic school all through elementary and high school. You went to a Catholic school?

Why do I think you're not raised Catholic? Well, I mean, I was baptized Anglican, but a lot of my education in the church was Catholic. This taints my whole view of your upbringing. It's pretty much the same, dude. Who did my research? I want to fire my researcher, my intern. It didn't help me out very much in the long run.

When did you realize religion is bullshit? Probably when... You read it on torontomic.com. I did. I did. Argy's comments, actually. It's Argy. Do you know that?

Argy. If anybody had any sort of realistic questions about their faith, reading his comments, I know that he does it because he wants the reaction. That's pretty obvious. Yeah, he's a professional troll. Right. You know, if you're reading his comments and sort of conflicted, you're probably going to,

he's going to push you in the direction that he doesn't necessarily want you to go in. So don't read the comments on Toronto Mike when you're trying to figure out where it is that you want to lie. Very few do, that's okay. You know what? I want to deflect here for just a second there seems to be a an ebb and flow and the people who comment on the site i don't know if it's people uh get bored of it or forget about it but there seems to be definitely uh some people are

commenting all the time for a while and then they go away and then they come back and a new group of people come in like this c Corey fellow seems to be relatively new. Blind Dave is much more active now. He's super active, Blind Dave? Like Ajax Mike. Where is he? Ajax Mike, by the way. I know Ajax Mike.

I know. And Mike from Lowville. I've worked with him. Yeah, Mike from Lowville. You don't hear from him a lot anymore. But he came back recently. I saw Mike from Lowville come back recently. And I don't know Mike from Lowville in the real world. I know he was very active.

There was a lot of these guys like ArG and Mike from Lowville that were Canadian thinker.com commenters which is the site I built with Fred Patterson from Humble and Fred. Fred doesn't maintain it properly. He basically, it's like a red-headed stepchild. He neglects it. So these guys are like lost and they

came over here I think. They needed a place to go. Which is what I think happens with your podcast too. Yeah, I pick up the sloppy seconds from Humble and Fred. But I don't have the billboard on the Gardner that Humble and Fred use. Are you going to be in the newspaper for referencing sloppy seconds? Oh, shit. I don't think that's...

That was Avery, right? That's right. Sean Avery on FNUF and Cuthbert. And now that I'm loyal to FNUF, I feel terrible. You're captain. Although I saw you comment... Yeah, Lupo's my terrible. You're a captain. Although I saw you comment. Yeah, Leupold's my captain. He's my captain. But that happened a lot, or that happens a lot. I mean, maybe Gilmore and Clark isn't necessarily the best example,

but there's probably a lot of people that thought that Clark was still the captain, even though he had left and come back. And I don't, by the way, I like Dion FNF. A lot of people hate him. I think it's because he gets paid a lot. I think his demeanor is, leaves a lot to be desired. I don't think he comes across very... Yeah, and there was that news story that when he first

came that he immediately took control of the music in the dressing room and stuff. There are things about FNUF that would make you not be warm to him, but I actually think he's a solid defenseman. A good physical solid. He does a couple of bonehead moves now and then. You go, that's a FNUF move or whatever, but not as many as he used to.

And I think he's a solid contributor to this particular half. We're finally not, we're now a good team, not a great team. We're a good team. For a long time, I thought we were like a good, bad team. And now I've decided we're like maybe a bad good team. He became captain really early. That probably had something to do with it.

I think it was forced on him too early. But who else was there? He was here for months. I know. A few months and then Burke made him captain. But you're right, there was no one else to There was no one else.

Because there was talk for a long time that Matt Stajan was going to be the captain. I heard they were going to bring Rob Ramage back and make him captain. Or Kyle Wellwood.

Kyle Wellwood, who's still clicking though. He is. He's still playing. He's still an NHLer, which is amazing. If you can put up with his Cheeseburger delight.

With his cheeseburger delight then you've got a guy who's going to give you 20 goals, which is amazing. If you can put up with his... Cheeseburger delight. With his cheeseburger delight, then you've got a guy who's going to give you 20 goals, right? Usually. Matty Stajan should have been the next lead captain. Or Luke Shen was supposed to be the next captain.

Yeah, well, he was after Matt Stajan. But Lupo is sort of your pseudo-captain, and he's playing so wonderfully since he came back from his injury. But you need that. You need the guy who's going to be the flashy offensive guy that's going to lead on the ice, You need the guy who's going to be the flashy offensive guy that's going to lead on the ice,

and then a guy who's going to lead off the ice, which is what... How many times did you watch Lupo's end-to-end goal? Oh, my goodness. I've never seen a goal so... I watched... I couldn't get enough of it. It was like porn.

That gif that you put on your site... Yeah, because we all see the play, right? Yeah. That play, we all saw it real time 100 times. But you never see that angle where he does the move, and then the puck's still not going in, and he does this somehow this awesome second effort. That's the part that seals the deal for me. It's all wonderful with Bobby Orr's style, but then that second effort.

And it was such an important game because we're tied. It was such a key game, most important game in my daughter's lifetime, and my daughter is turning nine years old this year. Well, you're going to be able to say that a lot more now. Every game almost, you're going to be able to say that this is the most important game until we get into the playoffs. That is true. And you're also going to start to be able to say that, hopefully, with the Jays.

Go Jays, go. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, I wanted you to close out these thoughts on God. So, I think it was after my diagnosis and treatment of cancer, I realized that the only... But that's recent. The only person who was after my diagnosis and treatment of cancer I realized that the only person who was going to get me through this was me and my family. There was no one else

that was going to help me through this. So you had some kind of an epiphany during this crisis? Yeah, there was no one I needed to rely upon except for me. The only person that I needed to have faith in to do what I wanted to do was me. And so I'm a humanist. I believe in the power of the human spirit,

the power of individualism, and also the power of citizenship. We have the energy that we can give to other people to help them do what they want to do. That's the most important thing, and that's something that you can actually prove. Is your wife religious? No.

So did she go to church this past weekend? No, no, no. That's the gauge. No, she's never... Because even the flimsy Christians go to church on Easter. No, no, not at all. You know what? We didn't actually celebrate Easter at all.

We had Chinese food on Good Friday. But did an Easter bunny come? Leftovers on Sunday. Of course an Easter bunny came. So isn't that celebrating Easter? No, it's celebrating the Easter bunny coming. I celebrate Christmas. Santa comes.

He leaves presents. I consider that totally Christmas celebration. It doesn't mean Jesus is there. No. It's very, very separate, I think. Oh. You've secularized it, which a lot of people do, but you're still celebrating Easter.

You're not celebrating the risen. When Pete Kik tweets, he tweets at me, the super Christian. I don't know where this all came from. He's unfollowed me, by the way. Because you're an atheist. I don't know how he's still following me. But he, for those who don't know,

he's the brother of a very good friend of mine, Mike Kick. And Pete Kick, I don't know when this change happened, but he's gone super Christy. You know, you can do what you... He tweeted, he is risen, he tweeted. I'm Kick, I don't know when this change happened, but he's gone super Christy. You know, you can do what you... He tweeted, he is risen, he tweeted. I'm like, holy smokes. Like, is this like his morning boner?

What are we talking about here? I don't need to hear about this on Twitter. Wow. Yeah, it's, you know, you can do what you want to do. Just don't tell me what I should do. Amen, brother. This is the end of our show. You can follow me on Twitter,

at Toronto Mike, and I just fucked that up. Fire that guy. No, I'm actually playing with the sound levels because I was told my music was too quiet, but now I actually think it might be too loud. But that's the fun of having your own studio.

Where are you? Do you want people following you or no? Yes, please. At Elvis Run. At Elvis Run. At Elvis Run and I'm at Toronto Mike

and all eight of you better be following us by the time we check our follower list. See you all next week. Adios. Adios.