Mike Richards leaves TSN

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Red Slinger

One of my memories of Mike Richards shortly before he left for T.O. is when a relatively new Pat Steinberg came on as a guest to the morning show to talk about the Flames game the night before. Pat gave his usual long-winded, repetitive and detailed observation and Richards did everything short of calling him a nerd and pantsing him on the air. He didn't do it in jest or as a bit either, but rather as a "shut up and know your place" comment for all to hear. It left a bad taste in my mouth that he would undermine a colleague on the air, nevermind a young, relatively new, ambitious guy who was trying to find his legs. He came off like one of the cool kids mocking a nerd. I lost a lot of respect for Richards after that.

I filled in regularly for the Fan960 on the morning show, and basically the role was to be the straight man to Richards and the butt of the jokes at times.
But it was really just part of the shtick and the act, and there never any actual mean spirit intentions behind it. If he was going to be particularly aggressive he would typically clear it with you first.
With me it would often involve things such as "not being able to get a date" or even "do you even like girls", or mispronouncing my name (Glen Farthington!) Some of that stuff hasn't aged well to be sure, and I think the overall cool guy act v. nerds thing doesn't look good in retrospect, as is the case with many things. But at the time, it was all just part of the show.

Similarly his impersonations were never intended to be accurate reflections. Rather he would find the smallest nugget about the person, or sometimes nothing at all, to amplify and build a funny character around. He knew most of them weren't accurate. That wasn't the point. The point was to have a cast of rotating characters to interact with.

He is immensely talented. Most of the bits were done on the fly. During breaks he would look up and say to the producer "maybe Kipper should call" and then go into his office and call in - lay down one half of the conversation, then come back in the booth and do the other half live. His quick wit and improvisation skills were unreal.

I agree his stuff hasn't all aged well but what a talent. And he always treated me really well, and was an advocate for my own career.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

...He is immensely talented. Most of the bits were done on the fly. During breaks he would look up and say to the producer "maybe Kipper should call" and then go into his office and call in - lay down one half of the conversation, then come back in the booth and do the other half live. His quick wit and improvisation skills were unreal...

Jiri, who did the Robyn Regehr Buffalo trade bit?

[Cactus Jack]

i think it was Boomer

[Magnum PEI]

Yeah pretty sure it was Boomer too. He also would do Patrick Roy and Tommy Wingels for some reason.

[psyang]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I filled in regularly for the Fan960 on the morning show, and basically the role was to be the straight man to Richards and the butt of the jokes at times.
But it was really just part of the shtick and the act, and there never any actual mean spirit intentions behind it. If he was going to be particularly aggressive he would typically clear it with you first.
With me it would often involve things such as "not being able to get a date" or even "do you even like girls", or mispronouncing my name (Glen Farthington!) Some of that stuff hasn't aged well to be sure, and I think the overall cool guy act v. nerds thing doesn't look good in retrospect, as is the case with many things. But at the time, it was all just part of the show.

Similarly his impersonations were never intended to be accurate reflections. Rather he would find the smallest nugget about the person, or sometimes nothing at all, to amplify and build a funny character around. He knew most of them weren't accurate. That wasn't the point. The point was to have a cast of rotating characters to interact with.

He is immensely talented. Most of the bits were done on the fly. During breaks he would look up and say to the producer "maybe Kipper should call" and then go into his office and call in - lay down one half of the conversation, then come back in the booth and do the other half live. His quick wit and improvisation skills were unreal.

I agree his stuff hasn't all aged well but what a talent. And he always treated me really well, and was an advocate for my own career.

I often wondered what his process was to do a (for example) Kipper call-in bit, and I always assumed it was scripted, pre-recorded and carefully edited. To hear it was often done live and improvisationally is jaw dropping.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by psyang

I often wondered what his process was to do a (for example) Kipper call-in bit, and I always assumed it was scripted, pre-recorded and carefully edited. To hear it was often done live and improvisationally is jaw dropping.

Nothing was scripted. He would arrive 5 minutes before he had to be on air and just go.

[drewtastic]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Miikka Kiprusoff the secret psychopath was good, and Robyn Regehr’s phone call to Rhett after the Buffalo trade was a radio classic.

Joseph: "Miikka, have you seen my goldfish?"

Kipper: "No"

<Ding!>

Joseph: "What're ya cooking in the microwave?"

Kipper: "Goldfish soup."

Joseph: "Zoinks!"

(Or something close to that. One of my favourites!)

[CroFlames]

The afternoon show could use a shot in the arm. Richards would be great.



The morning show is okay, but they need to play less music.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

The morning show is okay, but they need to play less country music.

fyp

[CliffFletcher]

I actually enjoyed it when Boomer sang almost every verse of Lovin' Cup the other morning. It seemed to really irritate Pinder.

[CroFlames]

I also wish Rhett wasn't entitled to so much time off. He's a great piece on the morning show and it suffers when he's not there.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I also wish Rhett wasn't entitled to so much time off. He's a great piece on the morning show and it suffers when he's not there.

I don't think he's keen on talking baseball and CFL in the summer months. He probably also likes his summers off and it's unlikely he needs the income from the gig and it's more something to keep him busy during the cold months. I agree he's come a long way from the beginning and the show is much better with him.

[CroFlames]

Agree 1000%.



But I selfishly wish he was around more.

[Hackey]

I'm a fan of Pinder. He's leaving soon to Toronto anyways though isn't he? Boomer I'm indifferent. Rhett is good. The three of them make for a good show. The show isn't quite the same when Rhett isn't there. Mike Richards is alright but kind of cheesy to me.

[troutman]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/960/the-big...ohnny-manziel/

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Hackey

I'm a fan of Pinder. He's leaving soon to Toronto anyways though isn't he? Boomer I'm indifferent. Rhett is good. The three of them make for a good show. The show isn't quite the same when Rhett isn't there. Mike Richards is alright but kind of cheesy to me.

I'm a fan of Pinder, indifferent to boomer, and find Rhett to be annoying and not very good.

However, I think you need 3 guys to do a show and thats why it lags when Rhett leaves for vacation. Its hard to stay engaged when its just 2 guys going back and forth.

[Dan403]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I also wish Rhett wasn't entitled to so much time off. He's a great piece on the morning show and it suffers when he's not there.

Rhett is a boorish moron who adds nothing at all to the show. I don't care at all about his diet, his bowel movements or his pissy attitude.

[GoJetsGo]

Mike Richards was painful to listen to doing those "sketches".

They were funny the same way Jay Leno and Friends is funny.

It suffers from lazy obviousness and panders to the lowest common denominator. It's funny the same way forced humour in plumbing radio ads is funny.

Listening to him do a horrible Apu from the Simpsons accent saying it was VJ Singh was as ignorant as it was painful to listen to.

[dammage79]

His Pinball Clemens impression on Monday was borderline on some sort of indecency. I cringed.

[Lord Carnage]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I'm a fan of Pinder, indifferent to boomer, and find Rhett to be annoying and not very good.

However, I think you need 3 guys to do a show and thats why it lags when Rhett leaves for vacation. Its hard to stay engaged when its just 2 guys going back and forth.

I'm more a fan of Warrener and what he brings to the show, indifferent (to slightly positive) on Boomer, and find Pinder nothing but annoying and irritating...

That all being said, I think you are right about the 3 people needed. They often bring in a 3rd when someone is out for a week for (I believe) the very reasons you identified.

It's tough to do that for 3+ months though