By Erik Tomas / Raceline Radio
Victoria Day Weekend. How many out there are old enough that you still call this “Firecracker Day?” Once upon a time, they used to sell firecrackers, those little ( sometimes big ) red things that looked like mini sticks of dynamite. You unraveled the fuses and lit them off with a bang individually, or you lit a couple of packs hooked together for a few loud seconds of machine-gun like popping that startled the neighbours and scared the fur off the cat!
Of course, some government types decided that because people were getting killed by the thousands lighting firecrackers ( ya right! ), they better save our souls and ban them. Fun’s over! Now it’s just those roman candle-type fireworks that shoot pretty colours up into the sky to the see-your-breath ooh’s and ahh’s of people huddled under blankets at city parks. It’s not the same.
AM 1220 Cornwall Ontario has lit their fuse and is off and operating as our newest Raceline Radio Network affiliate, and as anticipated, the community rich in motorsport affection has jumped aboard. The Sales folks report they are already close to having all their local commercial time sold out, and this is actually before the first Sunday airing! How excellent is that! Stations want to be part of the popularity of the sport and attract fans as new listeners, but it’s selling advertising that keeps the lights on and pop in the machines, so it’s always important each affiliate move inventory in the hour.
We distribute Sales kits to the stations to offer all the assistance we can. Up and down the Network, business is great! Nice work Cornwall! Welcome aboard and yank on those belts one more time! How did we ever do this without the internet and computers? Last week, a FAN 960 Calgary listener wondered why the show wasn’t on it’s usual 11 PM Mountain Sunday night slot.
A variety of reasons that can usually be traced to technical and/or recording glitches. So the easiest thing to do is hit the internet and click on The FAN 960’s website this week and connect to their “listen live” feature. A few seconds later, thousands of miles spanned and Raceline was percolatin’ along just fine. Calgary’s OK.
Interviewing Toronto’s Marty Roth seconds after the lone Canadian entrant for this year’s 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 made the field of 33, reminds me why we do this show. Here’s a Canadian privateer with “no” budget, trying to skate with the big boys and their multi-million dollar budgets, just because he loves the cars, loves the 500 and loves the sport! And isn’t it ironic? Marty Roth is that “little guy” Tony George kept talking about when he changed the course of The 500’s history, by reserving almost all the starting spots for his new Indy Racing League.
George wanted to give the “little guy” a chance to run the Brickyard. Well, of course now it’s mostly big-budget teams with non-North American drivers, making it near impossible for the “little guy” to compete. But there’s Marty Roth, carrying on a proud Canadian tradition at Indy that goes back to Billy Foster who was one of Mario Andretti’s good friends, through Scott Goodyear’s heroics. It’s an excellent motorsport story. Just bring that # 25 home Mr. Roth, and travel safe!
And ending this week on a sad note, I’m still shocked that my good friend Bob Sherwin has left us after a massive heart attack in his 52nd year. A fixture in Hamilton Radio at CKOC and at our Network Flagship station AM 900 CHML for over 30 years, Bob and I broke into the business together back in St. Catharines at CHSC in the 70’s.
“Sparky” was one of the most dedicated and hardest working broadcasters in the game, and because he started as a board operator as a kid and advanced to mornings, afternoon drive, and Program Director positions, he always had a soft spot for Ops and anyone trying to break into the industry. His love of baseball, especially the Detroit Tigers, was matched only by his love of music, especially the oldies. As assistant CHML PD Rick Zamperin stated so perfectly, “ …the loss of Bob Sherwin leaves a huge hole in the Hamilton radio community...” Right on Rick and rock on Bob Sherwin, where you’re broadcasting from now, the whole world can hear ya!
What’s YOUR opinion? Drop me an e-mail! Any suggestions? Opinions? Comments? Better ideas? Keep the E-Mails coming for The Raceline E-Mail Bag! The address: erik@raceline.ca Do you agree or disagree with the commentary? Until next time, talk to ya’ll on Raceline Radio! ET
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