http://www.92citifm.ca

Like everyone else watching as much olympics as possible. Just saw the shootout win for Canada over the Swiss hockey team. Should have won in regulation of course, but hot goalie in Hiller and that’s what happens. No worries though. No need to hold national commission on the state of hockey. We’ll be fine. Can’t wait for the game against the US on Sunday.
Can’t believe I’m watching curling now! And figure skating at the same time! That sure only happens once every four years. Patrick Chan coming up soon for Canada, and gotta stay up to watch crazy Johnny Weir from US….what a piece of work that guy is….complete entertainment, especially off the ice.

Had a great trip to Toronto last weekend. last minute decision for the long weekend. Spent Fri with one of my best life long friends, Willy and joined by brother Bern for drinks on the Danforth downtown to watch opening ceremonies. Bernie got so excited that he ended up on his face later in the night. He’s ok, but needs to replace the smashed glasses ruined in the faceplant on the sidewalk.Hilarious.
Sat watched nephew Sam’s baskball practice/game. Pretty cute, and a reminder of so many similar moments with my boys. How did they grow up so quickly.
Then up to brother John’s where the whole family gathered for the night of beers and bad jokes. Loved it as always.
Low key on Sunday with a lunch out, drop into an electric jam session at a bar, where John gets up and does a killer Joe Cocker tune.
Then up at 4am Monday to catch early flight back.

Tiger Woods statement to selected press tomorrow. What a joke. No questions please. Man up Tiger and do a real press conference or don’t bother.

Hear from you in the morning

It’s been an interesting week and a half. Last Wednesday, I woke up at 4am, to get ready for work, and found that the right side of my face was feeling numb and looking a little droopy. I had come down with a case of Bell’s Palsy, which is paralysis of my facial muscles. I guess the first sign of something going wrong was a stiff neck and an earache on the Tuesday night. Would never of thought I would wake up the next day with half a face that wouldn’t move. Have to admit, I was a little stressed with the fact I make my living with my mouth and is wasn’t cooperating on one side. Tom was on vacation, so it was KK and Scotty Taylor with me and I want to thank them for all their support. I’m glad I was able to come in and have some fun for a few hours a day. It kept my mind off of things. I also want to thank all of you who took time away from your own life to check in on me. I really appreciated that. It’s amazing how many people have dealt with Bells and the timeline for it to pass is different for everyone. You just don’t know how long it will last.

Anyways, I’m taking the first few days of next week off to visit a couple of cousins in Vancouver. Thought I would take the cheap route and go a couple of weeks before the Olympics start, while flight prices are still reasonable.
I also want to wish my two nephews Stephen and Jarod a Happy Birthday, both celebrated this week. Plus, my cousin Joe Masi, who is just as much a friend as he is family! Happy Birthday tomorrow Cuz!

Starting to get the hang of Facebook and having some fun with it. Should have some pictures up in the next couple of weeks. I want to thank everyone who has been kind enough to let me in and consider me a friend.

Tommy, KK, and Scotty (who is in Miami for Superbowl) will take care of you next week! So enjoy a break from the big Italian kid!

Just a reminder the 92 CITI FM Superbowl Party is at Boston Pizza on Kenaston and iit’s filling up, so please make a reservation. I would love to hang with you. Lots of prizes too. Hoping for a close game between the Saints and the Colts.

Have a great weekend!

okay, lots to run through here.

….had a really relaxing week in Cuba. First time I took a trip alone actually. I kinda liked it, but it’s different. I was at a small place off the beaten path, but still on the beautiful beaches of Varadero. The Cuban people were really nice, and I met some good people as well. The primary function was relaxation though, and I got lots of that. Spent every day on the beach all day with some books and my ipod. Sometimes though, there was the distraction of some of the many Russian vacationers walking by in their thongs and speedos. Unfortunately, I’m not talking Anna Kornakova type Russian….these were visions in thongs, both female and male, that no one should be subjected to….but pretty funny at the same time…
A couple of books I read that I would recommend as lovely, inspiring reads, are ‘The 5 People You Meet in Heaven’ by Mitch Albom, and ‘The Shack’, by Wm. Paul Young.

…speaking of people in heaven….I know one for sure…..long time friend and CITI announcer, Duncan’s dad passed away recently, and there is no doubt in my mind, heaven is where you’ll find ‘Big Mac’ if you’re looking for him!…..What a fantastic service, as each sibling got up and gave us a tremendous rememberance and tribute to their Dad. I had met Big Mac on many occassions over the years, and thought he was one of the nicest and most interesting people I have ever met. It was a pleasure and an honour having had the chance to know him.

…As I mentioned on the morning show, I have started taking up yoga on the days I don’t go to the gym..so a couple of times a week….my initial purpose was to get the benefits of stretching the old muscles, but I’ve found other great benefits, like an unusual level of energy and peacefullness afterward as well…..I know, sounds very new age, but it seems to work…..the popular ‘hot’ sessions are the ones I have been taking. It is hot, but it feels really good throughout the whole body….I’d recommend it for anyone
Great laughs on the air, as Joe, the traditionalist, played it up pretty big that he doesn’t believe it’s for ‘real guys’!..ha

….and speaking of Joe…as many of you have heard, he was hit with Bell’s Palsy in his face while I was away in Cuba last week….if you’re not aware, in a nutshell, it’s a paralysis of one side of the face usually, caused by a virus. It can last a few days, weeks, months or longer. They have prescribed steriods for him in the meantime. I feel comfortable talking about this with his blessing, since he’s tackling it with much humour, and we have had a blast on the show having fun with it….of course at his expense!!….I’ve told him that I hope he doesn’t recover too quickly since we’re having such fun with it…..his pronunciations and use of his ‘sippy cup’ are priceless!…..he’s the best, as always

….thanks to the coolest superintendant of any condo building…..Rob, the guy at my new place downtown, insisted on driving me to the airport when I went to Cuba, and against my protestations, was waiting there when I got out of customs 2 hours late, near midnight last Sat. night, to take me home…..what a beauty

By the way…..we have started ‘twittering’ now…..we’re starting to get the hang of it….join us, won’t you

And, as Joe recently mentioned on this blog…he’s on Facebook now, and I’m getting hooked up next week, so I look forward to connecting with you there as well!

Thanks for reading….hear from you in the morn

Is it just me or have the NFL Playoffs been quite boring? Different if your team is one of the winners, but outside of the Green Bay and Arizona game (second half) there really hasn’t been any excitement. The conference finals this week will hopefully be different. I’m really looking forward to the Minnesota/ New Orleans game. Who knows, the surprising new York Jets could make it even more interesting against Indianapolis. I loved when the Jets head coach Rex Ryan handed all his players their Superbowl itineries before the San Diego game. Either way we will be having some fun and handing out some prizes on Sunday at Boston Pizza – Kenaston.

I’m really enjoying following the late-night wars. The monologues from the hosts have all been good. Probably because it’s so real. This looks to be the last week for Conan on NBC. The whole war could get interesting if it becomes, Leno vs. Dave vs. Conan!

Just jumped on Facebook last week. Still learning the ropes, but could always use a friend!

Have a great day!

I’m off to Cuba for a week…..first time going on a trip alone……should be interesting
Will fill you in when I return

This weekend’s picks for Proline. Minnesota/Dallas to tie… Indy to win… San Diego to win… Arizona/New Orleans to tie.

Good luck!

I really got caught up in the NFL Playoffs this weekend. Unfortunately, three of the four games didn’t live up to the hype. The Cincinnati vs NY Jets game was pretty much over by half-time and so was the Dallas vs. Philadelphia game. I was at least hoping Sunday would turn out better and the first game didn’t do that. Baltimore owned the New England Patriots. Everyone watching the games with me at Boston Pizza on Kenaston yesterday thought the same thing was going to happen with the Green Bay vs Arizona game, when in the third quarter the Cardinals were up 31-10. All of a sudden the comeback started and we were treated to a great finish. Ironically, the game ended 51-45 in favor of Arizona and it was a defensive play that ended the highest scoring in NFL Playoff history. We can only hope this weekend’s playoff games are as exciting as the last one we saw.

Don’t forget tonight at 8:00 the UFC is on Spike and Mike Tyson is the guest host of WWE Raw (The Score). The two shows are going head-to-head.

Have a great day!

It’s good to be back after a nice holiday. I had a chance to spend time with family and friends which has always been important to me. It actually felt like I was away from the radio station for a super-long time, yet I stayed in town and still continued my usual out-and-about program. Anyways, it’s nice to be back at work, if I can even call what we do work!

Last night featured one of the most exciting hockey games I have ever seen, too bad it ended up being a heartbreaker. We still should be proud of our boys in red and white, they put in a great effort at the World Jr’s. Now we move on to the Olympics! Don’t forget 92 CITI FM is the official radio broadcaster of the Men’s Olympic Hockey games. The first one is Tuesday, February 16th against Norway. Team Canada will also play Switzerland and the U.S in the round robin. Thank you, by the way, to everyone who came out to Boston Pizza last night for our Gold Medal Party.

I want to wish my Grandpa Joe a Happy 97th Birthday!!! He’s always been a laid back guy, and I guess it’s working for him!
I still love going to visit him (he lives at my Dad’s house) and chatting with him. He still has his wits about him. He might not always remember what he had for breakfast yesterday, but he can still describe in great detail his days working for CN and his time in the war. He’s a quiet guy, who spends his days napping, eating, and watching the news. Him watching TV can be entertaining because his English is very limited and he is hard of hearing. Oh yeah, he became a hockey fan about 10 years ago. He loves the hitting and the fighting. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and since I’m named after him, why not be like him. We both have been known to nod off in our big ass recliners watching a hockey game.

I want to give a shout out to all the Manitobans carrying the Olympic Torch over the last couple of days. Congratulations!

Finally to all my Ukrainian friends, Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year to all. Looking forward to getting back on the Morning Show tomorrow to hear from you and share a few laughs for the first time in 2010.

2009 was not the best year for me. “To be honest with you” as my bud Joe always says, it was one of my worst ever.

You see, Special K and I separated earlier in the year, and it was a very sad time for me for quite some time. I always received many emails about how you could hear how special she was to me, just by listening to our show, and I always appreciated that. For that reason, I wanted to finally share this information with you. I’ve found it very difficult to discuss with even close friends and family for a long time, but feel the new year is a good time for a fresh slate. Just so rumours don’t start to erupt, as they always do, there was never an issue of infidelity, which often happens in these cases. We just found ourselves differing on some issues, and that sometimes leads to the inevitable.

I love her to death, and always will. I hear she is happy now, and that makes me feel good. But it is also time for me to move on as well. What better way than a new year!
I will say that through all of this tumultuous time for me in ’09, coming in and doing the show for you each day was my refuge. I really appreciate your consistantly positive support for the show and for what we may bring into your lives each morning. It’s very special and important to me.

Thanks to Joe and his family, my old buddy Larry and his associate Greg, and my sons for spending this Christmas season with me and making it very special. And the Nelson’s for a great New year’s eve gathering.

Now although my Oregon Ducks lost in the Rose Bowl on new year’s day, I’m looking upon that as only a blip on the positive radar of the new year. I’m expecting great things from 2010 and looking forward to sharing them all with you each morning on our show.

All the best to everyone for 2010!
Hear from you in the morn
tom

I just wanted to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope 2010 brings you everything you want and more. Plus, a special thank you for making my 15th year at 92 CITI FM a great one. Talk to you January 4th. All the best!

Joe.