Until tonight, I had never heard the name Necro Butcher, but man, have I been educated. I just returned from a screening at The Royal on College of a Dark Side of the Ring episode about a legendary wrestling match between Samoa Joe and Necro Butcher.

After the viewing of this highly entertaining episode, there was a Q & A featuring Samoa Joe himself. This episode was directed by Stu Stone, who joined Joe on the stage. The host was FOTM John Pollock.

I also saw FOTM David Alter in the crowd, and other familiar faces from TMLX events.

Great ride, great episode, and great times. Well done, Stu.

Today I enjoyed a great bike ride to St. Matthew's Clubhouse in Riverdale Park East for a Simcoe Day event. Jeremy Hopkin was there, as was Adam Bunch, and the entire gang from the Scadding Cabin episode of Toronto Mike'd.

Even mayoral candidate Brad Bradford showed up.

A perfect day for an extended ride to Riverdale.

Rob Faulds is calling matches at the National Bank Open in Montreal, and when that tournament concludes on August 14, he'll be calling it a career after 51 years in broadcasting.

About six years ago, Rob Faulds visited me for a lengthy chat about his career, which includes doing play-by-play for the Montreal Expos, Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, curling, the Memorial Cup, tennis, and more. There's also a wonderful tribute to John Cerutti.

Congratulations to a good guy on his retirement and here's hoping there's more time for beautiful sunsets on Lake Huron.

I (almost) never log in to Threads. I certainly never post there. I just don't enjoy the experience and far prefer Blue Sky.

When I post to Instagram, however, it automatically puts the post on Threads. Yesterday, I posted about the passing of Bill Atanasoff.

Apparently Threads removed this post. The reason? "The post may contain misleading links or content."

Ridiculous.

Vincent Pastore was the actor best known for his portrayal of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on The Sopranos.

For the past few months, I've been producing a weekly WPBL podcast hosted by Ashton Lansdell. As you can imagine, Ashton and I have become pretty close.

This afternoon, in Springfield, Illinois, Ashton and her LA Queens will play the New York Heights in the inaugural WPBL game. I've been precariously living through Ashton as she played for the Party Animals in Banana Ball, unveiled the WPBL team nicknames, logos and uniforms, dominated for USA in last week's WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Rockford, and finally arrived in Springfield for this first WPBL season.

Her performance in that WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Rockford was unreal. Over five games, Ashton went 11-for-13 with two doubles and two home runs. She walked four times and never struck out. She posted a .846 batting average and a .889 on-base percentage. Her slugging percentage was 1.462, and her OPS [On-base Plus Slugging] was an incredible 2.351. Yes, she was named Outstanding Player of the tournament.

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But now it's all about the WPBL For us in Canada, we can watch on YouTube. I can't wait.

Go Ashton!

Update: Ashton has been named team captain of the LA Queens.

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Bill Atanasoff was a former City-TV cameraman who was struck by a driver on November 9, 2010, while on assignment. Bill suffered severe head trauma, a broken neck, broken pelvis and two broken legs, but his story was not a sad one, but an inspiring one.

Peter Gross called me with this sad news moments before I received this text from Lorne Honickman.

Hey Mike. I just wanted you to know that Bill Atanasoff just passed away one week before his 74th birthday. You did a great tribute to him with Peter. If you want post something as I know you do that when significant and important people have died, you can say that its a very sad day for his family, his friends and for all his colleagues from his many years at CITY TV.

Lorne is referencing episode 1770 of Toronto Mike'd in which I chatted with Peter Gross about his friend and former CityTV colleague Bill Atanasoff. In addition to hearing from Peter Gross, Jim McKenny, Lorne Honickman, John Whaley, Al McCormick, Bill's sister, and Bill's caregiver, Bill himself speaks about the accident and the years since. I am grateful to Peter that we have this audio, as Peter tells me it was likely the last time Bill shared his story in such detail.

Here is an edited version with the highlights.

I urge you to listen to that episode about Bill Atanasoff and to be inspired by a man who best played the cards he was dealt. My sincere condolences to all who knew and loved Bill.

Arlene Smith was a founding member of the Chantels, singing their 1957 hit Maybe, which defined the girl group sound.

Jane Brown was first heard on Toronto radio in the mid-80s, and she's on the air as I type. This and more was discussed during her Toronto Mike'd debut yesterday, and I wondered aloud if she's now the Toronto radio host with the earliest Toronto radio debut.

Lee "Beef" Eckley, currently on the air in Oshawa, hit our airwaves first, as did Jeff Chalmers, but the current Toronto radio host who wears the Toronto radio longevity crown is Glen Woodcock. Glen took over The Big Band Show in 1976 and that show airs Sundays at 5pm on JAZZ.FM91.

Welcome to this week's Open Mike. I'm Mike and I'll be your master of ceremonies for the day.

Feel free to use this space to vent, rant,  share a story and/or ask a question of the FOTM hivemind.

In this 1941st episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Zoomer morning show host Jane Brown about her career in radio at Newstalk 1010, 680 News, CHFI, CISS FM, Q107, and the CKO Radio Network. This episode is exactly 1:24:34.

You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways:

• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Follow on Spotify
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• Subscribe on Podcast Addict
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• Listen on tunein
• Subscribe directly to the feed at https://www.torontomike.com/podcast/rss/

There is a version of Toronto Mike'd without programmatic ads available to all Patrons. Consider becoming one at https://www.patreon.com/torontomike.

Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Palma Pasta, Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball, Nick Ainis and Ridley Funeral Home.

On this 1939th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with folk-roots singer-songwriter Matthew Holtby about his 25 years in radio and making a real go of his music career. This episode is exactly 1:15:12.

You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways:

• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Follow on Spotify
• Follow on Amazon Music
• Subscribe on Podcast Addict
• Subscribe via Overcast
• Listen on tunein
• Subscribe directly to the feed at https://www.torontomike.com/podcast/rss/

There is a version of Toronto Mike'd without programmatic ads available to all Patrons. Consider becoming one at https://www.patreon.com/torontomike.

Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Palma Pasta, Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball, Nick Ainis and Ridley Funeral Home.

In this 1940th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Todd Bueler returns to kick out more jams from his 1970s adventures in Swansea. This episode is exactly 1:22:53.

You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways:

• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Follow on Spotify
• Follow on Amazon Music
• Subscribe on Podcast Addict
• Subscribe via Overcast
• Listen on tunein
• Subscribe directly to the feed at https://www.torontomike.com/podcast/rss/

There is a version of Toronto Mike'd without programmatic ads available to all Patrons. Consider becoming one at https://www.patreon.com/torontomike.

Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Palma Pasta, Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball, Nick Ainis and Ridley Funeral Home.

On this 1939th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with folk-roots singer-songwriter Matthew Holtby about his 25 years in radio and making a real go of his music career. This episode is exactly 1:15:12.

You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways:

• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Follow on Spotify
• Follow on Amazon Music
• Subscribe on Podcast Addict
• Subscribe via Overcast
• Listen on tunein
• Subscribe directly to the feed at https://www.torontomike.com/podcast/rss/

There is a version of Toronto Mike'd without programmatic ads available to all Patrons. Consider becoming one at https://www.patreon.com/torontomike.

Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Palma Pasta, Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball, Nick Ainis and Ridley Funeral Home.

Kavinsky was a French musician, DJ, producer who is best known for Nightcall, a stellar jam from the Drive soundtrack.

Scott Hylands was a prolific Canadian actor who portrayed Detective Kevin "O.B." O'Brien on Night Heat.

It's still July, but stores are already promoting their "back to school savings". Who amongst us can resist a "back to school sale"?

Other than the CNE opening, does anything trigger back to school anxiety more than back to school ads and commercials?

Here are some vintage BiWay back to school ads to trigger the internal back to school anxiety in your viens. It may be dormant, but it's there. Trust me.

That puzzle cube, not to be confused with a Rubik's Cube, is a steal at $2.22. The original fidget spinner!