Mailing It In...

This is pure, unadulterated comedy TV.

It’s that week where, well let’s face, everyone who watches SportsCentre in Canada is in mourning. Why? Because Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole are, to put it in their own words, ‘Mailing it In.’

Ten hilarious years on the job anchoring SportsCentre and while everyone seems to have fond memories of the dynamic duo, I don’t.

And why?

Because I grew up many a mile away, where the only sports that seemed to ever be on TV was cricket. And more cricket.

But this isn’t me complaining. This is just me enjoying the ride I had watching Jay and Dan since late 2011, and yes trying to model a little bit of my sportscasts on what they do. Sure, it’s a lot easier to be outlandish when you’re on TV because, face it; you don’t have to describe everything like you do on the radio.

I wish I had the ability to say I remember what Jay and Dan did back in 2004, around the time Anchorman came out. I would have been around 12 then, an age when well, you remember stuff you did. I still know what I did back in 2002 for the most part, but in this case, I don’t since I wasn’t around.

And while people call Jay and Dan’s move to Los Angeles and to FOX Sports as the “Wayne Gretzky trade” all over again, it’s not difficult to see why they moved. Surely, when you’re pushing 40 that’s the age to move and discover sunny skies and golden beaches, rather than look back two decades later and wonder what might have been.

And what does this departure mean for TSN as a whole? That’s just one of the questions that now arise. How will TSN deal with their loss? Will Jay and Dan succeed in the U.S?  And of course the big one - Who will replace Jay and Dan at TSN?

Sure TSN’s next anchors, whoever they maybe, will have tons to live up to, and I’m sure they will. But for budding sportscasters like me, and probably several hundreds more in the country, the departure could mean an opening somewhere in the organization.

O’Toole and Onrait, and yes I used their surnames for a change, did perhaps the right thing by moving on. It’s what they feel was best for them. And to me personally, that's the way to do it. And in this crazy industry, we call journalism, there’s one thing that’s always constant – Change!

Prior to Jay and Dan I hear that sports news was delivered much like hard news, serious and informed, with not much personality and or witty, sarcastic remarks. So there’s that, a complete and radical transformation brought about by these two unique personalities and by Ron Burgundy to some degree as well, but mostly, Jay and Dan.

Something to live up to? Yes.

So if Jay and Dan were to ever read this someday, thanks for all the memories, albeit it was just for a couple of years. And while most of them are in the form of YouTube clips, I’ve got something to work towards in the future.

"Ya blew it!"

No, not yet.

 And I'll leave you with one of my personal favourites from what I remember watching on TV.

It’s over. Or is it?

Frozen.

Ah, college. It’s been quite a ride; I’ll tell you that much right off the top. You know how Hollywood fills your head with notions of what college or university might be like.It's a little different than that I'm afraid.

Walking through the doors of Fanshawe College in the last week of August 2011 for orientation was surreal; walking out of the doors June 18, 2013 as a college graduate, I’ve got no words to describe that.

Except maybe we did it, to everyone who graduated alongside me.

Imagine walking into a room, a large room at that and sitting at the first available seat. Everyone's a stranger. Everyone in that room is keeping to themselves. And then a large group enters. But this group is not as stiff as those seated. No, this one’s loud and so full of life.

They’re second years, we’re told.

They were supposedly like us only a year ago – shy, quiet, nervous - and we’d be exactly like them in one year when we become quote 'second' years. Jump ahead one year, and yes, we were exactly like them – loud, jovial as if to say there’s no other place we’d rather be.

Now that convocation is done, my first one I might add, since high school back home don't have these elaborate ceremonies to celebrate moving on to the next stage of life, the only thing left of those two exhilarating years are memories.

I came to this country with three suitcases, and a dream. And while my possessions have most certainly increased over time, my dream’s only gotten bigger, and better too. Gone are the days where I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. Gone are the days where everyone, but me seemed to know what was taught in class. High school was fun, tons of fun. But in the sense, not being taught the arts, was well, a bummer, for lack of a better word.

Year one of college zipped by in the blink of an eye. Had I blinked, I’d have probably missed most of it. But over that, the seemingly momentary instances were filled with solid lessons for life. And of course, I’d be nowhere if it wasn’t for the people I went to school with. They people, who took time out of their schedule to help this alien, settle down.

And settle he did.

Year two came by and there were yet more people to meet, more relationships to perhaps carve and nurture as time wore on. And with that came the workload. You see what we did, and with no disrespect to anyone, is not for the weary. You’ve got so much to do and so little time, it seems impossible.

Almost impossible.

But it’s now done. And when I look back I see accomplishments that I never saw coming. I see challenges that seemed unfathomable that were tackled in some style.

I see success.

So what does life have in store for me? I do not know. Next year though, is already shaping to be bigger and even better than ever before. Gone are the days where I’d hear “It’s Victor Kaisar” loudly every time I entered a party, albeit let’s hope it’s only a momentary absence for that phrase.

As Fanshawe College president Dr. Howard Rundle put it in his final convocation speech, “No longer will everyone who works with you be solely focused on your success.” This is the ‘big boy life’ that I’d heard so much about while growing up. That stage in life where you leave the nest and try to spread your wings. The part of life where you begin to actually make decisions that will shape how your life turns out. The part of life where sometimes you wish you were the ten year old who couldn’t decide if he’d have one or two popsicle sticks after lunch. The world’s a scary place, don’t you worry about that.

But hey, you get used to it.