How the birth of the "Leaf Matters" podcast (now available online) came to be...

For the past few months—long before the lockout created a bit of a vacuum in terms of current and timely hockey talk—I have been thinking about ways to broaden the scope of Vintage Leaf Memories here just a bit.  I enjoy hosting the site and appreciate the tremendous response  I have received over the past three years as well as the many thoughtful observations posted on VLM from fellow Leaf supporters.  The back and forth conversation with so many of you is a huge part of why I enjoy doing this.  (I do wish even more readers would post and add to the discussion...)

I love writing about the old days, for sure (my favourite thing, if I’m completely honest) but I try to focus on current Leaf news because my instincts (and lagging readership “numbers” when I post about the Leafs of yesteryear!) tell me that is what readers want to sink their teeth into the most.  Current Leaf fans want to talk about what’s happening now with the team- not about something that happened fifty years ago.  I get that.

One of the considerations has been launching some sort of regular podcast.  A few of you may know that in the first couple of years after I was developing VLM, I did conduct a few interviews with former Leafs, including Jim Dorey, Paul Harrison, Hall-of-Famer Dickie Moore, Pat Quinn and long-time New York Ranger (and Leaf) great Andy Bathgate.  (Those interviews are available for listening—I trust that the links still work!—on the right hand-side of the site under "Categories" and "audio".) But I’ve been contemplating how this podcast notion could realistically work, when the founder of We Want A Cup, Matteo Codispoti  and I started chatting a bit.  Some of you may recall I did a guest spot with Matteo for his site about a year ago—a wide-ranging conversation about the Leafs, past and present.  We chatted about quite a broad range of issues.

We seemed to have a nice camaraderie at the time and that is probably why we both felt comfortable   considering the concept of working together on a Leaf-oriented podcast.  We Want a Cup is a really good Leaf site—quite different in look and feel from Vintage Leaf Memories, but that made the 'marriage' all the more appealing to me.  I’m pretty dull, while Matteo is a very passionate guy, a father of very young children and a strongly opinionated Leaf fan.  I’m a fair bit older than Matteo, my kids are all grown and my site is pretty basic—VLM isn't funny and doesn’t deal with stats. I don’t do any research.  It’s just me sharing memories of what I actually witnessed myself in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, along with my views and observations on the state of the Leafs today.  I realize that doesn’t exactly create excitement in an era when people want funny video clips and controversy.  So I've been looking to do something more, and maybe a bit different.

There are plenty of really good Leaf sites out there—Pension Plan Puppets, Leaf Nation, Hope in the Big Smoke, Blue Chip Prospects, MapleLeaf Hot Stove and TMLFans are just a few example of the solid hockey writing that is out there.  Those, and other, sites hold up against mainstream media outlets, in my view, when it comes to analyzing the blue and white.  And We Want A Cup is one of those quality sites.

At the end of the day, I just enjoy holding down my small part of Leafworld as best I can.  But I knew VLM could be more than it is, and this podcast concept was too good an opportunity to pass on. So  Matteo and I created “Leaf Matters”, a podcast that will feature weekly Leaf talk and will be available, I’m told (the technology is still quite beyond me; I have to ask my adult sons what it all means, but that’s OK, I guess I’m a simple guy in many respects) on something called ITunes (?).  I believe the plan is to make this a regularly available listening option for those who might be interested in Maple Leaf talk with a twist- and not the same old voices we hear all the time.

The first few will no doubt see us working out some wrinkles and a few of the kinks that are always present when you are trying something out for the first time.  But hopefully, if your expectations are modest (and I hope they are), you might enjoy the opportunity to sit back and listen, at your convenience.  For the most part, it will be just two guys “talking Leafs”.

We have no axe to grind (well, Matteo may have some small axes to grind, but it’s because he loves the Leafs and he’d like to see the team again be what it once was, so his kids can enjoy following a proud franchise with a crest that means something).  We will talk about the good things the Leafs have done under Burke, as well as the areas where they have come up a bit short.  But we will look to be fair and objective.  Over time, hopefully the podcast will grow.  I’d love to see us involve more and more Leaf fans as we establish a place in the audio “Barilkospehere” with this endeavour.

For those interested, here is the link to the inaugural episode:

http://podalmighty.com/wp-content/uploads/Hockey-Show-1-WAV-MIXED.mp3

If that doesn’t work, visit We Want a Cup- the link is prominent there (and they understand technology!).  Also, if you go to the right-hand side of this page, there is a box with "Leaf Matters" imbedded.  The link should be there as well.

Thanks to all of you who have stayed with Vintage Leaf Memories even when we disagree on the issues of the day—and during this protracted CBA (and now no Winter Classic) mess as well.