Brian Crossman is a partner in Estevan-based Independent Well Servicing. The opinions expressed in this column are the opinions of the author and not necessarily the opinions of Independent Well Servicing.
When you spend a lot of time driving around Saskatchewan (such is the oilpatch life), you tend to listen to a lot of radio. Years ago, it was AM/FM radio, or cassette tapes (yes, I am that old) and music was by far the biggest part of it. But as time passed, I became more interested in the news. Then, in 1998 Newstalk 980 started a new morning talk show starring one John Gormley. I am sure I did not listen to the first show, in fact my whole time as a listener has been sporadic at best. When you are in and out of your truck or spending days on the rig floor, listening to talk radio is not even number six on the priority list.
As the years went by, I listened more and more to Mr. Gormley and his lineup of guests. I always did enjoy the Saskatchewan flavor of the show, and being a conservative-minded fella, I usually agree with him politically. That is not to say I was in lockstep with every opinion he ever espoused, far from it. I have gone out of my way in life to listen to other people’s opinions, especially when they don’t coincide with my own. Sometimes it’s enlightening, sometimes not so much.
What was kinda funny (see hilarious) was when John Gormley announced his well-deserved retirement, I caught some very interesting chatter on social media in the days that followed. Things like, “good riddance” and “glad he’s going” made me stop and think for a minute. I always knew John was not loved by the NDP, the Liberals, the unions and of course, the “Shame Lady.” (Regular listeners will get that reference). But I was surprised at the vitriol spewed by the left leaning people that wrote those words from the safety of their keyboards and smart phones. Props to the clowns that tried to call in and were cut off by the show’s producer before they could finish their ignorant sentence. At least they had the guts to call the show.
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It makes one wonder, “Why would people be so happy (while sounding angry) that a radio personality was retiring?” I mean, really, there are many other radio stations to listen to. There are podcasts, Spotify, iTunes, satellite radio and good old-fashioned silence. How do people get so worked up over one man on an AM radio station?
Fun fact, I used to listen to CBC radio on occasion, just to hear what the “other side” was saying. Well, that and the radio show “Saturday Night Blues.” It was hosted by Holger Peterson and was 2 hours of blues classics, and I loves me some blues. This is quite a few years ago, when they weren’t funded to the tune of 1.2 billion dollars annually, promoted “Hockey Night in Canada” and they weren’t the mouthpiece for the Liberal Party of Canada. (One-hundred and forty-four executive directors pisses me off, too)
These past couple of decades have me listening very little, if at all, to CBC radio. As I noted earlier, many people were celebrating the end of the Gormley Show. This shows the effect that he has had on the political/radio landscape. I mean, if someone retired from CBC, I wouldn’t know, wouldn’t care, and I sure wouldn’t go on a rant about it online. There isn’t anyone on that station that carries the kind of clout on the Saskatchewan listening landscape that John Gormley has over the past two and a half decades.
Evan Bray. CJME/CKOM
Now that Evan Bray is taking over it should be exciting and interesting. Not to drop names, but I have known Evan for a long time. He is from the area I grew up in, and he went to school with my youngest sister Sherri. He comes from a farm background and a great family. Being former Chief of Regina Police Service lends a lot of credibility, too. I personally think Evan will do a great job.
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This of course, comes with some caveats. I sincerely hope he continues to have Brad Wall stop by and of course interviewing “Quick Dick McDick” on a regular basis. “Saskatchewan’s Smartest Radio Listener”, “Bugs Day the Hour of Rage” and the occasional visit from the usual gang of callers are also things I hope we can all continue to enjoy. Oh yeah, let’s not stop “Rider Prognostications” too. Rider fans love that all season long.
The one thing I really hope Evan will continue is the monthly report from Saskatchewan’s oil and gas industry. The owner/editor of the Pipeline Online Brian Zinchuk came on John Gormley’s show each month to give the radio listeners an update on the latest happenings in the energy industry. Of course, being an oilpatch “lifer” myself I am very biased. But hey, the industry employs a great deal of people, and the province derives a huge revenue benefit from it. Another benefit for Newstalk Radio is the Saskatchewan energy industry tunes in and advertises on the station as well.
I’d like to close by thanking Mr. John Gormley for his years of service to the people of Saskatchewan, and for giving us a place to meet and a radio to yell at on occasion. It was always interesting and at times, a whole lot of fun. We in the “patch” have always listened to you. The men and women of the industry were always happy you paid attention to us and genuinely cared about our contributions to the province. I am confident that Evan will do the same, and the oilpatch will be “listening” with great interest.
Brian Crossman is a partner at Independent Well Servicing based in Estevan. He would like to officially invite Evan Bray to the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show next June. Gormley always showed up. Just saying….
(Editor’s note: No, I did not put Crossman up to this. And he forgot to reference the “Angry Gormley Listener…” But congratulations to John and welcome to Evan.)
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- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001