The legend of Dart Guy continues to grow, and he doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.
TSN1050 Toronto announced on Wednesday that the fan who became the face of Leafs nation during last season’s first round playoff matchup with be co-hosting a radio show alongside Sirius XM host Todd Shapiro called “The Dart Guy and Todd Shaprio Show.”
Beginning this Saturday afternoon from 3-5pm ET, 37-year-old Jason Maslakow and Shapiro will try to create a beer league hockey atmosphere show tailored to all the blue-collar hockey diehards living in and around the Toronto area.
“Basically, we’re looking at this as a show hosted by fans, for the fans. We aim to give the average joe fan like me a voice to be heard, as we hope to have high levels of fan interaction, “Dart Guy told BarDown. “While we have plenty of sports knowledge and will look to display that to a certain extent, we’ll be aiming to keep things light hearted and fun. We will be different in that neither of us are trying to portray or convince anyone that we are insiders or experts."
“I have been embraced as a face and voice of Leafs nation and we basically want to share that feeling with everyone. The show will be mainly hockey focused but spill over into other sports, as we are both fans of other Toronto teams as well.”
The show will be far from your hardcore, stat-driven typical sports talk show where you’ll find expert analysis, which Shapiro and Maslakow will fully embrace.
“There will definitely be some fun segments with call-ins, so who knows what kind of off the wall ideas may be presented. In the end, it’ll be the voice that you normally wouldn't hear on a typical show. We will also hopefully have some higher profile guests that we will allow our listeners to speak to, as well and take part in the interviewing process, which will bring fans closer to their idols than they would have a chance to on other shows.”
Maslakow doesn’t have the experience of working in the broadcasting industry prior to the show, so he’ll be relying on his co-host Shapiro to help him learn the tricks of the trade on the fly. Shapiro, an 18-year veteran of the radio industry knows what their target demographic is and the key to attracting dedicated listeners.
“I can honestly say that the most compelling part of broadcasting is when the hosts and guests are genuine and true to themselves! That's exactly what Dart Guy and I want to bring to sports fans – specifically Leafs Fans – a genuine and authentic sports experience with no ego," Shapiro explained to BarDown.
"We want listener's to feel a part of the program by giving them an honest and lighthearted voice," Shapiro explained. "At the end of the day, we're all fans; we don't care if you're in the nosebleeds or sitting front row -- let's all paint our faces and enjoy taling about the team we love. I'm supremely grateful to centre this lineup with such a natural born beauty known as Dart Guy. Soon, you'll know him as so much more. Oh, and feel free to chirp us if you think otherwise. The phones will always be open and we're looking forward to hearing from you during our pre-pre game hang with all of you beauties."
It's pretty fascinating to see the stardom Dart Guy achieved at the end last season just by being caught on television with a dart inside his mouth while watching a hockey game inside an arena. To Maslakow's credit, after 22 years of smoking, he finally kicked the habit and quit.
At the end of the summer, Dart Guy auctioned off this 3D bust model of himself equipped with the signature dart, and went from a viral sensation into an inspiration with proceeds going to the Princes Margaret Cancer Foundation through his Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer ball hockey team.
To get a little sample of what listeners can expect from Todd and Jason, have a listen to their interview with Michael Landsberg that appeared on TSN 1050's Landsberg in the Morning from Wednesday.
Special thanks to to Jason and Todd for giving us the time for the interview. You can listen to their show on TSN1050.ca, the TSN GO app, the iHeartRadio app. All episodes will be podcasted on TSN.ca and iTunes.
