The Travail of Stormin’ Norm
TORONTO (Mar. 1) — Norm Rumack remembers the unmistakable feeling of doom.
It was June 23, 2009. Early morning on a Tuesday. The night before, while en route to a promotional appearance near Toronto Pearson Airport, he’d gotten an email from Nelson Millman, program director of The FAN–590. “Come see me in my office tomorrow at 9 a.m.,” it read. One sentence. Short… and not–so sweet.
“My heart was in my throat,” Rumack recalled on the phone today. “I remember thinking ‘what? 9 a.m.?’ I’d met with Nelson numerous times. But, not at that hour. So, I figured something was up. I had a bad feeling.”
Norm’s premonition was accurate. “It happened quickly. Nelson said ‘we’re gonna make some changes. I’ve got to let you go. I’m sorry. Here’s a severance package. Look it over; sign it and send it back.’ We shook hands… and that was it. Seventeen years in sports radio down the drain. Took less than 30 seconds.”
Rumack, at that moment, became the first of innumerable big names to be sacked by Rogers Communications and Bell Canada — owners of Sportsnet and TSN properties. The purge continues, unabated.
It has included the likes of Don Landry, Mike Hogan, Jim Lang, Glenn Healy, Daren Millard, Barry Davis, Paul Romanuk, Nick Kypreos, Doug MacLean, John Shannon, Don Cherry, Bob McCown, George Stroumboulopoulos, Mike Wilner, Barb DiGiulio, Ian Mendes, Natasha Staniszewski, Brent Wallace… and TSN all–sports stations in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Hamilton. Throw yours truly in there, if you wish. But it was poor Norm — the Late Night Vampire; Mr. Hammerhead Alert — who got the ball rolling.
Nearly 12 years later, Rumack is on the cusp of his 66th birthday. Healthy. Generally happy. But, with no financial security. He’s employed as a swing–shift Concierge at an upscale condominium near Spadina and St. Clair Ave. For $16.60 an hour. Enough to pay rent and put food on the table of his bachelor apartment. Nothing more. “I’ll be working until the day I die,” Norm said. “I’m carrying a debt–load that I’ll never be able to eliminate. I’ve pored through all of my retirement savings (roughly $60,000) just to survive. When I got let go at The FAN, I was making $52,000 a year, plus $6 or $7,000 more in promo fees. I was fairly comfortable."
“But, I’m not comfortable today. Not even close.”