It was just another curveball for Rob Fai.
Spending a couple of days in hospital with kidney stones last week wasn鈥檛 anything that he couldn鈥檛 handle.
After all, the 49-year-old native of Scarborough, Ontario has faced several curveballs in the past few years.
Firmly established as the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canadians, the pandemic and the re-structuring of minor league baseball forced Fai to leave the organization in 2020 after a 13-year-run.
He started working full-time hosting Fai Nation, TSN 1040鈥檚 late night show that aired from 10 to midnight on weeknights. But when Bell Media decided to change formats and shut the doors on 1040 in February of 2021, it left Fai wondering what鈥檚 next.
Well, Fai has survived鈥nd flourished.
Whether it鈥檚 starting up a wrestling promotion, getting a barber鈥檚 certificate, or finding himself back on the airwaves as a fill-in host for CKNW and other CORUS properties, Rob Fai is doing just fine.
鈥淎fter 1040 shut down, I鈥檓 thinking how do we keep the momentum going because that late-night slot actually started to get a little bit of traction just as the station blew up, which was really heartbreaking for me because it took me a couple of stints at 1040 to finally find that traction with the late-night show,鈥� explains Fai of his first post-1040 venture.
鈥淪o that鈥檚 why I was so quick to try and prop up Fai Nation on a YouTube channel. I really wanted to see if I could keep that momentum going at least through the end of the Canucks season and it was great. We had nearly 1,000 viewers and we had some sponsors that came over but it at least gave me a couple of months to at least figure out what the heck I was going to do.鈥�
During this whole time, Fai was going to school.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 actually funny is that I was going to barber school from six o鈥檆lock to nine o鈥檆lock every night - Monday to Friday -and then I would take my scooter up to the 1040 studios and do the show from 10 to midnight. When the YouTube show ended, I was fully certified so that at least gave me something to kind of hang my hat on,鈥� says Fai, who actually honed his barbering skills on many of his listeners who volunteered through social media.
Fai was looking to continue his radio career but what originally was supposed to be one-time project turned into pretty much a full-time job.
鈥淚 just kind of stepped back after doing The Nation and just did a couple of odds and ends things but that鈥檚 when I was approached by Chris Perry, who I knew from my days when I was working with the Canadians and he was a writer for The Vancouver Sun. Chris was interested in doing a story on the history of wrestling in the area,鈥� says Fai.
A lifelong wrestling fan, Fai was an easy mark for doing a documentary on wrestling in the Pacific Northwest.
What happened next propelled Fai and Perry into becoming wrestling promoters.
鈥淲e could have interviewed all the people we wanted to but we didn鈥檛 have access to any of the old footage because it was just so scattered. With no footage, we鈥檙e thinking what should we do? So why don鈥檛 we just stage a show? We鈥檒l get as much footage as we can and then we鈥檒l go from there. Well the wrestlers said that the show was so well put-together that this could be a monthly thing,鈥� says Fai in explaining the genesis of NEW - NationExtremeWrestling.
With no archival footage, the documentary never aired but Nation Extreme Wrestling is now coming up to its second anniversary and will host its 14th show on Sept. 9 at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just now starting to turn a profit to so that we can start to pay off some of the early stuff. But that鈥檚 like any business, right? I think we鈥檝e accomplished a lot in two years and we鈥檙e in a really good place now,鈥� says Fai, who oversees a roster of 45 wrestlers and referees.
Despite the success of NEW, Fai still had the urge to do radio.
鈥淚 kind of cold-called CKNW and told them if they had anything, I鈥檇 be interested. They offered me a producer role and I said I鈥檇 really like to just keep trying to do something on air. It just started with filling some shifts on the overnights and then I did the evenings and then they just kept pushing me towards the daytime. Now I鈥檓 pretty much on six days a week for the next month. And I also have parlayed that into doing work with their morning show in Toronto. So if I鈥檓 not on in Vancouver, I鈥檓 usually on doing 640 in Toronto. I鈥檝e kind of weaned my way into a pretty regular gig in just piecing things together in different markets,鈥� notes Fai.
The transition from sports to news was made easier by the fact that Fai had worked as a newscaster at NEWS 1130 over a decade ago but it was still a tough transition nonetheless.
鈥淢y time at 1130 gave me the foundation to go back in and start to write differently. And news is different -this is real world stuff like who鈥檚 the next mayor of the city? How are they going to take down the tents down at Main and Hastings? They鈥檙e stories that you have to be really delicate with and be really accurate with your facts but I actually really enjoy doing it. And every day in this city there鈥檚 something brand new for you to discuss,鈥� says Fai.
Fai doesn鈥檛 see himself getting back into sports as he sees his future in news.
鈥淚f they offered me a more permanent (news) role, I wouldn鈥檛 even blink. And to be honest with you going back to sports for me at this point, it would be really hard. I鈥檝e been a couple of years removed from the Canucks and everything. The only sport that I still follow with any value is baseball. I miss sports talk radio but I don鈥檛 miss the industry. The industry was pretty tough on me. I never really fit in with a sports media crowd in this city. And I鈥檓 totally cool with that. But it was just one of those things where it just it was just okay for me to leave and it was the right time,鈥� says Fai.
In baseball, failing to hit the curveball has been the downfall of many promising hitters.
For Fai, curveballs aren鈥檛 an issue.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 鈥渢he Moj鈥� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media. And check out his weekly podcast every Monday at Today in B.C. or your local Black Press Media website.
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