After 11 a.m., the atmosphere just changed on the second floor of 200 Laurier Avenue West. Georges Laraque and Stéphane Gonzalez entered to finish preparing for their show Laraque and Gonzalez, broadcast from noon to 3 p.m. This is the centerpiece of the BPM Sports schedule.
Published yesterday at 5:00 a.m.
But at 11:23 a.m., the show – that’s what it is – has already started. Laraque took the football from Max Van Houtte, who came to tease them in the production room. A friendly battle to take it back from him takes place, in front of the familiar smiles of their companions. In itself, if the fight moves air, Laraque’s laughter completely crosses the sound barrier. Or, at a minimum, the walls of the station.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Max Van Houtte has fun with Georges Laraque.
That doesn’t seem to bother Olivier Brett and Sydney Fowo, recording a segment of the FC919 in a secondary studio. The soccer show will be broadcast in the evening.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Olivier Brett and Sydney Fowo
Noon is approaching. The Laraque-Gonzalez tornado comes into the studio. The former NHL player, as a true agent of chaos, tries to distract Hugo Raîche while he reads his news on the air. This doesn’t go down well with his colleagues, who won’t hold it against him for long.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
The show team Van Houtte and direct
Laraque and Gonzalez starts off with a bang. The guys laugh at the shameful defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles, director Benoît Roger’s favorite team, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL. The three colleagues and friends blow pipes, laugh out loud and seem to have great fun working together.
“We have always had incredible chemistry,” Laraque told us about the duo he formed with Gonzalez, before going on air.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Georges Laraque and Stéphane Gonzalez
“Gonzo” was part of the furniture at 91.9 before he left for The Blue Pocket, last year. He finally returned last fall, because “there was a shortage,” he said. He missed “the proximity, the exchange” with the world.
« Le show [à La Poche bleue], I did it from my basement, recalls the former MusiquePlus. I’m a gang guy. The fact of being in a gang here, of having brought Laraque and Gonzalez, that was the goal of the exercise. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Stéphane Gonzalez
When there was an opportunity for us to come back together, it was a no-brainer. Everyone at the station knew it was going to work. Even the listeners knew it, they had been asking for this return for a long time.
Georges Laraque
Stéphane Gonzalez hosts standing. Georges Laraque is seated, his right leg stretched out on a second chair. The show is only a few minutes old when Laraque refers to “the army,” which helped him make his choice between the Bucs or the Eagles.
When we told you about the unique bond that BPM Sports – and more precisely Laraque and Gonzalez – maintains with its audience, that’s what we’re talking about.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
The show Laraque and Gonzalez
“I’m not embarrassed to say it: there is no presenter who is as close to his audience as the two of us,” says Laraque. Public events with people who call us, we do them constantly, we know most of them, we have their phone numbers, we have done events at the bar [de Gonzalez], at my card store, you see people all the time. We can tease them because we know them. »
Personally, I find that in the media, there is often a relationship like “you are being talked down to, you are the supporters”. But that’s not what sport is about. We have a beer, we chat, we chat.
Stéphane Gonzalez
“If someone brings a good point, we like to promote it,” adds Gonzalez. Sometimes, someone will call us with a good point, and we’ll make it our question of the day. We involve listeners all the time. We call them the army. Whenever we need something, they are always there. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Benoit Roger shows us figurines of Thor and Josh Anderson, gifts received from loyal listeners of the station.
And even when the animators don’t need it, their army responds. The Thor figurine on Ben Roger’s desk, which bears the Marvel character’s nickname, was given to him by an auditor. Just like the bike with oversized tires (fat bike) with whom Roger went to BPM Sports on this snowy Tuesday in Montreal. Yes, a brand new bike, generously donated by a member of the public. Gonzalez, Laraque and Roger love their audience, who appreciate it.
2024-01-24 03:00:36
#BPM #Sports #Laraque #Gonzalez #army
