Michael was born in 1953 into a family of ardent Montreal Canadiens fans. His father, Clifford, was the family’s sports patriarch.

His two older brothers followed Clifford’s footsteps as fans of the Les Canadiens.

Michael, the youngest in a family of 5 children, went in a different direction, adopting the Leafs as his team at a very early age- likely as a kind of private protest.

Michael was raised in a small community outside of Windsor, Ontario (across from Detroit). He attended Assumption high school, baseball being his game of choice. He played under Fr. Ron Cullen, a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall-of-Fame, and Reno Bertoia, one of the few Canadians to play major league baseball back in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Both men were tremendous influences. Michael played for championship teams in the Billy Rogell (what would now be known as a U16 league) league in the Detroit Amateur Baseball federation in 1967 and 1968.

After graduating from Assumption in the spring of 1972, Michael attended St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. Having earned his degree, Michael embarked on a career in private broadcasting. He talked his way into an unpaid position at a small radio station in the summer of 1976. That opportunity led to a number of other jobs in radio, and with that, the opportunity to interview hundreds of professional and amateur athletes over the next 8 years.

Michael then worked for communications firms in Toronto between 1984 and 1989, before establishing his own independent issues management and media consultancy in 1989.

Over the years, he has acted as a personal advisor to corporate CEO’s and leaders in the nonprofit sector, as well as NHL coaches and a wide range of professional and amateur sports organizations.