Category: Sports

I wrote this article in August 2016 and sent it to friends on email.

We just got back from Halifax and I had the chance to again walk the same ground that my grandmother, Rose, did when she arrived in Canada after the First World War.  She was about 16 years old and came with her mother and younger siblings.  Her father and older brothers were killed in their farm yard, in front of the family, during the war.  Gramma Rose did not smile much.  She was small, gentle and represented the toughness of the thousands of women who came to this country to make a better life for themselves and their future children.

Fast forward to the Rio 2016 Olympics.  At one point, Canadian women had won medals in 12 Olympic events and our Canadian men had yet to find the podium.  There appears to be a certain “toughness” about these Canadian women as they lead the way.

I’m not going to suggest the current Canadian women toughness compares to the hardship of the women who came before them; however, there does seem to be a level of determination around these women, especially in the swimming events.  As Canadians, we do not celebrate our successes as other countries do and we almost apologize for success.  Sorry, but it is true!

Every four years we get to see all our Canadian athletes compete.  They train in obscurity (I doubt many knew Penny Oleksiak’s name before the Rio games) and then take the stage, not for the spotlight, but for the pure thrill of doing their personal best.  Some get medals, yet the vast majority do not.  I have to believe the dopers and the cheaters are in the minority and that the clean athletes do prevail, even though they do not always get a medal.  There are some things higher in life than recognition of position.

I’m always impressed with the 10 meter diving.  I suggested to Kathy that I would like to try the backward twisting double back flip finishing out of the pike position.  Kathy thought my life jacket would get in the way!  I cannot swim.

So hats off to our Canadian women and continue to cheer them on.  If medals matter at all, the men will catch fire and perhaps there is a Greg Joy (Montreal 1976) or a Donavon Bailey (Atlanta 1996) just waiting to break out!

My second cup is now empty……………..

I wrote this tribute to Gordie Howe in June 2016 when he passed away.  At that time I just shared it with friends on email.

Did you have a hockey hero?  Was it Bobby (pick one), Maurice, Johnny, Stevie Y, Mario, Patrick, Jean, Yvan, Sidney, Alex or Phil.

My hockey hero was Davey Keon,  number 14 of the mighty Toronto Maple Leafs. A small, fast skater that could stick handle like no other.  A kid from Noranda, Quebec who left the Leafs in disgust (think Harold Ballard) and the wounds have only recently healed.  Keon moved to the WHA, first with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and then to the Hartford Whalers.  In 1978 he played with an old guy who, like Keon, was at the end of his playing career.  For many people this classy, tough, old giant Mr. Hockey was their hockey hero.

The giant has fallen.  Gordie Howe has died.  Howe was born 10 days after my late father.

From humble beginnings growing up in Saskatoon to the big hockey cities in the NHL, they say Howe remained a man of the people.  I never met Gordie Howe, yet as a kid I followed his career as I did so many of the hockey players of that time.

We live in an era when everyone wants to determine who was “the best ever”.  Who cares?  As Wayne Gretzky pointed out, he and Howe played in different times where there was a different emphasis on offence and defence.  No need to compare, just appreciate the players for what they brought to the game.

Possibly the most telling statistic and NHL record, and one that will never be broken, is that Howe finished in the top 5 in scoring for 20 consecutive years.  Unbelievable when you think about injuries, travel and talent.

Howe was tough and durable.  He used his stick and elbows in ways that would not be tolerated in today’s game.  A Gordie Howe hat trick is a goal, an assist and a fight.  In reality Howe only had two of these hat tricks.  In all, he had 22 fights.  One of these fights was with Howie Meeker, a person many remember as an annoying, hockey announcer on CBC.  Howie Meeker won the rookie of the year in the NHL the same year Howe was eligible. Really?  Yup, really.

At 6 feet and 200 pounds, Howe was a big man in his era, yet in today’s game his size would not be noticed. No steroids required, just hard work.

Apparently, Howe did things with little fanfare.  As people arrived at Wayne Gretzky’s wedding in limousines, Howe arrived in a yellow taxi.  Nothing extra – just a prairie boy.

According to some reports, the prairie boy got taken advantage of financially for years.  He was the top player of his time; however, he was not paid that way.  Howe signed the contracts put before him and he trusted management.  Other teams used his small contracts as excuses to pay players less.  A player from another team finally brought this to Howe’s attention.  Colleen Howe, Gordie’s wife, took over the financial management for the family and things improved. It was Colleen who negotiated the deal that took Gordie, Mark and Marty Howe as a package to the Houston Aeros of the WHA.

Saskatchewan has exported many talented people over the years.  Was there any better?

My second cup is now empty…………

Muhammad Ali died in June 2016.  I wrote this tribute to him at that time and shared with friends on email.

Ali’s greatest battles did not happen in the ring.  The two toughest were probably being a young, angry, black man in America in the 1960’s and then having to fight Parkinson’s disease for much of his life.  Ali said that after the 1960 Olympics, he threw his gold medal in the Ohio River after he and friends were refused service at an “all white” restaurant in the United States.  He later provided his own refusal by not serving in the US military in Vietnam.  At the time, he effectively made the choice to give up what was his ticket to fame and fortune.  Of course, his path did still lead to a position of influence; however, he could not have known that when he made the decision.  I’m not sure many of us would have had the same conviction when faced with the same choices. Parkinson’s effectively stripped Ali of being more outspoken in the years when America could use his voice.  The symbolism of him lighting the flame at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta was special on many fronts.

I believe Muhammad Ali’s name has come up in the context of Elvis Presley and George Chuvalo.

Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali took two different approaches in relation to the Vietnam war.  Both men were, I believe, of the same  intellect, yet their paths were polar opposites.  Presley was a poster boy for the war effort and his voice and screen presence were made very public.  Ali made his stand and stayed in the United States to face his numerous detractors.  He did not become a draft dodger to a safe jurisdiction.  Stripped of his boxing title, he answered questions from a black, American perspective and his comments had substance even though they were very blunt.  They have a greater meaning and understanding by some of us today then they did at the time.

George Chuvalo was referred to by Ali as the toughest man he ever fought.  Chuvalo fought Ali twice and went the distance both times.  In 1966, when Ali could not get a title fight in the United States, Harold Ballard set the fight in Toronto after Montreal bowed to pressure from the Americans to not hold the fight there.  Just over two weeks before the fight, the American challenger refused to fight Ali and George Chuvalo was called to replace.  Chuvalo took a lot of punches and completed all the rounds.

My second cup is now empty……..