He doesn’t know it, but I have a history with Ken Ploen that goes back more than six decades. “Kenny” Ploen, to Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans of that era, was 23 years old and the team’s star quarterback. I was one of three teenagers who published a monthly sports newspaper […]
Bob Dunn – Distant Replay
How being in the sports media gave one writer & broadcaster the opportunity to interview sports personalities he never imagined he’d even meet in places he never imagined he’d be. These will be his stories about their stories — or just about them — from the pages of his past, while working out of Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver in the 60s and 70s.
The greatest sportswriter of all time, or at least the greatest of our time, died 25 years ago this week. The New York Times, which sometimes seems to view itself through a unique lens of arrogance, said goodbye in 628 words. Jim Murray deserved so much more. He was the […]
I saw Willie Mays’s last hit. It was in 1973 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, a ground single up the middle, his 17th hit in five World Series and the 3,312th hit of a storied career that everybody knew was over. I saw Thurman Munson play his last World Series, […]
How does somebody become a sports fan of a specific team, or a specific player? A fan whose DNA sustains debatable decisions, bad luck and years of futility. A fan for life. For me, it’s starts with a family analysis. I have one son who has been a fan of […]
Baseball is the game of a zillion records, so surely there’s a million that will never be broken. After the designated hitter arrived, I never thought a pitcher would hit a grand-slam home run in the World Series, like Dave McNally did. Nor that a player would play every game […]
It was on a golf course in the California desert. Somewhere on the front nine, our twosome was caught from behind by a single, who asked if he could join us. Of course we said yes, seconds before I realized the single was Ray Elgaard. His 14-year career with the […]
Tom, Dick and Harry? How about Larry, Curly and Moe? Or Willie, Mickey and The Duke? Never mind all that…what happened to Mike, Dave and Bob? A generation or so ago, Mike, Dave and Bob were the most popular names in pro sports — in that order. Well, at least […]
Baseball is becoming obsessed with Shohei Ohtani versus Babe Ruth. Each time the Los Angeles Angels super human runs or hits or pitches as Ruth did, another milestone pops up. Only Ohtani and Ruth have been starting pitchers while batting third or fourth in Boston’s Fenway Park. Only Ohtani and […]
Once upon a slapshot, the National Hockey League draft was regarded as the private domain of the Montreal Canadiens. From its roots they grew enough Stanley Cups to reach 24, still far more than any other team. Of the first 30 cups since the inaugural draft, the Canadiens won 12…and […]
It was a coach’s show on radio. It was supposed to last five minutes or so, the precise timeline “a little” flexible because on every Monday to Friday evening during football season, the deejay who followed it never seemed to start on schedule. Thanks to Joe. The coach was Joe […]
It was my good fortune to hire Chris Cuthbert for his first major-market sportscasting job, four decades ago in Montreal. He would readily acknowledge not having the classic “big pipes” (nor did his boss) that used to be the pre-requisite for breaking into the broadcast industry. So when you throw […]
In sport, as in life, times change. For media dinosaurs like me, there’s a tendency to say something’s not as good as it used to be…the good old days and all that. Most times in sport, today is better. The players are bigger, faster, stronger, more skilled. Marketing is better. […]
