Bob Dunn – Distant Replay

Something that Gordie Howe “did” after he died made more of an impact on me than anything from his illustrious hockey career. Yes, you read that right. The story requires a little context. My grandson Gareth, who was born at La Verendrye Hospital, was a passionate young hockey player. His […]

It was just before a Cactus League game in Arizona. Four retired major leaguers had been imported to shake hands and sign autographs for fans who remembered them. At the end of a long table, one man sat alone. No visitors. No autographs. He brought is own chair. It was […]

Every time I talk to Dick Irvin, Jr., as I did a couple of weeks ago, I learn something. This is a process that has been going on for about five decades, off and on, and you’d think by now my sports IQ would be more impressive than it is. […]

This Olympic year, delayed 12 months by the pandemic, seems like an appropriate time to share one sports writer’s “medal-winning performances” from Games past. It began when I took my vacation for a no-expenses-paid trip to Mexico City for the 1968 Olympics. As the Winnipeg Tribune’s swimming writer (once, there […]

Mr. Nice Guy is never perfect, which prompts me to tell you about Wayne Gretzky, who never claimed to be perfect and who is such a national treasure that it’s considered blasphemous to be critical, especially a national treasure who shared Canada’s late “hockey dad” with the whole country. Before […]

The Golden Age of Cerebral Coaching in Montreal lasted 947 days and, like many golden ages, it became a snapshot easily forgotten. It was unrecognized then and perhaps preserved only in the memory of a sports writer who knew all three. Gene Mauch. Scotty Bowman. Marv Levy. From January 25, […]

The first time I was in the presence of the great Rocket Richard, we were in jail. Both of us. He was a few paces ahead of me (that’s royalty) as the big iron door clanged shut behind us. The jail was Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Penitentiary, in suburban Montreal, and we were […]

The restaurant was west of downtown Quebec City, and “The Kid” across the table from me was just 19. At 200 pounds, this was no under-nourished minor-league prospect. As the server handed him a menu, the reporter from Montreal told him this was a legitimate expense and he should order […]

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 […]