My Father And Sports

TORONTO (Oct. 14) — Having lost my father, Irv, ten days ago, I’ve been in a reflective mood. Which isn’t unusual for me. Dad was, foremost, a kind, gentle man with remarkable generosity and unwavering business ethics. A role model… Read More

Maybe The Veteran Stuff Will Help

TORONTO (Oct. 10) — Your father dies… and they drop the puck. Yes, life goes on. As it should. The 2024–25 season for the Toronto Maple Leafs began somewhat ominously on Wednesday night with a 1–0 loss at Montreal. Thereby… Read More

When Your Hero Is No More

TORONTO (Oct. 5) — This morning, for the first time in nearly 66 years, I woke up without a father. I wondered if some wave of latent emotion might wash over me. Instead, I felt the same inner–peace and comfort… Read More

Bobcat, Wilbur and the Trial Balloon

TORONTO (Oct. 2) — A supper–hour radio show that tested the water for a ballsy format change launched here in town 35 years ago: Oct. 2, 1989. Created by Allan Davis, John Rea and Larry Green. Hosted by Bob McCown.… Read More

It’s Impossible To Predict The Leafs

TORONTO (Sep. 28) — Apart from the usual and tiresome narrative involving success in the regular season and collapse in the playoffs, there is virtually no way to forecast how the Toronto Maple Leafs will fare this season. Not with… Read More

Toronto Sun Closes Leaf Comments

TORONTO (Sep. 24) — I’ve written this before and I’ll continue to pound away until it happens: Lance Hornby should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. That the Selection Committee continues to overlook the dean of Canadian hockey writers… Read More

Dinwiddie Loses Game For The Argos

TORONTO (Sep. 21) — I’ve been on this bandwagon for weeks now, but I didn’t believe Ryan Dinwiddie would directly cost his team a win. Until it happened on Friday night at BMO Field. So, I’ll say it again: If… Read More

God Help Fans Of The Maple Leafs

TORONTO (Sep. 18) — The evil empire has swallowed its petulant cousin. Hockey’s most–popular team is now fully owned by one of Canada’s most–unpopular labels: Rogers. Or, “Robbers”, as the company is often referred to in on–line babble.… Read More

The Maple Leafs Are Drug–Addicted

TORONTO (Sep. 14) — The latest media buzz about Mitch Marner went to print on Friday, courtesy Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star. Arthur’s theory made the most sense for the Maple Leafs… because it made the least sense. Only… Read More

Craig and the Core–4: Hmmm…

TORONTO (Sep. 12) — I feel a gnawing sensation in my gut when I ponder Craig (Can’t–Smile) Berube spending a full National Hockey League season in charge of William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly. Why… Read More

Only Pinball Can Save The Argos

TORONTO (Sep. 7) — You may not realize it, but the Toronto Argonauts are in terminal condition. With an uncommunicative coach that has lost the dressing room. A quarterback who presents the characteristics of an emotional featherweight. And, worst of… Read More

How Does Life Go On?

TORONTO (Aug. 31) — People who are observant, religiously, will often say “you can question God; you can be angry at God… but you can never dispute the existence of God.” For whatever it’s worth, I ascribe to the aforementioned… Read More

Are The Penguins Pursuing Marner?

TORONTO (Aug. 29) — This one makes a bit of sense. Amid all the gibberish involving Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs, the gifted forward accepting a trade to Pittsburgh is far from implausible. Given, of course, that the Penguins… Read More

They Ambushed The Staff at CHML-900

TORONTO (Aug. 17) — It was another media catastrophe; this time involving one of the primordial radio outlets in all of Canada. CHML–900, the voice and conscience of Hamilton, Ont. for nearly 100 years, is no more. Hasn’t been since… Read More

Another Summer Love–In (yawn)

TORONTO (Aug. 15) — The actual “Summer of Love” was 1967, when hippies and counter–culturists gathered in San Francisco, crowding the intersection of Haight/Ashbury while tripping on psychedelia in Golden Gate Park. Simultaneously, 123 miles south of the Bay Area,… Read More

What About Those Jerseys, Keith?

TORONTO (Aug. 13) — At the conclusion of last season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, after the predictable first–round playoff defeat against Boston, the incoming CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment offered a cheeky response to a query about… Read More

CFL Command Centre Needs Overhaul

TORONTO (Aug. 11) — I have closely followed the Canadian Football League since September 1969, when Dad took me to my first game at the old CNE Stadium (Ottawa beat the Argos). I stuck with the league through all of… Read More

Marner Is Going Nowhere

TORONTO (Aug. 8) — Welcome back, briefly, to our regularly scheduled programming. The question, laying dormant in the stifling heat and humidity of summer, arose once more on Tuesday, when a friend at a funeral service asked “why haven’t the… Read More