Cam Neely: The gift that keeps on giving

Cam Neely, at right, my favourite Bruin of all time
with another favourite – Ray Bourque.

There have been some lopsided trades in the history of the National Hockey League. Ranking right up there has to be one, engineered by my beloved Boston Bruins in 1986, where they sent Barry Pederson to the Vancouver Canucks for Cam Neely and a draft pick, that would turn out to be Glen Wesley.

Neely would go on to a hall-of-fame career in Boston, and then into the front office where he would finally have the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup as the Bruins’ president in 2011. Wesley would be on two Bruin teams that made the Stanley Cup finals, before signing as a free agent with the Hartford Whalers where, as the Carolina Hurricanes, the Whalers would make the finals two more times and win the Stanley Cup in 2006.

It was the compensation for the Wesley signing, three draft picks from the Whalers, that gave Boston the gift that keeps on giving, as they still had players directly linked to that trade right through the 2014-2015 season.

The best

Cam Neely is my favourite Bruin of all time. He was the consummate power forward even before that term existed. He was big, tough, and could put the puck in the net with a great set of hands. He was left-handed so, when he had to fight, he always seemed to get in the first shot.

But it was that grit and leadership that made Cam the best.

Scoring sensation

Neely found his scoring touch in Boston. His first season with the Bruins was 1986-1987, and he scored 36 goals and 36 assists for 72 points. The previous year he had recorded 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points. The best was yet to come for the rugged right winger from Comox, who played his junior in Portland with the Winter Hawks.

In his second season with the Bruins, his numbers kept improving, as he scored 42 goals, and added 27 assists for 69 points. His point total increased again the next season, 1988-1989, to 75 points. He had fewer goals with 37 but more assists with 38.

The 1989-1990 would be a major breakthrough for Cam Neely. He broke the 50-goal mark with 55 goals. He added 37 assists for 92 points, a career high. The Bruins also advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup finals for the second time in three years, losing to the Edmonton Oilers for the second time in that same stretch.

The next year would be full of highs and lows. Neely again surpassed 50 goals with 51 in the 1990-1991 season, and added 40 assists, giving him 91 points, one short of his career high. Neely, along with Phil Esposito became only the second Bruin, to have back-to-back 50-goal seasons.

The Bruins advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup semi-finals against Pittsburgh, and even took a 2-0 lead to start the series.

Then tragedy struck.

Injury issues

In those 1991 playoffs, Neely suffered an injury after a questionable, some would even say dirty, hit by Ulf Samuelsson. His condition, from that hit and others, worsened as the muscle began to calcify. It was literally turning to bone. Doctors would remove a chunk of calcified muscle the size of a grapefruit from his leg, and his return was questionable.

It appeared Neely’s production would never be the same. He missed almost all of the next two seasons. In the 1991-1992 season. He only recorded nine goals and three assists in nine games. The next season, 1992-1993, was not much better, as he again was hampered by those recurring injuries, playing in just 13 games, where he scored 11 goals and assisted on seven others.

Things looked bleak.

Amazing comeback

That grit and perseverance was evident when Cam Neely did return to the line-up for the 1993-1994 season. Turning heads across the league, Neely went on a goal-scoring tear. He would only play in 49 games that season, but scored an incredible 50 goals in his 44th game, and recorded 24 assists. Only Wayne Gretzky scored 50 goals in a season in fewer games. However, the distinction of scoring 50 goals in 50 games eluded him. Because of his leg, it was not consecutive games because he had to sit out and rest.

No matter, that season was remarkable because it showed more than just goal-scoring prowess, it showed character – and that’s what Cam Neely was all about. For his efforts, Neely won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for exemplifying the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey after the 1993-1994 season. 

He would play the following two seasons then retire. In 1994-1995, he recorded 27 goals and 14 assists for 41 points in 42 games, and in 1995-1996 he recorded 26 goals and 20 assists for 46 points in 49 games. It says a lot of the expectations of Neely that many consider these two 20-plus goal seasons a failure, when any 20-goal season is a success for most players.

The re-match

What I will always remember about Cam Neely though, was waiting for his next meeting with Ulf Samuelsson. It did not come for some time, because Ulf mysteriously sat out with injuries the next couple times Boston played Pittsburgh.

Then, when he could run no longer, they met. It was all over Sportsdesk on TSN. Samuelsson punched Neely in the back of the head. Neely grabbed Ulf, and dropped his gloves. Before he could do anything else, the big Swede turtled. Neely punched wildly at his shoulders. Then, out of complete frustration grabbed Ulf and tried to get at him. It would not have hurt anyway, because Ulf was turtling.

It showed to me the frustration Neely had pent up for years, that he was still unable to get out.

I think his best revenge was still scoring 50 goals in 49 games, and going into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005. He also had his number eight retired by the Bruins.

Parting thoughts

The reason it is the gift that keeps on giving became apparent to me when I celebrated my last birthday. An old and dear friend, who happens to be a Canucks fan, sent me a link entitled: “The gift that keeps on giving”. It detailed how the Neely trade continued to have benefits for the Bruins right to the end of the 2014-2015 season. Here is a link to that thread of trades: http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=1349045

The Neely trade always strikes a sour chord for Vancouver Canucks because of everything that transpired.

The one thing they never had to endure was the agony of his slow decline, resulting from events beyond his control in so many ways.

Yet, I know I will be eternally grateful for the Canucks for sending us Cam Neely. It wasn’t because he was “The gift that kept on giving.” That was just an added bonus. Instead it was because Neely became he heart and soul of the Bruins and their avowed leader. He was so tough, gritty, determined, and skilled.

Much was made of his election to the Hockey Hall of Fame. There were those who said he did not play long enough, put up good enough numbers, or win any Stanley Cups. His election was based purely on emotion.

There is nothing more central to the game of hockey than emotion. There are so many intangible qualities that cannot be distilled into statistics: courage, leadership, determination, heart, character. If Neely was elected based on that, then he’s deserving in my book because the hall of fame should be representative of all aspects of hockey.

To quote Herman Boone from “Remember the Titans”: “You’re hall of fame in my book.”

The last great memory I have of Cam Neely is just a four short years ago. A couple years before that, a buddy of mine phoned to let me know he found a website to order sports jerseys from. He wondered if I wanted anything.

I went on line and staring me in the face was Cam Neely’s No. 8 black road jersey from the 1980s. I ordered it instantly.

That jersey got worn out during the 2011 playoffs. I went down to this local pub to watch every game I could of the Bruins’ playoff run, and I have two outstanding memories.

One, in the semi-finals against Tampa Bay, this Lightning fan came out of the washroom and saw me sitting there in my jersey. He accused me of being a bandwagon jumper.

“Look at the back,” I growled.

He did then, with a look part of drunkenness and part puzzlement, he wobbled slightly as he looked me in the eye.

“Isn’t he like the president?”

I couldn’t help but smile. This guy was way too young to ever have seen Cam as a player, much less in his prime.

The other memory was during the finals against Vancouver. This time, an old buddy came out of the washroom (did I mention I sat near the bathrooms?). He has been a diehard Canucks fan his whole life. He frowned when he saw my jersey.

Before he could say anything, I told him to look at the back.

“I’ve never liked the Bruins, but I have always loved your guy,” he said.

Not a single mention of the fact his team traded him to mine. Instead, the deep respect hockey fans had for Cam Neely.

I had a tear in my eye a few days after that encounter when Cam Neely finally hoisted the Stanley Cup – even if he was “just” the president. Fittingly, he shared the ice with Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell, three players whose acquisition can be traced back to the Neely trade.

For me it marked the fitting and logical conclusion for a man who gave everything he had for almost 30 years to the Bruins.

Where so many players, coaches, and executives leave teams in pursuit of a championship, Neely stuck with the same team.

His presence there for the past 30 years, now that’s the real gift.

Thanks Cam.

Broken dreams: The saga of Tony Mandarich

Tony Mandarich warming up as
a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

He was supposed to revolutionize the offensive line in pro football. Instead a combination of attitude, ego, injury, drug use, and bad luck de-railed the career of Tony Mandarich. However, he would find some redemption. Good thing, because he was Canadian – and he played for the Indianapolis Colts.

Canadian content

It was when I recently watched the 1988 Rose Bowl that I recalled what was actually my biggest memory of that game. Michigan State had a young offensive lineman they simply described as “Canadian”, named Tony Mandarich.

My first thought was I wondered if he was related to John Mandarich who, at the time, was terrorizing quarterbacks in the CFL as part of the Edmonton Eskimo defensive line. Unlike today, where you just Google it and find out instantly, I had to wait to get back to Edmonton where over the next few weeks, I found out Tony was John’s brother. They were both from Oakville, Ontario.

Brotherly love

Tony moved in with John while he was going to school at Kent State, so the younger Mandarich could play a better calibre of football in the United States. That would help him catch the attention of major U.S. colleges, and ultimately a spot on the offensive line of the Michigan State Spartans. Tony was also first exposed to steroids, which would become a mill stone around his neck as his football career progressed, by his beloved older brother.

College sensation

Mandarich would go on to become an All-American with the Spartans. By the time he entered the NFL draft, he was considered by many to be the best offensive line prospect ever. He brought a unique combination of strength, speed, agility, and he even had an exceptional vertical. It seemed his technique was sound, and there was no weakness in his game. He seemed a can’t-miss prospect a team could build their offensive line around.

Storm clouds

He had also developed a bad-boy reputation, where he missed appearances because he was either drunk or hung over. That attracted more publicity, and seemingly added to his aura. The increasing hype, including a cover story in "Sports Illustrated", also inflated his ego.

At Michigan State, Tony’s steroid use increased, as he routinely abused them to bulk up and recover quickly from hard workouts. Colleges were not testing for steroids back then. They did at bowl games, but Mandarich and other users easily gamed the system at the Rose and Gator Bowls, avoiding detection. Just before the draft, he was first exposed to prescription narcotics. It would begin a slow descent into hell.

Tony Mandarich as
a Green Bay Packer.

Draft day

The 1989 NFL draft was one of the deepest of the ‘80s. The Dallas Cowboys, in the midst of the rebuilding program that would bring them three Super Bowls in four years, held the number one pick, using it to select quarterback Troy Aikman. Detroit had the number three pick and selected Barry Sanders, while Kansas City had the fourth pick, selecting Derrick Thomas, and the Atlanta Falcons used the fifth pick to take Deion Sanders. All four of these players are in the hall of fame. The Green Bay Packers held the second pick overall, and were roundly praised for selecting Tony Mandarich. Dallas was even criticized in some circles for not selecting Mandarich.

He is still the highest Canadian-born player ever taken in the NFL draft – and routinely appears on top ten lists of biggest first round draft busts.

Not in Michigan anymore Toto

I recall a piece on one of the sports shows that began simply with this name: Alan Veingrad. He was the lineman on the Green Bay Packers whose job would be taken by Tony Mandarich. I always remembered that every time I saw the Packers play on TV. By then I was living in res at the University of Alberta, far away from peasant vision, so I got to see a lot of football. I silently cheered for Veingrad to keep his job.

Mandarich held out of training camp because the Packers would not pay what he was asking. Eventually they caved with a $4.4 million contract, making him the highest paid offensive lineman in history to that point.

I had grown tired of all the hype and worse, all the attitude, so I was not too fussed when the rumblings started. Mandarich did not have good enough footwork for a professional offensive lineman. The NFL was pass-oriented where Michigan State ran most of the time, and pass blocking was not Mandarich’s strong suit. He had missed all of training camp and was not ready for the pro game.

Worse still, by the time Mandarich got to Green Bay he was now hooked on pain killers.

He would not start any games in his first two years in Green Bay, appearing in 14 games in 1989 and 16 games in 1990. He never was able to displace Alan Veingrad. Mandarich would start 15 games in 1991, but, by 1992, the final year of his contract, he did not even get on the field. With a new coaching staff coming on board, Mandarich was out. They did not elect to re-sign him.

No one else took a chance on him either.

Purgatory

Mandarich returned to Michigan where his drug use continued. His brother John was also dying of cancer, and doctors had already amputated his ring finger. I remember reading about that in the "Edmonton Journal". Meanwhile, Tony continued to descend into hell, failing to be at his brother’s side when he finally succumbed to cancer. Instead, he was in pursuit of his latest hit – drugs more important than his dying brother. Rock bottom approached.

Finally, in 1995 he saw the light. He checked himself into rehab and got clean and sober.

He was not yet 30, so the chance for an NFL comeback was still there.

But would any team want him? Would it be worth the risk?

Tony Mandarich in action on the comeback
trail with the Indianapolis Colts.

On the comeback trail

I remember the day very well. It was the fall of 1996 and I was living in a place in Edmonton called Colorado Plaza. My Indianapolis Colts were fresh off a season where they shocked the football world as a 9-7 wildcard team, advancing all the way to the AFC Championship Game and coming within just under two minutes of going to the Super Bowl. The Colts were tuning up, and their first exhibition game was being televised. I probably still have it on tape somewhere. Anyway, I always like to pay attention to see which CFL guys are trying out, what old college favourites are playing, and who just might come up to the CFL after the last NFL cuts.

Then I saw it. Listed there, starting on Indy’s offensive line was – Tony Mandarich. I honestly wondered if I heard right? Or if there was another player with that name? Or maybe it was a publicity stunt?

None of the above. The Colts were giving Mandarich a legitimate shot to make the team. He was not dominating, but he was effective. More importantly, he was humble. Just happy to be in the NFL

He would go on to play in 15 games, starting six, for a Colts team that returned to the playoffs, losing again to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the second consecutive year. The next season he would start all 16 games for a woeful team. The next year, they were just as bad. Their claim to fame was they were so bad, their record earned them the number one pick in the draft, which they used to select Peyton Manning. What a stark contrast that would be. Two top two selections – one a bust leaving just as the other, who would go on to put up hall-of-fame numbers right into the present, arrived. They never played together, as Mandarich was finally forced into retirement with a shoulder injury. This was after he started the Colts’ first 10 games of the season.

By then, he had salvaged a bit of dignity, and put together a serviceable NFL career.

Parting thoughts

Is Tony Mandarich to be commended or condemned? I’m of two minds on the matter. Initially, I was happy to see him achieve some measure of redemption when he played for the Colts. It took a long time for me to come to that point, given how much I detest cocky, arrogant athletes who have not proven anything yet. I was happy to see him fall, and cheer for unheralded, but hard working Alan Veingrad, whose job Mandarich never took away in Green Bay. In fact, Veingrad had a compelling story himself, overcoming a career-threatening injury to outperform Mandarich.

However, Tony Mandarich’s fall from grace was spectacular. Not only was he humbled and humiliated, but he was deprived of everything he treasured – fame, fortune, that magnificent physique. He was exposed as a liar and a cheater, and confined to the trash can of the NFL – until he got clean and sober.

It was at this point my opinion changed. In the simplest terms, he had learned his lesson. Maybe he earned a second chance. That was my thinking in 1996.

Reading for this post though has provided me another perspective. Jim Irsay of the Indianapolis Colts said Mandarich damaged the game. Not only did he lie about his steroid use, but he served as a role model for young players who wanted to be like him. Essentially, he helped foster a generation of steroid users. He also used that enhanced body to dominate, humiliate, and belittle players who were clean, players who were not cheating or benefitting from performance enhancers.

Yet Irsay also said Mandarich had done his penance.

“His story is one of the great stories of redemption. There was a massive price he paid. But it shows that everyone is salvageable. For you, well, everyone should remember that when you forgive, you become free,” Irsay is quoted as saying in a story written by Rick Telander in Sports Illustrated.

Mandarich also now wants to talk to young players and share his experiences with them. For that, he should be commended – if he’s sincere. If that’s the case, as soft-hearted as I am, I come down on the side of redemption.

If nothing else, the rise, fall, and rise of Tony Mandarich is a cautionary tale for all those who come after him. Fame can be fleeting. Cheaters will be caught. There is no joy or happiness at the bottom of a pill bottle. Once someone is gone they never come back. Tony Mandarich has experienced all these things and much more. Let his life, and all those broken dreams, be a lesson to those who come to follow.

Penny carnival 1986

The album cover for "Foreigner 4"

The words stuck with me for months: “If you ever come across the album ‘Money Talks’ by Trooper then pick it up for me.”

My cousin Fred was a musician and an aficionado of music. I used to spend a couple weeks every summer at his place in Brooks. The last summer was in 1986. Fred was finishing up Grade 12, and I was preparing to go into Grade 12. I spent my two weeks there and we talked, and cruised around town, and listened to a lot of music.

A couple times he told me he was looking for this album by Trooper, that he just could not find. The name stuck with me.

A few months later, in the oddest of places, I found that album – well the tape version of it – and I did pick it up. But I would not see Fred again for five or six years.

The album cover for Trooper's "Money Talks"

Still I enjoyed “Money Talks” and the two tapes I bought with it, for a long time.

Penny carnival ‘86

For nine years, I attended St. Joseph’s School in Coaldale. One of the highlights of every year was the annual penny carnival. Every grade would come up with a game of some sort and we’d all gather in the gym and enjoy each other’s games.

I was in Grade 12 at Kate Andrews High School, talking to my good friend Dave on the phone. He had two younger sisters. One was in Grade 10 at Kate Andrews, the other was back at St. Joe’s. I wanted to get together, and he did too, but he had to do something first.

The album cover for the album "Run for Cover"
by Canadian band Straight Lines

He hesitated telling me, figuring I wouldn’t be interested in coming over because of it. Why was that, I asked. He had to take his sister to the penny carnival.

Dave was quite surprised at my enthusiasm in wanting to go to the penny carnival. The truth was, I knew I was leaving Coaldale for university, and I kind of wanted to see some of my old teachers, and my old school.

The fact there was a rummage sale was an added bonus.

There among all the old toys, tattered books, and odds and ends were three tapes: “Foreigner 4” by Foreigner; a self-titled album by Straight Lines called “Run for Cover”; and – you guessed it – “Money Talks” by Trooper.

All three tape cases were beat up and a bit dirty. Still the tapes inside all played fine. They still sit in my closet to this day.

I had varying levels of familiarity with all three.

The tapes

“Money Talks” was at the top of the list, because I wanted to get it for my cousin. When I listened to it, I was struck by a couple things. One was that I had actually heard one of the songs before. That was “Only a Fool”, and it was a great ballad. The other thing was the title track, “Money Talks”, uses the word “bullshit”, which was pretty daring, especially back then.

“Foreigner 4” was actually the third album by Foreigner that I owned. There used to be this massive garage sale every spring at the Lethbridge Exhibition Pavilion. That’s where I bought a slightly bent version, on vinyl, of Foreigner’s latest album to that point called, “Agent Provocateur”.

A new comic store had opened in the Park Meadows Mall on the north side of Lethbridge, and it sold used records in really good condition. They even came in their own clear plastic sleeves. That’s where I bought “Foreigner Records”, which was a kind of greatest hits compilation. The cover looked like an old juke box. It contained “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero”, two songs that were also on “Foreigner 4”.

LA-107 also did a spotlight on Foreigner, where they talked about “Foreigner 4” among other things.

“Run for Cover” was known strictly for the song, “Letting Go.” I recall listening to it in junior high on the bus on a ski trip to West Castle near Pincher Creek. Then, on an episode of “Good Rockin’ Tonite” they were interviewing Michael Damian who, at that time was best known for playing Danny on “The Young and the Restless.” One of the video clips they showed was of him covering “Letting Go”. The band Straight Lines was also in the news a bit because some of their members had formed a new band called “Body Electric”.

Parting thoughts

It was another transition for me. I was leaving home at the end of the school year. St. Joe’s had been such a big part of my life for so long, over half my life at that point. It was nice to go back one more time to see the place and some of my old teachers. It was the last time I was in there before I left home to go to university.

Every time I hear one of those songs, like “Letting Go”, “Only a Fool”, or “Urgent”, I am reminded of that penny carnival and the end of that part of my life.

James Garner in the 1980s: Life after Rockford

James Garner had a long and distinguished acting career, including several major roles in movies in the 1980s.

James Garner remained a prolific actor throughout his life. To audiences today he is probably best remembered as “Duke” in “The Notebook” or the grandpa in “8 Simples Rules to Date My Teenaged daughter”, but back in the 1980s, he excelled in a number of theatrical and TV movies, garnering (all pun intended) an Oscar nomination and seven primetime Emmy award nominations.

The 1980s showed that not only was there life after “The Rockford Files”, but that James Garner was a talented, versatile actor, who may have been most comfortable in movies.

End of series TV – for a decade

When “The Rockford Files” went off the air at the outset of 1980, Garner still had a contract to fulfill. Not before he was nominated one last time for an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for the role of Jim Rockford. He left Rockford behind and returned to the past, reprising the role of Bret Maverick in a show of the same name for the 1981-1982 season. It had reasonably good ratings, but was cancelled after one season. When Emmy nominations were announced, James Garner was on the list for outstanding lead actor in a drama series again, this time for his work in “Bret Maverick”.

“Bret Maverick” was not shown on peasant vision. Instead, I enviously read about it each week in TV Guide. Eventually, the pilot aired on Channel 13, wetting my appetite for a series that had already been cancelled. Reruns were also aired in the summer of 1990, a full eight years after cancellation, to fill the hole left by a writers’ strike.

When the smoke cleared, James Garner was done with series TV, finding a home, and a lot of success in TV and theatrical movies.

Oscar calls

It was the middle of the decade when Garner struck it rich as Murphy Jones in “Murphy’s Romance”, starring opposite Sally Field. The role would earn him an Oscar nomination in 1985, losing out to William Hurt for his role in “Kiss of the Spider Woman”.

Theatrical releases

Garner would also have roles in Robert Altman’s satire “Health” in 1980; play opposite Julie Andrews in “Victor/Victoria” in 1982; and become a bit of a vigilante in “Tank” in 1984 after his grandson is wrongly accused.

In 1988, he played an aging Wyatt Earp opposite Bruce Willis who played legendary western actor Tom Mix in the comedy-western “Sunset”, directed by Blake Edwards. They team up to solve a murder in Hollywood in 1929.

I vividly recall going to see “Sunset” with my best friend Chris Vining. I picked him up in Coaldale, but he was running late, so we got to the brand new Cineplex-Odeon theatre in Lethbridge a few minutes after the movie had started. I remember not quite getting the gist of the story. Was James Garner really playing Wyatt Earp, or was it a part in a movie within the movie? And was Bruce Willis, still the guy from “Moonlighting” back then, playing Tom Mix? Was it based on a true story? Neither of us knew in advance what it was really about, but we either had seen pretty much everything else, or found nothing else that interesting. It turned out to be an okay show, partly because James Garner was always worth watching.

A life of TV movies

James Garner always excelled on television. By the 1980s, he had firmly entrenched himself playing opposite Mariette Hartley in a series of Polaroid camera commercials. They had so much on-screen chemistry, many viewers thought they were an actual, real-life couple.

He also found a life acting in television movies.

The first was “The Long Summer of George Adams” in 1982. I never saw this movie, but I recall seeing the commercials on Channel 13. My sister saw it, and really enjoyed it. Garner played a man working for the railroad in the 1950s whose job may become obsolete.

Next came “Heartsounds” in 1984, another move I never saw and have regretted not seeing. The movie is produced by Norman Lear, who made his name with such shows as “All in the Family”. This time around, he gets serious, telling the story of his cousin Harold Lear, a renowned surgeon who becomes a patient himself, facing his own mortality and an unfeeling medical system. Garner played Harold Lear, earning an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actor in a limited series or special. Mary Tyler Moore played opposite Garner as Lear’s wife Martha. The movie was shot largely in Toronto as Hollywood began coming north to take advantage of the low Canadian dollar.

James Garner played a senator lobbying for
he space program in the 1985 miniseries "Space".

The next time I saw James Garner was in an epic TV mini-series called “Space” in 1985, based on the novel of the same name by James Michener. It details the history of the development of the space program in the United States, from the end of the Second World War right through to the moon landing. It had a star-studded cast of TV actors that included Beau Bridges, Harry Hamlin, Blair Brown, Michael York, David Dukes, and so many others. Garner played a senator who was a tireless supporter of the space program.

“Promise” followed in 1986, in which Garner plays a man who returns home after the death of his mother to take care of his mentally-ill brother, played by James Woods. “Promise” would be one of the most decorated movies in TV history, winning five primetime Emmy awards, including one for outstanding drama/comedy special. Garner was also nominated for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or special.

Garner was back three years later, to close out the decade, with “My Name is Bill W.”, which tells the story of the two men who co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous. Garner again starred opposite James Woods. “My Name is Bill W.” was nominated for Emmy awards for outstanding drama/comedy special and Garner was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a miniseries or special. Woods won an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie.

As a side note, Garner made another movie in 1990, called “Decoration Day”, one of those “Hallmark Hall of Fame” movies. I recall that vividly, because I had to reserve the TV in res on a Sunday night to watch that movie, enduring all the snips and snipes of people not interested in the movie, but taking up space in our lounge. Garner played a retired judge trying to find out why a man refuses to accept a medal of honour awarded decades earlier in the Second World War. Again, Garner was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or special.

Parting thoughts

James Garner would continue to act into the 1990s and well into the 21^st Century. I had the opportunity awhile back to read his autobiography, “The Garner Files”, and it was incredibly enlightening. It gave details on so any aspects of his life, from his upbringing in Oklahoma, and the reason he had to change his name from Bumgarner to Garner, to why he actually left “The Rockford Files”, and his relationship with Mariette Hartley.

What I will always remember about James Garner is his versatility as an actor, and the fact he was just so likeable. That and his ability to say so much without saying word. He was a master of the facial expression, shrug, and dramatic pause.

Jim Rockford may have been one of my favourite characters of all time, but James Garner proved, in the decade after Rockford’s departure from primetime TV, that he was not to be defined by the private detective who lived in a trailer on the beach.

There indeed was life after Rockford.

Battle of the bands 1987

It was a strange time in my life. Kind of a “no man’s land” between the past and the future. It was the summer between Grade 12 and my first year of university, and I got a job with the Lethbridge Exhibition Board. I saw a lot of things and I am always reminded of them when I think of two songs. Not just any two songs, but two that dominated the “Catch a Rising Star” at the 1987 edition of Whoop-Up Days in Lethbridge.

Summer jobs

The summer of 1987 was an odd one, because I spent it doing a bunch of different jobs. It started with my last few weeks at Gergely’s Greenhouse, then I spent a week or so painting fences at my friend Dave’s place.

After that, I kind of moped around and killed time, hanging out, shooting hoops on an outside court in Coaldale, and basically waiting for summer to end. It would be the end of that phase of life, because I was heading off to university in the fall.

One day, my friend Mat phoned. We had been friends since before school began, riding the school bus together, and living on neighbouring farms. He was going to Lethbridge to apply for a job at Whoop-Up Days. It was the annual fair with a midway and grandstand show, put on I believe by the Lethbridge Exhibition Board. Every summer they hired dozens of workers for the week, mostly as parking attendants, to pick up garbage, and other jobs like that.

When we got to the Exhibition Pavilion, there was a huge line of people just like Mat and I, high school kids looking to make a little cash.

There were forms to fill out, but I didn’t even have a resumé. They didn’t actually ask for one either. I do remember giving Mr. Ed Ryan, my high school guidance counsellor, and Ida Gergely, my boss at the greenhouse, as references.

Finally, we were at the front of the line, and I got called to sit in front of a man with an English accent who asked me a few basic questions. Had I swept, had I picked up garbage, and so on.

I honestly never went to get a job, as much as to have the experience, and hang out with Mat.

A couple days later I got a call from a fellow named Len from the Lethbridge Exhibition board. He wanted me to start on Monday. I thought that odd, because the fair wasn’t for a couple weeks.

It turns out, and I only found this out later, I was hired to replace a guy on the regular crew, not to help out for Whoop-Up Days.

Battle of the bands

Our coffee room, and kind of base of operations, was underneath the seats in the Exhibition Pavilion. We had lunch and a couple coffee breaks each day. It was, I think part way through the week of Whoop-Up Days, that I heard this familiar sound midway through the afternoon coffee break. We got free pop from one of the cantinas, so I was sipping on a cool fountain Coke on a really hot day, and I heard this song playing.

Back then I listened to a radio station called 1090 CHEC. They had this countdown of the most requested songs every week night. Probably a month earlier, I recall hearing two songs that were really cool, but I had never heard of the bands who played them.

One was called “Please Hold Me” by a band called Credit, and the other was a song called “Fantasy Child” by a band calling itself Barricade. Both songs struck a chord and sat on those nightly charts for weeks.

It turned out they were both local bands from Lethbridge.

Well, during my coffee break, I heard “Please Hold Me.”

Oh that’s cool, I thought. Someone found a radio to listen to while we worked. Well, break was over and I had to go through the pavilion.

There, standing on stage in street clothes were a bunch of guys singing “Please Hold Me” and they weren’t lip synching. It had to be Credit. I couldn’t stay to watch, but I wish I had, because they sounded good.

It turned out they were rehearsing for "Catch a Rising Star" which was sponsored by 1090 CHEC. Barricade was there too.

Because I had to work, and I had some other things going on, I never did see  that battle of the bands and I’m not even sure who won.

Still, it was cool to see, even just for a minute, a band I had heard on the radio. It was the first ever piece of live music I had ever heard too.

Parting thoughts

I‘m not sure how much success Credit had beyond those few months in 1987. As I write this, I think they may have won that talent contest, and that may have been their peak.

Barricade is another story.

I was working in Fort Macleod in 2001, and I was previewing a fundraising concert. I was set to interview one of the members of the band, a guy who lived in Fort Macleod named Rob. He was at home that week, so I paid him a visit to interview him at his place. While we were talking, we got on the subject of his musical background.

He starts telling me about this band he was in back in the 1980s, and how they even charted a song on 1090 CHEC. I asked what the song was.

“Fantasy Child,” he replies. It turns out, he was part of Barricade.

He laughed and said they even had an old poster still hanging in the place where his current band rehearsed.

So, the night of that fundraising concert, I’m walking back to the office after the concert is finished. It was late and dark, and I see this vehicle slowly driving parallel to me. Suddenly, the window opens and it’s Rob.

“Hey Rob,” he says. “Have this.”

It was a poster of Barricade.

Fourteen years later, but it was just as cool.

It reminded me of a unique summer in my life, when I had closed one chapter and was about to open another.

Looking at that poster reminds me how cool that last summer was.

J.C. Watts: Solid career, one last moment in history

Quarterback J.C. Watts in his familiar number six with a new
team, the Toronto Argonauts. He joined the Boatmen part
way through the 1986 season after he was released by Ottawa.

When the Hamilton Tiger-Cats met the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL Eastern Conference final back in 2013, it was the first time the two teams met in the eastern final since 1986.

That game in 1986 was memorable for several reasons. It in fact was not one game but two, the last time the league used the two-game, total-point format. It also symbolized the last time Julius Caesar Watts played in the CFL, ending six eventful years.

Disappearing act

When we left you, J.C.Watts had just about engineered one of the greatest upsets in Grey Cup history, before falling just three points short in the 1981 game. Watts was named offensive most valuable player of that Grey Cup, and the future looked bright.

But, as the 1982 season opened, J.C. Watts was not on the field. In fact, he did not play at all in 1982. He wanted his contract re-worked, including payment in U.S. dollars. He threatened to sit out the year, unless his contract was re-done. Ottawa did not budge. Because he was under contract, it meant Watts would play in Ottawa or not at all. So J.C. Watts did not play football at all that year.

While you were sleeping

While he was gone, Ottawa finished with a record of 5-11 for the second straight season. Chris Isaac had taken over at quarterback, with Jordan Case and Kevin Starkey also seeing playing time. Isaac would throw for 3,408 yards and 18 touchdowns to win the CFL rookie of the year, beating out Mervyn Fernandez of the B.C. Lions.

The Riders finished third in the East Division, setting up a re-match of the 1981 East Division Final against the Tiger Cats on Nov. 14, 1982 in Hamilton. Ottawa won that game 30-20 to advance to the East Final against Toronto on Nov. 21. It was Ottawa’s last ever win in the playoffs. The Argonauts would blow out the Rough Riders 44-7, advancing to the Grey Cup, which they lost to Edmonton. It was the last of the Eskimos’ five straight championships.

Auspicious return

Everything was ironed out for the 1983 season, as J.C. Watts re-joined the Rough Riders, who were a much different team now. They were deeper at receiver with the addition of Tyrone Gray from B.C. and Dave Newman from Toronto, to go with the reliable Pat Stoqua. They also had one of the league’s best running backs in Alvin “Skip” Walker.

Watts would lead the Rough Riders to an 8-8 record, the first year they had been .500 or better since 1979, which was also their last ever winning season. Watts had decent numbers, completing 175 of 358 passes for 3,089 yards, 18 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He also rushed 76 times for 552 yards and five touchdowns.

The Rough Riders finished second in the East Division and hosted the Hamilton Tiger Cats, who avenged two previous playoff defeats and beat Ottawa by a score of 33-31. It was the last playoff game Ottawa ever hosted. Watts played well in defeat, throwing for 303 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

The living years

The 1984 season saw Ottawa fall to 4-12, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1970. Watts had another decent season though, completing 189 of 360 passes for 3,052 yards, 21 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He also rushed 61 times for 357 yards and one touchdown.

Ottawa rebounded in 1985, with a better season. They finished 7-9, good enough for third in the East and qualifying for the playoffs. They lost in the East Division Semi-final to the Montreal Concordes by a score of 30-20, signalling the last playoff game J.C. Watts ever played for the Rough Riders.

He completed 236 of 439 passes for 2,975 yards, 12 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. He rushed 106 times for 710 yards and one touchdown, making him the team’s leading rusher.

End of the line

The 1986 season opened with J.C. Watts again starting at quarterback for the Ottawa Rough Riders. He would complete 66 of 127 passes for 864 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed 31 times for 206 yards and a touchdown.

Ottawa started with two wins before dropping six straight games to fall to the bottom of the East. Deemed as ineffective, J.C. Watts was released by Ottawa and replaced with Tom Burgess.

I recall seeing an interview with J.C. He said he had no hard feelings but then smiled and said, “I’ll be cheering against Tom Burgess (in the next game).”

He was picked up by the Toronto Argonauts, and reunited with coach Bob O’Billovich, who had been an assistant in Ottawa during that magical 1981 season.

Watts made an impact early. Initially acquired to back up Condredge Holloway, he came off the bench on Sunday, Sept. 7 after Holloway was injured. Watts proceeded to rally the Argos from 17 points down to defeat Hamilton by a score of 25-23.

Again in Week 19, on Sunday, Nov. 2, he rallied his team late. Playing Montreal, the Argos scored two last-minute touchdowns 39 seconds apart to pull out a 25-21 victory. Watts ran the first one in from six yards out, then threw a 13-yard pass to Paul Pearson.

By season’s end, Watts had led Toronto to a 6-5 record over the remainder of the year, to finish 10-8 overall, good enough for first place in the East Division. He completed 108 of 182 passes for 1,477 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. He rushed for 35 times for 227 yards and four touchdowns.

The CFL, sensing the imbalance between West and East, changed the playoff format that season. Instead of the top three teams in each division making the playoffs, the top two automatically qualified. If the fourth-place team in one division had a better record than the third-place team in the other division, the fourth-place team made the playoffs. Unlike the system today, where that team crosses over, back in 1986 the team stayed in their own division. That meant Edmonton played Calgary and B.C. played Winnipeg in the West, with the winners playing for the West Division title. In the East, Toronto played Hamilton in a two-game, total-point East Final with the winner going to the Grey Cup. It was the first two-game, total point playoff since 1972.

The first game was in Hamilton on Nov. 16, and the Argonauts beat Hamilton by a score of 31-17, as Watts ran for two touchdowns and threw for another.

Game 2 was one week later, on Nov. 23, in Toronto, and Hamilton had to win by at least 15 points. Hamilton evened the aggregate score at 49 points each on the last play of the third quarter. In the final 15 minutes, Hamilton kicked a field goal, Toronto responded with a touchdown, but Hamilton scored last as quarterback Mike Kerrigan hit Ron Ingram for a six-yard touchdown with 1:42 to play. There would be no last-minute heroics by J.C. Watts as the Tiger Cats won by a score of 42-25 to win the series by a total score of 59-56.

Watts finished the two games with four passing touchdowns and 12 rushes for an average of 7.3 yards.

He would retire at the end of that season and never play professional football again. He finished as the third leading rushing quarterback of the 1980s, with 2,312 yards on 346 carries for an average of 6.7 yards, only trailing leader Ken Hobart who had 4,632 yards on 383 carries for a 7.6-yard average, and Matt Dunigan who had 3,271 yards on 542 carries for a six-yard average.

The last time we saw J.C. Watts at a CFL game was in 1995, when the Birmingham Barracudas played the Baltimore Stallions in an exhibition game at the Orange Bowl in Miami. It was set to be a precursor for CFL expansion into Miami, and the start of a team called the Manatees. Watts was there because proceeds from the game were for the Oklahoma City Relief Fund. Watts, now a U.S. Congressman representing Oklahoma, was there to receive the cheque.

Parting thoughts

J.C. Watts would go on to serve as a Republican Congressman for the state of Oklahoma. At one point, he was in such high esteem, he gave the response to President Bill Clinton’s State of the Union address. It was always a bit surreal to hear Congressman J.C. Watts, because he will always be that scrambling quarterback to me.

If there is one word that describes J.C. Watts it’s: electric. You never knew what he was going to do when he had the ball. His career stats reveal almost as many interceptions as touchdowns, but also those huge rushing totals. Third highest in the 1980s, and he played less than half the decade.

He truly was one of the most unique players to come north in some time. It is sad that he went quietly into the night without a send-off, or a retirement party or anything.

He may not have ended with a bang, as I think all players would like to, but he sure gave us a lot of memories along the way.

Thanks for the memories J.C.